Breakdowns are an inevitability of the road. It doesn’t matter how new or old your car, not everything runs perfectly forever. And there are some causes of breakdown that are more common than others.
That’s what we’re going to look at here today.
The most common cause’s vehicles stop running and how you can prevent and fix them.
Flat battery – Not many people think about the battery in the car. They leave the lights on, the radio blaring and the air con on – all of which can seriously drain your battery. Old age, bad cells, an alternator failure are a few other ways that your battery could go flat.
To prevent this happening to you out of the blue you should check the cars battery once a month. Most are sealed, but if yours isn’t check the water level and fill it with distilled water when the level drops.
Flat tyre – One of the most common causes of emergency callouts is a flat tyre but it’s so easy to prevent.
All it takes is for you to check the tread each week. And remember, the minimum depth is 1.6mm. Check them over for any damage while you’re there too. If there’s a piece of glass sticking out of it, you’ll want to replace it.
If it’s under inflated you’re going to find longer stopping distances and tougher handling as well. So the pressure of your tyre is important. You can purchase machines that’ll check the pressure, but if you aren’t confident in doing it yourself you can take it to your local garage.
Electrical – We’re finding that electrical faults are responsible for more and more breakdowns. And unfortunately, there isn’t much that you can do if the electric packs in on your vehicle.
The best thing to do is keep your eye out for any hints that there might be an electrical fault and catch them early. As soon as you spot something amiss take it to the garage.
Engine overheating – We’ve all seen it. On a hot summer day there’s a car pulled over at the side of the road, smoke billowing out of the engine. Engine overheat.
This could be down to a number of reasons.
One is a stuck thermostat. If it becomes stuck closed, it blocks the flow of coolant to your engine.
Another cause is a leak in your car’s cooling system. If you’re losing more coolant than there is getting to the engine it’s bound to overheat. Check for leaks underneath the car. You can check in places like the hoses and wells of your radiator for holes and if you can’t locate the leak, it needs taking to the shop to have the pressure system checked.
The third could be an overheating cooling fan. Commonly, there are two types of fans. One’s electrical another mechanical. If it’s the former in your car, then it should come on when the vehicle reaches operating temperature or when you switch the air con on.
The mechanical will run all the time, but has a clutch that throws it into overdrive when the engine starts to seriously heat up. You can check leakage at the fan clutch.
We’ll take a faulty car off your hands
Sometimes it’s simply down to the age. The older a car becomes the less consistent it is. If yours is becoming a problem, why not give us a call?
Here at Sell Your Problem Car ® we can take your old vehicle off your hands in no time for cash.Posted in Blog
