Berkeley Wright's Automotive Service

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Truck Service & Repair, Auto Oil & Lube, Auto Repair & Service

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Today: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Tomorrow: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

47 Years

in Business

(510) 841-2740Call

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Map & DirectionsDirections1425 San Pablo AveBerkeley, CA 94702 Write a ReviewWrite Review

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Hours

Regular Hours

Mon - Fri:	8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Places Near Berkeley with Truck Service & Repair

Albany (1 miles)
El Cerrito (4 miles)
Emeryville (5 miles)
Richmond (8 miles)
Oakland (8 miles)
Orinda (10 miles)
San Pablo (10 miles)
El Sobrante (11 miles)
Alameda (13 miles)
Pinole (14 miles)

More Info

Extra Phones

Fax: (510) 841-7979

TollFree: (800) 452-6272

Neighborhoods

West Berkeley, Westbrae

AKA

Elmwood Garage Berkeley Wrights Automotive Services

Categories

Truck Service & Repair, Auto Oil & Lube, Auto Repair & Service, Auto Transmission, Automobile Body Repairing & Painting, Automotive Tune Up Service, Brake Repair, Mufflers & Exhaust Systems, Tire Dealers, Towing, Wheel Alignment-Frame & Axle Servicing-Automotive, Wheels-Aligning & Balancing

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Phone: (510) 841-2740

Address: 1425 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702

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Berkeley Wright's Automotive Service

Engine and Exhaust System

Engine Repair
Toyota of Berkeley can offer most of the automotive services we do, with the exception of tires and engine repairs involving machine work. However, there are reasons you may want to choose us for your next Toyota service if you live in the SF East Bay. Our culture is very different from the Toyota dealerships near us.
Oil Change
We only schedule a limited number of oil changes per day, so they fill up really quickly. We feel bad that we can’t accommodate folks when they call in at the last minute, but if we did, we wouldn’t make a profit. So, we limit oil changes and 5K services to about 20% of our schedule.
Engine Tune-Up
Exhaust System Repair
There are also a number of other types of certifications of other niche areas like alternative fuels, school buses, exhaust repair, etc. If you’re interested, you can find more information on the ASE website.
Engine Diagnostic
Spark Plug Replacement
Timing Belt/Chain Replacement
When there’s no service history to go on, a car inspection is the best way to make a game plan. Check all of the oils and fluids. Pull a spark plug out to check wear. Check the air filter. Look for a timing belt replacement sticker. There’s no way to check valve clearance without actually checking valve clearance, but we can look for clues. If the valve cover gasket is seeping, it’s been a while since it has been off.
Catalytic Converter Repair and Replacement

Transmission and Drivetrain

Transmission Service
That’s all well and good, unless the code displayed was B13. The car was due for a transmission service and inspections, but it didn’t get that, and now the reminder has been cleared. This happens a lot at quick lube shops and auto repair shops that don’t specialize in Honda.
Transmission Repair
Transmission fluid, just like any other lubricant, degrades with use. Also, the debris created as clutches, bearings, and gears wear is suspended and recirculated with the fluid. Gritty fluid that’s not slippery anymore isn’t good for transmission longevity. Toyota recommends replacing transmission fluid periodically (usually at 60K) when towing, using a car-top carrier, or driving hard. We recommend replacing the transmission oil/fluid every 30K on most Toyota vehicles. This may be more than is really necessary, but transmission repair is expensive. It’s better to be safe than sorry. We strongly recommend replacing transmission fluid at least every 60,000 miles, regardless of your driving or towing habits.
Transmission Fluid Service
Clutch Service/Repair
Differential Service/Repair
Axle Repair

Steering and Suspension

Suspension Service/Repair
CV Boot Replacement

Heating and Cooling

Air Conditioning Service/Repair
Art’s Automotive is now offering testing, recharging and repair services for R-1234YF air conditioning systems for customers in Berkeley and the surrounding East Bay Area. Call us for current pricing: 510-540-7093 As of this writing (2018) R-1234 is fairly new, at least in the Japanese vehicle repair market. Very few cars older than 2016 use this new type of refrigerant, so most of the cars will be under warranty still. However, we’ve been getting a lot of calls from body shops, and issues like rocks hitting the condenser aren’t covered by warranty, so we’ve seen enough interest in customer-pay repairs to make it worth investing $6000 in a new machine. Also, 77% of Honda’s fleet is now R-1234YF, and we repair a lot of Honda cars here. R-1234YF is a desirable refrigerant because it does less environmental damage than most other types of refrigerant. As seen in the chart, the environmental impact of R-1234YF is considerably lower the the current refrigerant R-134a. The only “better” refrigerant is CO2, but currently Mercedes is the only manufacturer to use CO2, and we don’t repair Mercedes.
Air Filter Replacement
Air Conditioning Recharge
Sometimes all your car needs is an air conditioning recharge, sometimes your car will in need AC repair, and sometimes you’ll need both.

Tire Rotation
The maintenance light alerts you that the car is due for an oil change and tire rotation at minimum. However, your car may need more, and it’s up to you and your mechanic to keep track. Some people get stuck in the “light = oil change” trap and end up missing some important service intervals, so it’s important to check your records when the light comes on. If you’ve been bringing your Toyota here for service, we’re happy to check your service records and figure out what the car is due for. Most other shops will do the same.
Tire Repair
Wheel Alignment
Do we sell tires cheaper than Costco? No, but we are way more convenient and most of the time you should get a wheel alignment when the tires are replaced, and that’s not a service Costco offers.
Tire Replacement
In addition, high tech is slowly seeping into previously low tech jobs, like tire replacement. By 2007, all cars will be required to have a tire pressure monitoring system. Most manufacturers are using RFID tire pressure sensors, which must be registered with an ECU, just like the RFID keys. Will tomorrow’s consumer by willing to put up with an annoying warning light and a “Gee, I dunno. Better take it to the dealer”, after paying $800 for tires? We’re betting they won’t. By losing a few dollars providing “dealer only” repair shortly after new technologies are introduced, we gain experience and our customer’s confidence.
Tire Service
Tire Balancing
Our road force machine, the Hunter Engineering GSP9700, will test for lateral and radial run out. Most tire shops don’t have a RFV balancer. We use it to diagnose pull caused by stiff spots in the tire’s sidewall and vibration caused by “out-of-round”. Using this machine, we can also place wheels so the forces they generate cancel each other out. Finally, we can also match the stiff spot of the tire to the low spot of the rim to achieve the lowest possible road force variation, just like the manufacturer did before the car was shipped off to the dealership. If you’re interested, you can read one of our more detailed articles about tire balancing here.

Brake Service
Doing brake work right is more than just buying good brake pads and bolting them in. One important aspect is using the right grease.
Brake Fluid Service
Brake fluid: Brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it adsorbs moisture from the air. Water is bad for the brake hydraulic system for a couple of reasons. First, the water can lead to oxidation of the metal in the system. Rust on the steel and aluminum oxide for the aluminum parts. Both forms of oxidation lead to pitting and leaking. The second reason water is bad for the brake system is that the boiling point of water saturated brake fluid is lower than when it’s fresh. This can lead to a low, spongy, ineffective brake pedal. The other reason to change brake fluid debris build-up. There are moving parts made of steel, aluminum, plastic, and rubber. As these parts wear material sloughs off and is suspended in the fluid. This grit can abrade other components and increase the rate of wear. There are 4 methods of gaging brake fluid condition: measuring its electrical conductivity, measuring its copper content, measuring its boiling point, and checking for “mud” in the reservoir. Typically the OEs that recommend brake fluid flushing recommend an interval of 3 years or 30K miles. At this interval, the fluid will usually still test good.
Brake Inspection
Toyota doesn’t really have a schedule stand-alone oil change. Oil is always done along with a brake inspection and a tire rotation, making it a “5K service”.
Brake Repair
When people think about automotive brake repair, replacing brake pads is usually the first thing that comes to mind, but there’s a lot more to auto brake repair than just pads.
Brake Replacement

Exterior/Interior

Body/Collision Repair
It’s also important to check for body repair, especially bad body repair. Salvaged vehicles are always the worst. Don’t consider salvaged vehicles when buying a car. Insurance companies are pretty good at determining when a vehicle can’t be fixed for less than it’s value. When people sell salvaged vehicles, they’re always poorly repaired. We’ve found resistors installed where the air bags should be.

Electrical and Electronic

Battery Service
So far, we’ve seen many Insight and Gen1 Civic batteries fail. To Honda’s credit, the bulk of them were covered under the standard or extended warranty. We’re now seeing Honda cars coming back for their second battery replacement out of warranty.
Electrical Service/Repair
Electrical problems can be one of the more difficult problems for an automotive repair shop solve. Frequently, electrical problems will be intermittent, and if the circuit is working during testing, it can’t be diagnosed. It can be difficult to come up with an effective diagnostic strategy when the problem is playing hide and seek, even when the working with a simple circuit. Newer cars seldom have simple circuits though. They have more electronic systems and devices than ever before, and the more complex and interconnected systems there are, the greater the challenges.

General Repairs
Art’s Automotive is a Honda auto repair shop with a long history in Berkeley. Art moved his business from his back yard to our San Pablo location in 1983 and we’ve been here ever since. Many of us still remember tuning Honda Civics and Accords with carburetors and points and condensers.
Towing Service
Auto Maintenance
The items in the following list will be found in virtually every vehicle’s owner’s manual in the maintenance section. These are the service items that make up a tune-up, car service, or whatever you like to call preventative maintenance.

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