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!

What is a Timing Belt and When Should it Be Replaced?

We all do the best we can to protect our vehicles and we all make sure to keep them maintained against all possible threats and dangers. However, it should not be surprising to learn that one of the greatest dangers to high mileage cars is also one of the least well known. While we expect and try to prevent cases of engine or transmission failure, the death of many older or high mileage cars is nothing other than a failure of the timing belt. However, in order to understand what makes the timing belt so important and how we can prevent it from failing, we first need to learn a little bit about what it does and what we should expect from specific car models when it comes to life expectancy of the belt.

The timing belt serves a very important part when it comes to making your engine run. Namely, the timing belt is the belt that controls the camshafts in your engine and keeps the entire operation running smoothly. Note that timing belts are present in engines with overhead cams, and are essential to keep these cams turning at the right time in order to keep the engine running. Remember that a camshaft is the shaft that opens and loses the intake and exhaust valves in your engine, both letting air in to create combustion, and venting the exhaust that comes from those explosions. A timing belt must be properly calibrated in order to move in time with the motion of the pistons.

When it comes to engines, the two most important terms to remember when talking about timing belts are “interference” engines and “non-interference” engines. Interference engines have a very, very small amount of space between the valves and pistons, while non-interference engines tend to have a lot more room.

The different types of engines make a major difference when figuring out how bad a timing belt failure can be for your engine. In an interference engine, with little space between the valves and pistons, a slip or break in the belt can send a piston flying into an open valve. When this happens, it is similar to the engine self-destructing, as it will soon become nothing more than an unusable mess of metal. This is not to say, however, that a timing belt failure in a non-interference engine will not be damaging, as it can still cause a great deal of damage to many engine components. Generally speaking, however, a timing belt failure in a non-interference engine will not cripple the motor.

Regardless of what type of motor is present in your car, a failure in the timing belt will cause the engine to suddenly stop. This means that your car will suddenly stop running and you will not be able to get it started again. In all cases, this means calling a tow truck to come pick up your now non-running vehicle.

If all of this sounds like a nightmare, that’s because it can really urn out to be one. Luckily though, timing belt failure is somewhat easy to prevent, and although it may not be the cheapest or easiest operation in the world, it is definitely a better option that purchasing either a new car or a new engine.

Of course, checking to see when your timing belt was last changed is not always the easiest task either. If you have owned your car, and have ever had it replaced in the past, you should have the mileage written down as to when it was changed. If, though, you purchased your car used, there may be a sticker located under the hood of your car that gives the mileage of the last change. If you cannot find this sticker, than it may be better to have the belt changed, just to be on the safe side. If you have the owners manual for your vehicle, it should detail when the belt should be changed.

If you have trouble finding out when exactly the belt should be changed; you could consult either a local mechanic or contact a dealership for the exact number. A good general rule of thumb is that a timing belt should be changed every 60,000 to 75,000 miles, although some belts are designed to last up to 100,000 miles before requiring a change. Regardless though, it is best not to let a belt go more than 80,000 miles or so, even if the recommended change point is a lot higher. Changing your belt early is definitely a lot safer for your engine, and a little money out of pocket can save you a lot of money and a new car in the long run.

Remember, even though you may get your oil changed every 3,000 miles, and do all of your scheduled repair services, nothing can save you from a timing belt failure. Make sure to get your timing belt replaced regularly and by a certified mechanic. It can mean the different between a good running car and useless piece of metal.

What Are the Potential Dangers and Costs of Not Replacing Your Timing Belt Regularly?

Expensive damage can be caused to your engine: Many timing belt engines are “interference motors”, which simply means that the valves would hit the pistons if not kept in proper timing. This is not a problem under normal operating conditions but if the timing belt were to break or jump off the gears, the valves of one or more cylinders would strike the pistons and cause severe and costly damage.

If your car has more than the recommended mileage on the timing belt, you may be operating your car on borrowed time and the cost of replacing the belt is MUCH cheaper than having to rebuild or replace the engine because of damage caused by a snapped/worn timing belt.

Parts can be hard to find to repair damage caused by a failed timing belt: It’s obvious that timing belt replacement as a preventive maintenance measure is often ignored. This is so prevalent, in fact, that many car manufacturers and engine parts manufacturers don’t stock major engine components for timing-belt engines after the required 5-7 years because there will be only a handful of these cars still on the road. It can be quite difficult to find crankshafts, pistons, connecting rods, camshafts and the like for these older engines due to the economic infeasibility for the manufacturers to continue producing these parts for the few cars that they estimate will still be on the road.

In fact, many car manufacturers don’t expect timing-belt driven engines to last through more than two timing belts or approximately 120,000-150,000 miles and, moreover, they actually expect many to be taken out of service with the original belt still installed. Sadly, there are hundreds of thousands of 85,000-90,000 mile timing belt cars in junkyards because the timing belt was never replaced. What a waste when these cars could still be enjoying a useful life had the owner just paid attention to the recommended mileage replacement intervals for the timing belt.

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.