When you are having trouble with your car or truck starting and you open the hood up to take a peek to see this....you'll see what an overly corroded battery looks like. This happens naturally over time on vehicle battery terminals.  If you are like 99% of normal Fortuna drivers, you don't check your oil or your battery so you don't keep an eye on the amount of corrosion that's building up on your car or truck battery.  Here at Ponci's Diesel Center, we do and there are solvents that we can use here in the shop during a battery maintenance service that will help slow the corrosion process but nothing that can prevent it 100%. Way before it gets to this point, we will be suggesting you consider replacing the battery. 

Manual transmissions are generally more reliable than automatic transmissions. They don’t have as many parts, aren’t as complex, and can take a lot more abuse. However, if an issue is allowed to persist, more and more damage to surrounding components on your manual transmission will occur. Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA can help you take care of your car as soon as you notice a problem.

If your car, truck or SUV is experiencing major engine issues, the technicians at Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA have you covered. You hear the engine knocking when it decides to start? Is there smoke pouring from your truck’s exhaust pipe? Whether you’re burning oil, your engine is on it’s last leg or has simply given up altogether, we can help. And if you’re not sure what you need, we can help with that too.

Your drive belts run everything - your AC, power steering, alternator, and water pump are all dependent on the belts that turn them. At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, our goal is to keep your truck maintained, so you’re never stuck out on the road. Drive belts are a critical part of that goal.

When driving around town, your vehicle's engine needs clean air to burn the fuel – and it needs a lot. In fact, a typical vehicle needs about 216,000 gallons of air for every tank of gas. All that air passes through a filter that catches the dust and dirt. Eventually, the filter gets completely full, and because the filter can only hold so much, dirt starts getting through. At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, we want to help you get the best air quality in your vehicle, but first, we want to explain the process of where this dirty air is going. 

At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, efficiency is a concept that interests us. While your fuel economy is largely dependent on what kind of car, truck, or SUV you drive, there are a variety of tips and tricks to get the most bang for your buck. We’ve provided a few of our favorites here.

At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, we understand that safety and driving comfort are largely dependent on truck maintenance. Driving in the rain can be a hassle, especially if your vehicle isn’t prepared.

Ride quality is an essential part of your driving experience. At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, we strive to keep your car, truck, or SUV as smooth and comfortable to drive as the day it came off the lot. Your shock absorbers play a huge role in ride quality; here’s what you should know.

At some point or another, it’ll happen to you. You leave your headlights on, your battery finally fails, or for some other reason, you don’t have enough juice to start your car. Don’t call a tow truck just yet, though...Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna has the info you need to properly jump start your car.

The operation of your transmission depends on your hydraulics. Even if that sounds like a foreign language to you, at Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA, we speak the automotive language. We want you to understand what we're talking about, so here are the basics of the hydraulic functions behind your transmission.

If you drive a vehicle with more than a few miles on it, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed an occasional drip underneath it that leaves spots wherever you park. Identifying what is leaking from your car will help you determine whether or not it’s a cause for concern, and what to do about it.

There are seven liquids a car can possibly drip: oil, gas, brake fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil, water, and coolant. How do you tell the difference? This article aims to help your know-how.

At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA, our goal is to help you understand your transmission a little better and keep your car, truck, or SUV reliably on the road. If you ever hit the key and your engine fails to turn over, whether it’s once a month, once a week, or every day, you’ve got the beginnings of an issue worth dealing with.

Exhaust systems are one of the most neglected aspects of most vehicles. Exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, and mufflers are exposed to heat, emissions, and road damage. While your exhaust system is fairly simple and straightforward, these conditions mean it is inherently prone to rust and damage. As a result, this system is often one of the first systems you will have trouble with on your car.

Exhaust systems are one of the most neglected aspects of most vehicles. Exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, and mufflers are exposed to heat, emissions, and road damage. While your exhaust system is fairly simple and straightforward, these conditions mean it is inherently prone to rust and damage. As a result, this system is often one of the first systems you will have trouble within your car.

We know you’re busy. At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA, we also know that while there are certain issues with your car, truck, or SUV you can ignore for a while, some of them shouldn’t wait. While serious issues are often obvious, sometimes they aren’t - ball joints are one such case.

At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, we know that a huge part of the ride quality of your car, truck, or SUV is how well it keeps road and engine noises out of the passenger compartment. Few things are more annoying on a long commute or road trip than the drone of tires on pavement, the constant sound of your car battling the air outside, loud semi-trucks, and so on.

If you drive performance or luxury vehicle (Subaru, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Land Rover, etc.) you’re aware that you have a complex and precision-engineered machine. When things start to go wrong, sometimes they go wrong in a hurry. Here are some things to watch out for, from Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA.

At Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, we know how annoying a dead battery can be. Here’s some information on the subject, that will hopefully help you understand your battery issues a little better.

Do you have a noisy vehicle? If so, you may need a new muffler or exhaust system from our team here at Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna. The purpose of your exhaust system is not only to reduce the noise but also to redirect fumes away from your vehicle. Redirecting these fumes protects passengers in the car from toxins created by burning fuel.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless chemical that can escape from an unsecured exhaust system, and if inhaled can pose very serious health hazards. If you experience an unusually loud sound coming from your vehicle, it is vital to get your exhaust system checked immediately!

Once your transmission has been replaced and you’re shifting smoothly once more, you’ll probably want to keep it running smoothly. Here are some tips from Ponci's Diesel Center in Fortuna, CA to help keep you reliably on the road.