Blog

Dinner at Grandma’s, the Christmas presentation at your kid’s school, holiday shopping, ice skating, and about four other dinners… There’s no shortage of places to go, people to see and things to do this holiday season. If it weren’t so cold, you’d probably be burning up the road! But as you go on your merry […]

You’re probably all too familiar with that sinking feeling you get when you hop in your car, ready to go, you turn the key and, instead of the roar (or hum) of your engine, you hear that daunting “click-click-click!” That’s probably a dead battery, which means you either need a jump, some maintenance or a […]

Some vehicle maintenance is obvious. You change your tires depending on the season and keep them rotated to get the best wear out of them. But maintaining your vehicle’s fluids may not be as obvious – both in what purpose fluid serves and in knowing what needs to be monitored.   In this blog, we’ll go […]

This is the perfect time to check through your Winter Emergency Car kit to make sure it’s still in-tact following a summer of packing and unpacking your car.  Between the eleven of us here at METRO, we have spent most of our lives in Alaska’s Interior. We’ve had our share of going in the ditch […]

A car AC unit and heater are not independent systems like you would think. In theory their separation stands to reason. Since when is a fridge integral to your wood stove cranking out heat? It makes sense that systems so different in purpose would have little overlap in design.  Climate Control, not Heat + Air […]

Good protein is Alaska’s new gold rush. Safe, truly nutritious protein is an elusive component of daily life in the American economy. It has never been as obvious to Alaskans as it is now that they enjoy an unusual marketplace of pristine meats. However, this protein is not sold in stores. It requires the initiative […]

When you are thrown by a frost heave or slammed into a pothole, does it ever make you wonder if your car is OK? So many key components are destroyed when vehicles encounter road damage as extreme as the frost boils and potholes that routinely surface on roadways every summer in Alaska. None of these […]

Motor mounts are essential. They are literally what fastens two hundred horses to your car’s frame! Think of them as the saddle for your engine. Without being securely fastened, you could be in for a very bumpy ride. What are motor mounts?Motor mounts (also known as engine mounts) are brackets that attach the engine to […]

Car exhaust has never been so expensive, both to the environment and to motorist’s wallets.  You WISH your body had a catalytic converter! A Catalytic Converter is the vehicle equivalent of a fat-burning miracle machine. Engine exhaust is picked apart and turbo-digested (converted) into relatively harmless, spent waste. Here’s How First Layer: Metal It looks […]

Does your Fairbanks Auto Repair Shop have a pecking order of “master technicians” vs. “lube-oil techs?”  In the historical and currently prevalent business models in the automotive industry, “Master Technician” refers to individuals who both get run over or left behind because they sit still.  Evolution is something to keep up with on Earth. We […]