Does my diesel need a smog check in California?

Diesel vehicles from model year 1998 and newer with a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds or less are subject to California smog inspection. Diesels of model year 1997 and older are exempt, as are diesels rated above 14,000 pounds. Your DMV renewal notice is the authority for your specific vehicle. Call with the year and the weight rating and we will tell you what your truck owes.

How often should diesel fuel filters be changed?

Follow the interval in your owner's manual, and treat it as a maximum rather than a target if the truck tows, idles a lot, or takes fuel from stations that turn over slowly. Fuel filters are the cheapest insurance on the most expensive part of the fuel system. Bring the truck and we will look up the schedule if you do not have the manual.

My diesel is hard to start when it sits. What is that?

Three common causes look identical from the driver seat: a weak battery in a two-battery system, a glow plug or controller fault, and air getting into the fuel from a loose fitting or a tired lift pump. Replacing parts in that order is expensive guessing, so we test the starting system and the fuel supply and find which one it actually is.

Do you work on heavy trucks?

Call with the year, engine, and weight rating. Our bay takes vehicles most shops in the valley cannot fit, but there is a limit, and we would rather tell you on the phone than after you have driven it across town. If a job belongs at a heavy-truck shop, we will say so.

Diesel Repair & Service

A diesel earns its keep by working hard and lasting a long time, which is exactly why the neglected ones fail expensively. We service diesel pickups, vans, and motorhome chassis: diagnosis when something is wrong, and the scheduled work that keeps the expensive parts from becoming the problem. Call with the year, the engine, and what the truck is doing, and we will tell you honestly whether the job belongs here.

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Heat is harder on a diesel than on your car

A diesel makes more heat and asks its cooling system to move it in the same desert air everything else is fighting. Coolant that has lost its additive package lets the cylinder walls pit from the inside, and that damage does not announce itself until it is a major repair. Add a load, a grade, and 115 degrees, and the margin disappears. So the cooling system gets tested rather than glanced at: coolant condition, the radiator and charge air cooler, the fan and its clutch, the belt, and the hoses that go hard and split from heat rather than from miles.

Fuel and filters are most of the trouble

Diesel fuel systems run at pressures that leave no room for dirt or water, and the filters are the only thing standing between the tank and the expensive end of the engine. A truck that starts hard, loses power under load, or surges is usually telling you about fuel delivery before it is telling you about the engine. We check filter condition and service history first, look at fuel supply and return, and read what the engine computer has been recording, because a filter is a cheap answer and worth ruling out before anything comes apart.

Hard starting, glow plugs, and two batteries

Most diesels run two batteries, and a weak one drags the other down, which looks exactly like a starter or a glow plug fault from the driver seat. That is why the whole starting system gets tested instead of one part replaced on a guess: both batteries under load, the cables and grounds, the starter draw, and the glow plug circuit a diesel needs to light off cold. Desert heat kills batteries faster than cold does, so a battery that tested fine last winter is a real suspect by August.

Motorhome chassis diesels

A diesel pusher is a diesel chassis with a house on top, and the chassis half is the half that strands you. Our large bay and lifts take rigs that a smaller shop cannot physically fit, which is usually the reason a motorhome gets turned away somewhere else. Call with the year, chassis, and length before you drive it over so the right bay is free when you arrive.

What's included

Diesel engine diagnosis and repair
Cooling system service and pressure testing
Fuel filter and water separator service
Glow plug and dual-battery starting diagnosis
Charging and electrical repair
Scheduled maintenance to the manufacturer interval
Motorhome and RV diesel chassis work

Diesel Repair & Service: questions we get asked

Family-owned since 1981

AAA Approved Auto Repair

12-month / 12,000-mile warranty on qualifying work

32125 Arbol Real, Thousand Palms, CA 92276

Monday – Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Saturday: Closed

Sunday: Closed

Related repairs

Other services at the shop

Where we serve

We serve drivers across the Coachella Valley:

Call (760) 343-3535 See all services at Pete's Automotive