Kenvil & Lake Hopatcong Auto Repair

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

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

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

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

2017 Ford Fusion with multiple different electronic issues, from lights and dashboard not working, radio acting weird, and many little random glitches that don't add up. Our technician was able to diagnose the issue and deemed it to be CAN bus-related. These issues are normally very difficult to diagnose or even impossible for some without proper training and experience.     These days, all modern vehicles, from conventional combustion-powered cars to the latest EVs, feature a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. It's the electronic communication system that lets everything  be able to talk to each other including the engine, transmission, body control, and even brakes. It works the same way a computer communicates with its own parts, with 0's and 1's. Literally, multiple pulses or pauses  of electricity (0110101001) just like Morse code. Computers are ab ... read more

It happens to all of us. Yes, we all get older, but that isn’t what I’m talking about. What happens to all of us is emissions checks. Some of us do it more frequently than others… if your vehicle is new. The older your vehicle gets, the more often the state requires us to check our rides. I have to look up where to go for the emissions check. Golly, something that is required becomes so much work! What if it didn’t have to be another chore to do? What if you could get your vehicle repaired and inspected at the same place!? Oh my gosh, that would be awesome! Does such a place exist?? Yes, it does! At Automotive Magic and Magic Lube and Rubber we can do it all! When the time rolls around, and you get the letter in the mail to get your vehicle inspected, it can be easy. You’re reading this so you’re already being educated in the importance of maintenance. The stress of &ldqu ... read more

One of the merit badges offered by the Boy Scouts of America is for Automotive Maintenance. The requirements for this merit badge include safety equipment, tools,and clothing used while checking or repairing a motor vehicle.  Other requirements are understanding general maintenance, vehicle registration, vehicle insurance, understanding the vehicle dashboard, tires, engine, cooling system, fuel system, ignition and electrician systems, drive train, and brake system.  The scouts were also required to install the spare tire on a vehicle. Here at Automotive Magic in Kenvil we hosted this merit badge with the assistance of the merit badge counselor, Brian Kallok, and our General Manager, Albert Stashluk. The scouts had a great environment learning these skills in an actual automotive repair facility being hands-on under the hood of the car, inside the vehicle interior, and experiencing the underbody of a vehicle that was lifted in the air. The scout learned about cars and even e ... read more

  As you know, Automotive Magic prides itself on the people we have on our team. Each one of our crew brings their own unique set of skills and insights that help make the Magic happen.  Over the last few months, we’ve increased and improved our family. With Magic Lube and Rubber finishing off its second month in business we’re really excited that we have in place what we would consider a dream team. And we’ve also filled some pretty significant shoes at the Automotive Magic location as well. If you are at all familiar with darts, we hit a hat trick with this group of gentlemen.  Let's start off with Brandon Birmingham, our new service consultant over at Automotive Magic. Brandon is currently studying at Stratford University. He’s studying automotive and once his education is complete, he’ll have earned his certification as an automotive technician. Brandon is from Budd Lake, NJ, and as a wee little guy he’s always been ... read more