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Winterize!
Winter has arrived early this year, even in the deep south where I live.
If you haven't winterized your car, you should. The coolant on most cars should be replaced every 30,000 with a careful inspection for coolant leaks.
Don't ever remove a radiator cap if the engine is hot and the upper radiator hose is tight!!! Third degree burns can ruin your whole day.
Cracked belts and swelling or rotten hoses should be replaced as well. If you aren't wrench wise, you might want to hire a trustworthy shop. A radiator cap with a dangling return valve should be replaced - if air can come and go at will, the cooling system tends to rust up and those scales will wipe out the seals on a water pump. If your car has over 100k on it you might start thinking about a radiator - those plastic ones (see photo farther down) can fail without warning and turn your vehicle in to a candidate for the junkyard.
Have the battery checked too - hot weather AND cold weather can kill a battery, and most batteries get weaker with age until one morning they just won't start the car.
If your battery has been dead a lot, it's probably on its way out. Unless it's a deep cycle marine battery, it won't handle being completely dead very many times without losing all its life permanently.
It's best to decide when the repairs or made rather than letting some unscheduled failure decide for you.
Important note: Don't work near any battery without wearing safety glasses or goggles!
Simple battery check if you have the "click" when you try to start your vehicle - just because the battery terminals look okay doesn't mean they are: Let's say your vehicle runs just fine, has had no problems starting, and then one day you try to start it and hear the "click." You can check the connections at the battery this way: Step 3 actually should read "have the battery charged and checked," but replacing it will usually be the end of that process, unless the poor connections have prevented the battery from receiving a charge from the generator. If the voltage remains strong at all these connection points you have a bad connection between here and the engine block on the ground side or between here and the starter on the positive side. You may have starter problems, but don't go there until you're sure you have good connections everywhere.
But what if your battery goes dead overnight and you've already replaced the battery? Well, first make sure no lights are burning all the time (including the trunk light and the glove box light), and then try this:
Some folks use a test light for this, but that isn't as accurate as a simple 10 dollar meter like this one. Set the meter up this way (measuring AMPS not volts, and never connect the leads directly to both sides of the battery with the meter set on amps or you'll blow the meter's internal fuse). Make sure you perform this check with the doors closed, the key off, and all accessories and lights off. Current is actually flowing through the meter at this point and the meter is measuring the amount of current that is being drained from your battery.
If you see a reading that is more than 50 milliamps here (0.050) that's enough to kill most batteries overnight unless the battery is very strong and new, in which case it will take a couple of days. Disconnect the alternator and watch the reading. If it doesn't change, open the fuse box under the hood and remove the fuses one at a time, always watching the reading. If a fuse drops the amperage but the amperage is still too high, there may be two parasitic drains. Note: The large fuses typically feed smaller fuses, so if one of the large fuses kills the draw you'll need to move to the smaller fuses to determine which circuit is draining the battery.
One of the most interesting and necessary aspects of troubleshooting is the process of finding out what's wrong. When in the course of chasing a problem we sometimes might want to toss parts at it, and we might sometimes get lucky, but usually we just get frustrated. The parts store, on the other hand, is quite happy.
There are quite a few emails coming in from people who have a problem of some kind, and they're looking for a 'silver bullet.' Let's be honest enough to believe that those are very rare this side of the Lone Ranger's six shooter. One notable exception would be the Honda no-start fix referenced in the "Help Desk Stories" category.
The problem I've been running into is that if I suggest a troubleshooting technique to determine the cause of a problem, then I happen to mention a possibility (such as, for example, the fuel pressure regulator), the emailer doesn't even apply the troubleshooting technique, he usually throws the part at it and then wants more input - in the way of a guess - as to what the problem might be, so he can change another part.
Any good troubleshooter will gather data, interpret the data, and make informed decisions based on the data gathered. When I worked in the field, I started out as a regular line mechanic and then specialized in driveability and electronics because I applied (and developed) true troubleshooting techniques that would pinpoint the cause of the concern. And sometimes I would get calls from mechanics who wanted a silver bullet.
"Have you checked the fuel pressure?" I'd ask.
"Er... no." They would answer. "Check the fuel pressure while the problem is happening and see if you see something there."
Then there were those who would lie to me because they didn't believe the fuel pressure was the problem. I'd ask them what the fuel pressure was, and they wouldn't know, right after telling me they had checked it.
A few days ago I got an email from somebody who described what sounded like a transmission problem. I mentioned something about the torque converter possibly remaining in lockup mode and causing the trouble. The reply that came back was very suspicious.
"We've already replaced the torque converter." That was silly. Nobody replaces the torque converter without checking the electrical and hydraulic circuits first. My reply reflected that fact.
"We've already replaced all that stuff too. What next?"
I had no more time for those yo yos. If they knew how to do all that, they didn't need my help. It was as simple as that.
There are many problems that simply cannot be found without a scan tool, no matter how many parts you throw at it. And yes, there are rare cases where a particular problem has happened enough on a particular car that the symptom can lead to a 'silver bullet' part replacement. That happens about 1 percent of the time.
Finally, we help a lot of people here (meaning they actually fix their cars after receiving our return emails), but some people have problems that simply can't be dealt with long distance.
We don't know all the answers - nobody does. But we try as best we can to help people whenever we can. Sometimes that means taking the problem to a shop. Sometimes that's the only way, even if it costs more to have a professional plug in his scan tool and find the concern.
If my articles are helpful, or if you need help with a specific problem, let us know - you can send an e-mail through the big "Contact Us" link below. Remember to provide make, model, year, and engine size, i.e., "1998 Chevy Malibu, 3.4L engine." Also, the more honest information you provide, the more likely you are to get useful feedback.
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PHOTOS: From a 1998 Escort: 137,000 miles on these plugs.... Notice the black streaks that cross the blue lines on plug number two (second from left). That one was misfiring because it was easier for the spark to run down the outside of the ceramic than it was to pop across the spark plug gap. As spark plugs wear out, they make it more and more difficult on the rest of the ignition components. Coil-on-plug Fords and these coil-pack-equipped Escorts fire their spark plugs three times in rapid succession at idle, and so if you let your Ford pickup, your Crown Vickie, or your Lincoln Town car idle a lot, you stand a good chance of ruining one or more coils, even with good spark plugs! Always replace the plug (or coil) and the wire in a situation like this! If you don't replace the wire, the carbon tracks on the inside of the boot will cause the situation to repeat in just a few miles.
For ten years, I drove to Savannah, Georgia to visit my two sons once a month. When my oldest turned sixteen, he told me his mother and stepfather were looking around for an affordable car. We heard about a dealership that was having one of those Saturday morning hoopla deals where everybody comes to the lot in search of a cheap car - there were a couple of cars that were supposed to be sold for only $50 - obviously a come-on stunt, but it got us over there that Saturday. While we were standing among the gaggle of people who were hoping to get a good deal from this dog-and-pony show, we spoke with a young woman who told us that she and her boyfriend only had one car between them - her down-and-out car was a late '80s Chevy Nova that was kind of ragged and wouldn't start. She wanted $275 for it.
The dog and pony show at the dealership turned out to be unproductive (predictably so), and so we embarked upon the adventure of traveling to the apartment parking lot where this young lady and her boyfriend parked their cars - her Nova had been parked for a couple of months.
The body wasn't bad, but the interior was kind of soiled. What the hey! A sixteen year old boy doesn't need a late model 4 wheel drive pickup (my opinion). He needs a fixer-upper and that's what this was. We opened the hood and found a positive battery terminal that was barely holding on to the post, let alone able to carry current. The negative terminal was all chalked up, and looking to clean the terminal with something that would cut the acid, I asked the girl if she had some Coke.
"What, you mean, pop?" (what else would I have meant?) She brought a can of Coca Cola and I popped the top, poured some on the terminal, and used an old toothbrush and my pocketknife to give it a good scrubbing and a connection. The boys and I made a short trip to the parts store and bought a bolt-on battery terminal for the other post. We installed it on the freshly cleaned positive post and after checking the oil and coolant, we managed to start the car without so much as a pair of jumper cables. The power steering was as stiff as all get-out, and it turned out that the power steering pump was dry. We put some automatic transmission fluid in it and bled the power steering - why it had gone dry was kind of mysterious - there was no visible leak at all. Evaporation? Maybe, but who knows? Would somebody have replaced a hose without filling the pump?
The engine had a steady misfire on cylinder number 3 that turned out to be a low compression problem (from the sound of the spinning engine - three puffs and one freewheeling hole), but the car ran surprisingly well. My son Matt drove it around the block and said he'd take it.
Well, it wasn't that simple. She drove it around the block and decided to keep it. She took out her checkbook and paid me $35 for my trouble (the amount was her decision - I dropped the $35 in the offering plate at church the next morning.)
Her car was the classic case of a vehicle that had deteriorated due to neglect. The things we did were repairs she could have made herself, but she didn't have the confidence to even try. Do you?
A Tip for Today:
Two things you might consider replacing if your car has more than 120,000 on the clock, and neither is part of regular maintenance schedules!
1 . Plastic radiators (prevalent on today's vehicles) like to crack without warning and spill all your coolant - this problem can be an engine destroyer on a long road trip. The radiator cap should be replaced every 50,000 miles or so and the coolant should be replaced religiously.
This radiator only had a small crack, but it was enough to cause some pretty deadly overheating.
2. Spring Loaded Belt Tensioners: Another odious failure that is subject to happen without warning is the widely used spring loaded belt tensioner - that baby can pop suddenly and leave you in a lurch - toss one in the trunk, but buy a good one - sometimes they're cheaper at the dealer (believe it or not) than they are a the parts store, and OE tensioners are just about always better quality than the aftermarket ones.
We depend on our cars very heavily, and they deserve more than gasoline. Ever wonder why some people get two or three hundred thousand miles out of a car and some people seem to run their vehicles into the ground early on?
Above: High mileage spark plug - when they look like this, you need a set of new ones...
KEEP Scrolling Down
This is a 250,000 mile Grand Prix (97 model) with the original upper radiator hose still holding pressure (barely). I noticed this swelling hose (below) while revving the engine - had this hose burst with the engine at 210 degrees, well, it's kind of hard to finish the thought.
Granted, some cars give more trouble than others, but simply speaking, it you'll be nice to your vehicle, it'll be nice to you. Change oil every 3,000 to 5,000. Don't ignore the "Check Engine" light, either, because it can't tell you if you have one problem or five, and when you finally decide to get it handled, you could need several hundred dollars worth of parts - fix what happens as it happens and you'll be better off.
Replacing the battery without cleaning the terminals is downright silly - the photo you see was taken on a 2005 Dodge Caravan - look at all the corrosion and problem connections on this terminal...
Make sure you don't make frequent short trips on any car - it always needs to get warm before you shut it off, because engines make water in the combustion chamber and some of it inevitably blows by the piston rings - on a hot engine, the manufactured water that makes it to the crankcase is processed by the PCV system. So what happens when the PCV system can't process and eliminate the water vapor?
These parts fell prey to an inadequately operating PCV system, and a cold running engine (like the one granny drives a mile to the store and back) will cake up like this eventually - this can be an engine killer when it finally clogs the oil pump screen!
Ford vehicles have a sensor that monitors EGR flow, and in order to do that, the sensor has two silicone hoses connected to the EGR tube. When one of the hoses splits and begins spraying hot exhaust on the underside of a plastic intake plenum, well, you get the scenario you see below. This one would start and die and this is what we found.
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Replace the timing belt at the recommended interval, or you could be sitting beside the road somewhere -it's better if YOU choose the time when the belt is replaced rather than letting the belt choose when to strip or snap!
Here's an e-mail I got from a subscriber:
"My wife and I were driving to florida from NC when our 2004 kia rio broke down. The timing belt broke and subsequently the entire engine needs to be replaced. We still owe $7000 on the kia. My question was would you advice at sinking another $3000 or so dollars into the kia with 90000 miles."
Question: Could the above scenario have been avoided? You bet! And while the labor to replace a timing belt might be a little pricey, it wouldn't have cost $3000.
Let's go on to say that not all engines destroy themselves when they jump time. Toyota Camrys don't. Ford Escorts with single overhead cam don't. But there are some engines like the Kia that will suffer tremendous damage when the cam and crank are spinning and suddenly lose the connection provided by the belt!
High mileage timing CHAINS can fail as well. The photo below illustrates how a catastrophic failure can happen at extremely high miles (240,000), even if the camshaft is chain driven!! The piece of metal that fouled this chain was once a part of the timing chain damper you see bolted to the block just above the fouled gear. The chain got loose enough and slapped against the damper until part of the damper dropped into the chain and made a couple of rounds.
Ignoring brake noises isn't such a good idea either...
And if you're going to fix brakes, do it right... what's wrong with the picture you see below?
What about gas mileage? Did you know your car has 40% more WIND resistance at 65 mph than it does at 55? It's a proven fact. So if you drive slower (and keep your tires at the right pressure), you 'll generally get better fuel economy. Keep the jackrabbit starts to a minimum - that'll help too.
For a more comprehensive expo on car care, click here: Car-Care-Seminar
We just put our forum online - feel free to start some new threads!
R.W.M.
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