Keeping a Car Alive

Part 1

The fifteen-minute monthly check

Do this on the first Saturday of the month with the engine cold and the car on level ground. It catches almost everything before it becomes a tow truck.

1. 1

   Tire pressure — the single highest-value check

   The correct pressure is on a sticker inside the driver's door jamb, NOT on the tire wall — the number on the tire is its maximum, not its recommended. Check cold, before driving. Under-inflated tires wear out early, use more fuel, and are the main cause of blowouts. Do not forget the spare, which is flat in most cars that need it.

2. 2

   Tread depth

   Put a penny in the tread with Lincoln's head upside down. If you can see the top of his head, the tire is worn out and must be replaced. Check in three places across the tire — wear on only one edge means an alignment problem that is quietly destroying the tire.

3. 3

   Engine oil

   Engine cold and level. Pull the dipstick, wipe it, push it fully back in, pull again and read. Between the two marks. If it is at or below the low mark, add the grade named in your manual, a little at a time, rechecking. Oil that is gritty or milky is a real problem — milky means coolant is getting in, and that needs a mechanic now.

4. 4

   The other fluids

   Coolant level in the overflow tank (never open a hot radiator cap — it sprays boiling coolant). Brake fluid, which should be near the top and clear-ish, not dark. Windscreen washer, which is trivial but is what stops you driving blind into low sun.

5. 5

   Lights and wipers

   Have someone stand outside while you work through headlights, indicators, brake lights and reverse. Brake lights are the ones you can never check alone and the ones that get you rear-ended. Wipers that smear are perished — they are a ten-minute, $25 job.

Part 2

Changing a tire without drama

Practice this once in your driveway on a dry afternoon. Doing it for the first time in the rain on a motorway verge is how people get hurt.

1. 1

   Get somewhere safe first

   A flat tire is survivable; standing in traffic is not. Get well off the carriageway, on level ground, hazard lights on. If you cannot get properly clear of moving traffic, stay in the car with your seatbelt on and call for assistance instead. No tire is worth it.

2. 2

   Set up before you lift

   Handbrake on, in park or in gear, and chock the diagonally opposite wheel with a rock or a block. Get the spare and tools out before jacking, so you are not searching with the car in the air.

3. 3

   Loosen the nuts on the ground

   Crack each nut about a quarter turn while the tire is still bearing weight — anticlockwise. If you try this once the wheel is off the ground it just spins. They are usually very tight; standing on the wrench is normal and fine.

4. 4

   Jack at the right point

   There are reinforced jacking points, usually a notch in the sill just behind the front wheel and ahead of the rear. Your manual shows them. Jacking anywhere else bends the floor pan. Raise until the tire is just clear of the ground.

5. 5

   Swap and tighten in a star pattern

   Nuts off, wheel off, spare on. Hand-tighten all nuts, lower until the tire just touches, then tighten properly in a star or criss-cross pattern rather than going around the circle — that seats the wheel evenly. Lower fully and give them a final firm check.

6. 6

   Then respect the spare

   Most spares are space-savers rated to 50 mph and about 50 miles. It is a get-to-the-tire-shop device, not a tire. Go straight there.

Part 3

Jump-starting safely

Order matters here, and getting it wrong can damage electronics or, rarely, cause the battery to vent. Do it in this exact sequence.

1. 1

   Check it is actually the battery

   Battery: dashboard lights dim or dead, a rapid clicking, engine turns slowly or not at all. If the lights are bright and the engine cranks normally but will not fire, it is not the battery and jumping will not help.

2. 2

   Connect in this order

   Both engines off. Red to the dead battery's positive. Red to the good battery's positive. Black to the good battery's negative. Then the final black clamp goes to a bare metal bolt or bracket on the dead car's ENGINE BLOCK — not to its negative terminal. That last connection is where a spark can happen, and you want it away from the battery, which vents hydrogen.

3. 3

   Start and wait

   Start the good car and let it run a few minutes to put some charge across. Then start the dead one. If it will not turn over after a couple of tries, stop — you are just draining the good battery, and something else is wrong.

4. 4

   Disconnect in reverse

   Exactly backwards: engine-block black, good-battery black, good-battery red, dead-battery red. Then drive for at least twenty minutes to put real charge back in — a short trip will leave you stranded again tomorrow.

5. 5

   Then work out why

   A battery that dies once will die again. Most auto parts shops test batteries and alternators free. A battery over four years old that has gone flat is usually just finished.

Part 4

What the warning lights actually mean

Color tells you urgency. Red means stop, amber means investigate soon, green or blue is just information.

• RED oil can — stop the engine now, safely. Oil pressure loss destroys an engine in minutes. This is not 'add oil later'.
• RED temperature — overheating. Pull over, engine off, let it cool an hour. Do not open the radiator cap hot.
• RED battery — the alternator is not charging. You are running on battery alone and have maybe twenty minutes. Head somewhere useful now, not home.
• RED brake — could be the handbrake left on, could be low brake fluid. If it stays on with the handbrake off, stop driving.
• AMBER check engine, steady — get it read soon. Most parts shops read the code free. It is often something small like a loose fuel cap.
• AMBER check engine, FLASHING — a misfire that is destroying your catalytic converter. Reduce speed and get it seen immediately; this is the expensive one people ignore.
• AMBER tire pressure — check all four cold. Very common in the first cold snap, when pressures drop with temperature.
• AMBER ABS or traction — normal braking still works, but the anti-lock assistance is off. Get it seen.

Part 5

Not getting overcharged

You do not need to know how to do the repair to avoid being fleeced. You need to know how to ask.

• Always ask for a written estimate before authorising work, and ask them to phone you before doing anything beyond it.
• Ask to see the old part. An honest shop will show you without hesitating. The reaction to that question tells you a lot.
• Ask 'is this a safety issue, or can it wait?' A trustworthy mechanic will separate the two honestly.
• Get a second quote on anything over a few hundred dollars. Prices vary enormously for identical work.
• Look up the typical price for the job before you call. Knowing the normal range changes the conversation completely.
• Beware the free inspection that finds several urgent problems at once, especially on a car that was driving fine.
• Keep every receipt in the glovebox. A documented service history is worth real money at resale.
• Find a good independent mechanic before you need one, and then stay loyal. Being a known regular is the best price protection there is.