Garage News and Car Advice from Cardiff

Much of the diagnostic work that takes place here at A1 Diagnostics is routine vehicle maintenance, particularly services and MOTs. A recent case investigation was requested by a Fiat Panda owner, who brought in their car for a service and mentioned a ‘knocking’ sound from the front suspension. Cue our vehicle detectives! Here is the car pictured below. The routine service is straightforward enough: we monitor the car’s electrics to check for headlight operations, battery

Here at A1 Diagnostics we recently had a case of a failed fan belt wrapping itself round the engine pulleys on a Lexus vehicle – a dangerous fault if not fixed immediately. Fortunately we had the right team for the job: with 75 years’ experience between our mechanics, this was a straightforward fix for our client. Here is the team working on the Lexus vehicle below. Fan belts (also called Serpentine belts) play an important

Have you ever heard of ‘mechatronic failures’? It sounds like something out of The Transformers, but actually a mechatronic unit is the electro-hydraulic ‘brain’ that manages gear changes for cars like the Volkswagen Golf. One of our customers at A1 Diagnostics recently brought in their VW Golf with symptoms of a mechatronic problem, and our team of experts got to work to resolve the issue. Here is the vehicle pictured below. There are several symptoms

Here at A1 Diagnostics, our team is frequently called upon to investigate and diagnose leaks. Have you ever driven away from your driveway or parking space and noticed a tell-tale patch on the ground where your car was standing? That often indicates a small leak which is best investigated early to avoid bigger issues (and bills!) later on. That was the attitude taken by one of our recent customers who brought their Land Rover Discovery

Seeing a warning light on the dashboard can fill you with dread: what does that mean? Is it serious? Is it expensive? Is my car going to be out of action for days?! This was the experience of one of our clients recently, after the EML light on the dash of their Fiat Ducato came on. Here is the vehicle pictured below. On top of this, the handbrake of the car had been pulling and