Tag: doesn

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How to Diagnose a Dead Car Battery

A car that refuses to start can have any number of things wrong with it, but by far the most common is a dead battery. Rather than paying a tow truck to bring it in to the shop here at Cars for Keeps, there are a few simple ways to diagnose whether your battery is dead or something more serious is amiss.

Here are a few simple ways to check if it’s time to get a new battery or some professional help from a mechanic.

Try turning the headlights on. If you turn the ignition key and hear a “click”, but the engine doesn’t roll over, this is a good indicator that there’s not enough juice to turn the engine. A good way to double-check this is to try the electrical system by turning on your headlights and attempting to honk the horn. If they don’t work, it’s a likely bet your engine is dead. If your lights work but the engine might roll over, there may be a problem with your carburetor or fuel injector, and it’s time to bring it in to Cars for Keeps for some car battery repair.

Check for dirty or faulty battery connections. Put on some non-conductive (latex) gloves, pop the hood and check the cable connections to your battery. If you’re not at all mechanically inclined, simply look for the two large lead terminals protruding from a box, with cables leading out from the terminals. Wiggle the clamps to see if their loose, then reaffix them securely to the terminals. Clean excessive dirt from the lead terminals if they’re dirty, then try starting the car again. If it still doesn’t start, it’s probably time to visit Cars for Keeps for some car battery maintenance.

Try jumpstarting the battery. Just like in Princess Bride, car batteries have different levels of “deadness”. A car battery that’s mostly dead will start when jumpstarted. If the car does jumpstart, you’ll want to make sure the engine is turned on long enough for the car to recharge. If it doesn’t restart, the car battery is likely all dead – or something more serious is wrong. Rather than looking through its pockets for loose change, give us a call.

Faulty alternators, fuel injectors and carburetors can often mimic a dead car battery, so if your vehicle has reoccuring start problems or none of the above tests work, it’s a good idea to have a professional mechanic take a look under the hood. Catching these types of problems before they blossom into a full breakdown can save on hefty repair costs.

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Top 4 Car Myths – True or Untrue?

You hear the craziest things about how to maintain your car. And let’s admit it: most of us DO crazy things – or worse, we do things to our cars based on rumors and myths rather than concrete mechanical knowledge. In an age when most of us get 90% of our car knowledge from movies like “Gone in Sixty Seconds”, we could probably all use a little maintenance myth-busting that helps us know which mythical advice to follow and which to throw out the window.

1) Always keep your gas tank full. This is a major point of contention between my husband and me. Seeing how far I can get the needle to go below the big red E is like a sport for me – if worst comes to worst, I can always swerve to get the last remaining dregs into the combustion chamber. My husband is far more practical and points out the safety of having a full gas tank.

As it turns out, keeping a full gas tank not only means that you can jump in the car for trips to the emergency room without stopping for gas, but it also prevents water from getting in the tank. Particularly during cold winter months, condensed water forms on the inside of an empty tank, causing improper flow and, at times, stalling. I’ve had this happen numerous times; my poor little Focus even conked out on the freeway once when I’d been running it on fumes. Turns out, it just wanted a full tank to push the water out.

2) Premium gas will mean better mileage and fewer repairs. My penny-pinching side is happy to report that this is relatively bogus. With today’s fuel standards, even low and mid grades of gasoline have detergents and other additives that keep everything running smooth. Additionally, the mileage you’ll gain with premium isn’t nearly big enough to justify the cost. Unless you have a supercharged engine or a Hemi, premium doesn’t make much of a difference.

3) Always warm up your car. As unpleasant as it is to slosh through powder in your pajamas, this one is actually an excellent idea, as it benefits both driver and the car. Particularly on those nostril-freezing winter mornings Michigan is so famous for, giving your car a few minutes to warm allows it to move oil and other fluids to where they need to go. The difference in car function can be tantamount to the safety difference between a driver stepping into a warm interior and gazing out of a clear windshield and a driver gripping an icy steering wheel and asthmatically jerking from the cold.

4) Wait a while before going through a car wash after repairs. I was shocked to see in our analytics report that someone had searched the term “how long after repairs can I go through the carwash”, but hey – I’ve believed crazier myths. Let’s let Rob tackle this question: “I am surprised how frequently this question comes up and have found that most of the questioners have had body repairs done to their vehicles where the body man recommended waiting a certain period before washing the car. In the mechanical repair field, there are very few situations where the vehicle cannot be washed or driven right away. If such an occasion arises, typically, the vehicle is kept for follow-up and road testing to ensure a complete repair.”

Safe driving!

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When To Replace Your Timing Belt

Timing belt replacement is the “must-do” service operation which every car owner should know about. Along with that knowledge, we should be aware of whether our engine is considered an interference engine or not. These two bits of information can, at a minimum, save us from unexpected breakdown and in the extreme can help us avoid thousands of dollars in repairs.
Without getting too technical, the synchronization between two internal engine parts (the crank and cam shafts) is accomplished with the help of the timing belt. In the process of these two parts moving the valves open and close in close proximity to the pistons. This constitutes an interference engine, because if the timing belt jumps a tooth on the sprocket on which it rides or the belt fails altogether the valves and pistons will “interfere” with each other.

This collision will cause major damage to the engine. The repair bill will, on older vehicles, often exceed the value of the car. On the other hand, a car whose engine is not configured this way will simply lose power or will not start. While this might be more desirable than facing huge repair costs, it is something that is better avoided if possible.

The motivation for preemptive replacement of the timing belt is obvious. But how do you know when to replace it? There is always the owner’s manual which will indicate mileage of anywhere from 50,000 to 90,000 miles. For a comprehensive list of timing belt service intervals and the type of engine (interference or not) check out About.com.

Some other considerations relative to timing belt replacement are:

1) Is the vehicle leaking any type of fluid that might degrade the belt, if so disregard the suggested replacement interval and replace the belt ASAP as well as repair the leak;

2) Do you know the repair history of the vehicle if it is not verifiable err on the side of safety and replace the belt;

3) Timing belt replacement can be labor intensive. Since the water pump is usually accessed in the same operation you might consider replacing the pump at the same time even if it doesn’t leak. You will save on labor and possibly prevent a pump replacement later on that will also necessitate the belt to be replaced again;

4) To avoid subsequent failure consider replacing sprockets and tensioners that are part of the timing belt system. All components are sometimes sold as a kit and can be less expensive than purchasing them individually.

All service intervals should be followed in order to protect your investment and maintain the integrity of your warranty. In the case of the timing belt, it just makes sense.