Car tips.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

Remember that some older GM's be havin' right AND left handed threads on the wheel studs. Make sure the genius at  Joe's discount tire shack knows too or he'll muck it up fer sure.

A little ground pepper in the radiator will fix a small crack TEMPORARILY.

[Hoowil]

The trip mileage tends to reset itself whenever it feels like it.  Odometer works fine, but trip mileage is cranky.  I usually use it to gauge my mpg.
That sounds like a loose connection, if none of the rest of the dash functions are having problems, it might be inside the instrument cluster. If so, that can get costly. Its more of a hastle, but track your odometer reading to find milage. Probably just stating the obvious.

The sliding side door won't work.  I have it turned off right now because otherwise the vehicle (2000 Pontiac Montana) makes a strange beeping noise.  The door opens and closes just fine manually. I haven't dealt with power slidign doors too often, but it could be a problem with the motor, or the drive cable. If its making a beeping noise, its getting a signal form the control, at least at the receiver end. Do you live in an area that gets snow/ice/cold? Ice in a door track or sliding mechanism can cause damage if its openned when frozen together, just like power windows.

Rear wiper won't work.  I think the motor is shot, but it's going to stay that way because I don't feel like ripping the hatch apart to install a new one.  If I'm really lucky, I'll get it to work when I'm messing around with the fuses and such - if not, oh well.  I lived without a rear wiper for many years, so it's no big deal. First, of course, check the fuses. If you have something that can check circuit continuity, even a cheap multimeter from Kragen, turn the switch on, and see it the circuit from the non power side fuse terminal and the negative battery tterminal, or any metal on the body. If not, there is either a bad connection, bad switch, of bad motor. From there, its testing each componant. Or just not worrying about it.

There's something going on with the battery/alternator/voltage regulator.  Sometimes - but not every time - I notice the lights doing a little disco thing....quite rapidly flashing brighter then going back to normal.  They're not getting dimmer then going back to normal, so I'm disinclined to think the alternator needs replaced yet.  A mechanic checked it and said it's reading out at around 16 volts, which is, of course, a bit higher than normal. This might be one to worry about. Sounds like a voltage regulator, which most likely for that ew of a vehicle is inside the alternator. High charging voltages, usually above 15 volts, can lead to early battery failure.  Keep an eye on things, and watch the battery. If it starts to swell, or look distorted, or leak, its time to get both taken care of.

Frequently, when I start it I get a whiff of gasoline.  I don't like the mileage I'm getting from it, but I'm not sure if the two are related, or if the low mpg is just due to the sub-standard gas we're being sold at ridiculous prices.  If you smell gas, it means there is a leak somewhere. It could be an EVAP leak, but that new of a vehicle should have a check engine light on for that, as they runautomatic vacuum tests on the EVAP system. If you're loosing fuel, from a cracked line, poor ignition, leaking pressure regulator, or whereever, it will drop you gas milage noticably, and could effect the engine performance. When you get a chance, pop the hood. Turn the key to on, but don't start. Look around the engine for any wet spots, and sniff around. If you can't find anythign in a couple minutes, cycle the key on and off, and try again. Modern fuel pump run for 3 seconds whever the key is first turned on in order to build proper running pressure. This may help finding a leak.

Well, I've probably been near completely not helpfull. Let me know how things go.

[Lady Christina de Pond]

How long is a battery usually good for?

[PurpleDragon]

How long is a battery usually good for?

A number of factors come into play.

1.  When was it manufactured?
2.  How long did it sit on the store shelf?
3.  What does the battery itself state (should be a sticker on the battery, or a sign when you bought it).

All in all, I would recommend 3 - 5 years, but that truly depends on the battery itself and how much usage it actually gets.  The battery is technically only to start your car and MAYBE run some electrical when the engine is not turned over.  Doing this will drain the battery faster and will shorten the life, so if you sit there and just run the radio all day, you are causing the battery life to shorten.

[Lady Christina de Pond]

reason i wonder is because my truck wouldn't start this morning Mom is thinking it's the battery i bought the truck new in the last few weeks of 2001 and been driving it every since.  I'm just hoping that it's the battery

[PurpleDragon]

What is the truck doing when you try to start it?  What noise are you hearing? Might help with the troubleshooting if we know more details.

[Lady Christina de Pond]

makes like a utt utt utt sound

[anne of oaktower]

makes like a utt utt utt sound

OMG, NOOOOO!!!  NOT the dreaded utt utt utt sound!

              *just kidding*

I just hate it when I try to explain a sound and either (1) the car won't make the sound when someone else is listening, or (2) they do happen to hear it and it is inevitably one of the most expensive repairs they've ever had to do.

[PurpleDragon]

makes like a utt utt utt sound

I'm going to venture a guess here and translate the "utt utt utt" into the ticking sound made by your starter.  The FIRST thing I am going to recommend is to take it to an Auto Parts place,  I know we have AutoZone here and they will run an electrical/ignition system test to determine what the problem is. You might be lucky and it may only be your battery. 

When it does finally get running does it run smoothly?  Do you have any other issues during operation? Does it start okay later on in the day? 

[Hoowil]

Most batteries are supposed to last about 7 years. Or at least the quality ones. If the battery wasn't the original stock one, it should have a date of sale mark on it, usually little circle stickers that peal out of the lable.
Does it sound like anything is moving when you turn the key?
Do your dash lights work? Turn on the lights before trying to start the truck. If everything just kind of fades, and the noise is a little quieter or stops, it'll probably be the battery.
If you have jumper cables, try jump starting it. If it fires up, then its probably a battery issue. However, if once started you pull the cables, and it dies, then the alternator isn't putting off enough juice to run the engine, which means the car ran off the battery alone. Sometimes you can save the battery from that, but it can kill it to the point of no return as well.
What type of truck is it? Manufacturer, model, year, engine type and size, all that fun stuff?

[Baron Doune]

Also see if you've got a good negative ground on the battery.

Check the black clamp at the negative battery post.  If it's loose, where you can move it by hand.

Used to think the utt utt sound was starter too but a few years ago I found that dead batteries do the same thing.  Almost the exact same sound as a bad starter.

Alternators are not that hard to replace.  Call around for a rebuilt or use one.  Most auto part stores will check the old alternator too. 

You also might want to check the belts before replacing it.  Too much sage in the belts can cause trouble too.  (A squealing noise is a sure sign that the belt is slipping.)

Follow Hoowil advice it's good.

[Baron Doune]

Good news on the fix it for cheap front here.

The kid and I were working on his gal's Oldsmobile.  Usual stuff, no money to get it fixed at the shop had to be done on the cheap.

Back strut was shot (I kept calling it the shock absorber) and what I would call the back leaf spring was shattered. (kinda like a leaf spring that goes from one tire to the other in the back.)

Took us a week to get it done, in the evenings.  Total cost about 120 bucks and some bloody knuckles.

All is good!

[Baron Doune]

Almost forgot...overheating thing.

Picked up some degreaser the other day and sprayed it on the front of the radiator.   Rinsed it off with the hose.  200,000 miles of gunk was washed away.

Overheating problem is now gone even in 90 degree traffic.

[Welsh Wench]

HA! Ya wanna talk overheating problems?

When the Bug had a new engine put in, the guy forgot to plug up some exhaust hole in the sheet metal.
The exhaust heat was being blown back into the engine and past the block in the back of the engine. Some firewall I guess.

Well..in the fuel filter where you can see the gas, the gas was literally boiling.
Yep..VAPOR LOCK!!

So I let the car cool down and went back and kind of 'burped' the fuel lines.
Yeah, I know a bit about cars...

It started, the hole is plugged, the sheet metal is bolted back together and hopefully the gas won't boil again.

An air-cooled car needs all the cool air it can get!

[Baron Doune]

Kiddo aka WW, there are so many morons out there....my sis in law got a VW btw.