Kenvil & Lake Hopatcong Auto Repair

Here in the Northeast, we are pretty savvy when it comes to driving in extreme weather conditions. Although we just experienced the mildest January and February we’ve seen in a long time,it’s predicted that as with all good things, this must come to an end. I guess it kinda serves us right for getting all psyched for spring when clearly we have weeks and weeks of winter to go. Don’t think poorly of the weather man, he's just trying to get it right. However, I could do without the endless memes and snowflake icons popping up all over the place.  Prior to the heatwave we had in January, we took some time to put together a list of things every motorists in NJ should keep in your vehicle in case of an emergency. It should go without saying, but if you don’t have a good ice scraper or brush in your car, they should be number one and two on your list. After that it’s some common sense items and then a few that we feel are necessities. If you are aware ... read more

If you feel like you’ve been burned by an auto repair shop in the past, you’re in good company.  Some surveys suggest that as many as 3 out of 4 people feel like they have been overcharged for auto repairs or worry about being overcharged for services they may not even need.  As with most things in life, knowledge is power, so the more you know the less likely you are to be targeted for overcharging.  Here’s a helpful guide to answer the question: how do you know if an auto shop is legit? Signs That an Auto Shop is Legit Honest, forthright auto shop owners and technicians tend to exhibit similar actions, accolades, and business practices. They include: Ethical Auto Repair Shops Will Provide Written Estimates Shops need time to properly inspect your car in order to provide a written estimate so steer clear of shops that resist quoting you an estimate. Trustworthy Shops Will Have the Receipts to Prove Dedication to Their Craft Trustworthy auto repai ... read more

Here we have a 2013 Nissan NV2500 V8 that has suffered what we call “catastrophic failure”. Upon inspection, our tech Jay found that multiple connecting rods blew a hole clear through the oil pan sending shrapnel and oil all over the road, and cracking a couple of the pistons. The connecting rod links the crankshaft and the piston together, and takes the abuse of every single explosion the combustion chamber brings. These rods push the crankshaft and cause it to spin, which spins everything else in the motor as well. Now, this is not a normal issue that we run into every day, but unfortunately, we have seen it many times in the past. This kind of failure happens due to a lack of lubrication. Without proper lubrication, there is more friction which causes things to wear faster or fail. A couple of reasons why you might run into lubrication problems could be from old oil that has lost its viscosity, water in the oil, a bad oil pump, clogged oil ports, oil burning, or not eno ... read more

Recently while being a passenger with a much younger driver it came to my attention that new drivers don’t know about the dangers of tailgating. And I’m not talking about a 17-year-old who just got their license either (the written test for those drivers might at least still be fresh in their mind) I’m referring to twenty-somethings who have been at this driving thing for some time now and should now be safe and reliable drivers. However as I held on for dear life, jammed my foot to the brake pedal that wasn’t there, made the sign of the cross while praying that this was not the end, and even closed my eyes on a few close calls, I had to speak up. I get that I’m “old” in the eyes of the company I was in, but I really felt uncomfortable being shotgun for this ride. I felt even worse for the backseat passengers. So, after yet another near miss and me holding my breath I calmly asked the driver ... read more

Do you ever find yourself having to fill up your tires with air every once and a while? You think you may have a leak, so you take it somewhere to have it checked out and what do you know, you are told that your tire is fine. But how could that be? It was obviously low and losing pressure somewhere.  Most people are unaware that tires are almost constantly losing pressure. The compound and structure that make up a tire is actually filled with tons of microscopic pores, similar to your skin. This causes the air to leak out of the tire at an extremely slow rate, even if you don’t have any puncture in the rubber. One way to battle this slow leak is with Nitrogen. Nitrogen molecules are bigger than Oxygen molecules, so they have more trouble leaking through the tiny pores.  Another benefit of using Nitrogen is that temperature does not affect it like it affects regular air.. If you live in an area where there are drastic temperature changes, you may notice that your tires ... read more

One thing that we know for certain is that tires for your car or truck are expensive. The higher quality and longer lasting they are the price naturally increases. The bummer is that we can’t drive without tires and we shouldn’t drive with tires that are in poor condition, for safety reasons alone you should always make your tires a priority no matter where you live.   Here in the northeast, we have weather conditions that cause damage to the road surfaces, and ultimately can cause damage to your tires and your car in general. Getting a routine alignment check at Magic Lube and Rubber is a service that we offer to all of our customers. When your car is in alignment it ensures that your tires are in contact with the road surface evenly and can actually extend the life of your tires.  When your vehicle is in proper alignment you can avoid premature tire wear and detect if your steering and suspension are not at their proper settings.  ... read more

GMC Acadia, Crank But No Start.  Here we have a GMC Acadia with a crank but no start condition. No matter how long you try to crank the engine, the most you may get is a sputter if you're lucky. After running a few diagnostic tests, our technician Jay was able to prove that the SUV has spark and fuel, which leaves only one thing left to test for, compression. After compression testing the cylinders and also adding compressed air into the spark plug holes, (also known as a cylinder leak down test) he was able to confirm that the engine does not have good compression and is also leaking air into the intake and exhaust manifolds. Digging a little deeper proves the engine is out of time, this is a very common issue with these engines as the timing chain stretches and the guides wear down past the point the tensioner can keep the engine in time. Timing in an engine simply put is the synchronization of the top half of the engine (camsh ... read more

Heidi joined our team in 2020 as our Marketing Manager and Creative Director. “What doesn’t Heidi do with us?” is a way easier question to answer. She works with the team building rapport between us and our clients, managing the marketing and social media, is the editor of the Magic Hour monthly newsletter, coordinating our special events, video production and all our photography. At the birth of Magic Lube and Rubber, Heidi put to use her passion for design and decor to help the vision of MLR come to life, and we all love her for her creation! She comes with a background in sales, automotive marketing, advertising, and photography.  With Heidi’s arrival the Magic Hour newsletter began!  A Jersey Girl through and through, Heidi is a native resident of Sussex County, She got her degree in photography from the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. Previously, she owned and operated Images by Heidi and spent many years as a sales and marketing executive for ... read more

Ryan Herbst comes to the Magic Family having decades in creating breakthroughs in business in other industries. He spent 9 years with Starbucks in the early days as a fixer- turning around unprofitable stores in a matter of months. He has also spent 8 years in the biologic industry where compliance to federal and international regulations was centerpiece, giving him unique insight into the balance between public safety and profitability. Most recently, Ryan was a Landmark Staff member for 7 years, leading the company in exceeding targets all while coaching hundred of individuals to cause their own breakthroughs in personal and professional performance goals. He has been with the Magic Team since June of 2021 in the role of "Implementer." He brings a suite of executive coaching, planning, forecasting and execution skills with him that has had us expand and open our second shop! His doggie, Fritz, is almost old enough to vote, and has a deep love of making beauti ... read more

Petro "Pete" Chang is a graduate of Wyotech and specialized in automotive and light-duty diesel. He has over 13 years of experience in the automotive field. He brings with him first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of the auto repair industry and has played a key part in the business aspects. There isn't too much Pete doesn't know about how to get things done around the shop and he is enthusiastic about each challenge that is put in front of him.   Not only is he experienced with vehicles, but he is also very in tune with customer relations and cares for both the client and their vehicles, always setting the bar at the highest level.    We are excited to have Pete and his many talents on our team and we know that our clients will benefit from his passion for everything automotive.    Pete is an avid outdoorsman. On his time off, he enjoys being out in the woods, bow hunting, out on the water with his rod and reel, o ... read more