NET Auto Services

NET Auto Services At NET Auto Services, we pride ourselves on quality repairs, honest service, and a commitment to customer satisfaction.

Whether it’s routine maintenance or complex repairs, we’ve got you covered! Your car deserves the best—visit us today!

Can I come into the out now? When transfer case internals wish to become externals.
05/29/2026

Can I come into the out now? When transfer case internals wish to become externals.

Dash out Tuesday for this RAM. Another one with a heater core failure.
05/19/2026

Dash out Tuesday for this RAM. Another one with a heater core failure.

What a lovely location for this vehicles starter. This vehicle is in for an engine replacement, but this makes you want ...
05/15/2026

What a lovely location for this vehicles starter. This vehicle is in for an engine replacement, but this makes you want to put a new starter in while we are here. Oh Nissan engineering is so fun.

Almost had it Toyota, almost. It is nice to see they added a drain spout for the oil filter. However, it drains directly...
05/12/2026

Almost had it Toyota, almost. It is nice to see they added a drain spout for the oil filter. However, it drains directly onto the front cross member if one doesn't attach a hose to redirect the flow. I give Toyota an "A" for effort and an "F" for ex*****on.

Why do places do this? They can't get the old sticker off, so they just stick the new one over it. Take some pride in wh...
05/08/2026

Why do places do this? They can't get the old sticker off, so they just stick the new one over it. Take some pride in what you do and a couple of extra minutes to do the job right.

Let's have a quick discussion on the importance of installing brake pads in the correct orientation. Generally speaking,...
02/17/2026

Let's have a quick discussion on the importance of installing brake pads in the correct orientation. Generally speaking, it's self explanatory which brake pad goes on the inside vs the outside of the rotor. However, in some cases, the difference may not be obvious, especially to a DIY person.

I recently replaced rear brakes on a 2013 Ford Escape. It originally came in for a wheel bearing. During the wheel bearing removal process, I noticed it was abnormally difficult to remove the brake caliper. This can happen when the rotor develops a deep lip at its outer edge from normal wear. However, that was not the case. Once the caliper was removed, the cause was immediately recognized. The brake pads had been installed in the incorrect orientation. The inner pad was installed in the outer location and vice-versa. This creates some problems.

If you look at the first picture, you will see little metal nubs inside the circles. If you look at the second picture, you will see two holes inside the circles. That second picture is the brake caliper piston. Those holes are used in conjunction with a special tool to screw the piston back into the caliper. Those holes do not align with the metal nubs in the lower brake pad seen in the first picture. The upper pads nubs are spaced further apart and set horizontally so not to interfere with the piston pushing against the pad. The lower pads nubs are closer together and spaced vertically as to not interfere with the out portion of the caliper.

When these pads are installed incorrectly, you get damage to the caliper piston and uneven pressure applied to the brake pads as seen in the last picture. Did this create any noticeable loss in brake performance? I doubt it. Is what it did cause was the premature replacement of the brakes because of the uneven wear. The damage to the holes in the caliper piston was almost severe enough as to prevent the special tool from fitting, which would have required the calipers to be replaced as well.

So, the takeaway, especially for any diyer, make sure you orient the brake pads correctly.

02/08/2026

This turbocharger came off a newer Honda Civic - turbocharger compressor wheels are not supposed to wobble like this, ever.

The most likely cause of failure? Poor vehicle maintenance.

Modern vehicles, especially turbocharged ones, are highly sensitive to oil quality and service intervals. This failure was almost certainly preventable with timely maintenance. My recommendation is oil and filter changes every 5,000 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first.

Many manufacturers now stretch oil change intervals to 7,500–10,000+ miles. In my experience, owners who follow those extended intervals tend to face higher overall repair costs compared to those who stick to the 5,000-mile schedule.

Do your vehicle - and your wallet - a favor: stay on top of your oil changes.

So, I took this photo a few months back, with the intentions of creating a post at the time. Well, got busy and here we...
01/24/2026

So, I took this photo a few months back, with the intentions of creating a post at the time. Well, got busy and here we are, lol. You are looking at a two water pumps for a Mercedes Benz. Quick background on the car. It was traded in to a dealership, and the owner provided that dealership with recent maintenance history. One of those recent repairs was a new water pump and thermostat by a repair shop. Car was sold and new owner experienced overheating issues only when stuck in traffic. The out of town dealership had the customer bring it to my shop for diagnosis and repair. Being a German car, the first thing I asked the dealer before even popping the hood is do they know if oem parts had been used. They couldn't confirm. Upon inspection, I could tell the water pump was not oem, but the thermostat was. I recommended we start with putting an oem water pump in.

The top water pump in the pictures is the aftermarket one, and the bottom one is factory Mercedes. Can you spot the difference? I'll give you a hint, its not the color.

The difference is the Mercedes water pump has a plastic deflector/guide plate covering the impeller of the water pump. The purpose of that piece is to help control the direction of coolant flow. Without it, the car overheats at an idle. The aftermarket water pump has provisions to attach the plastic piece, but the prior mechanic clearly opted not to make the new part look like the old part. Sometimes thats fine, but I find when it comes to German cars, its best to make the new part look like the old part or you'll be doing the job again.

Happy New Year to everyone. Its been super busy at the shop over the holiday season. The holidays are great, but man I'm...
01/20/2026

Happy New Year to everyone. Its been super busy at the shop over the holiday season. The holidays are great, but man I'm happy to get back to a normal schedule.

What better way to get back into the swing of things and get the new year started than with a good old interior job? Well, this 2020 RAM fits the ticket. Customer stated there is a colored liquid leaking on the passenger side floor. Sure enough, there is. Coolant, to be exact. That means one thing, a heater core failure. That also means one thing, a full dash removal. I will give it to Dodge on this one, they did a good job on the engineering side of things by making this dash not to terrible to remove.

While we are in here, this one is getting the A/C evaporator core replaced as well. Its a fairly common failure on these vehicles, so better to spend a little extra now than a lot extra later.

When your work neighbor with the forklift moves away and takes his forklift and you have dead cars that need pulled into...
10/12/2025

When your work neighbor with the forklift moves away and takes his forklift and you have dead cars that need pulled into the shop, well you improvise. I could buy a forklift, but they are expensive and when you are by yourself, they are not exactly the best choice for dragging cars around. At least not for me anyways. So doing some research, I see people using a winch that's bolted to the shop floor. Now that is a great idea. So I went and bought an inexpensive winch and made a mounting bracket to raise the winch up off the floor. It came out pretty good. I'll be putting it to the test this month with all the non-running cars currently at the shop.

Address

245 Skyway Boulevard Unit C
Belgrade, MT
59714

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+14064516805

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