My Car Doc, The MOBILE Mechanic!

My Car Doc: Auto 101 Tip: Jumpstarting Your Car

It has happened to everyone: you left your lights on by accident and now you have to get a jumpstart. As simple as it seems, there are people that have never had to do it or simply don’t know how. That’s why I’m here to help! 

1. After arranging the vehicles nose-to-nose (don’t allow them to touch), lift both hoods. 
2. You’re going to connect one of the clamps to the BLACK (NEGATIVE) post on the good battery first. This is important because the black post is the ground. If anything goes wrong, you want to be grounded. 
3. Then connect the other black clamp to the other black post on the dead battery. You can also connect it to an unpainted, stong, solid piece of bare metal like an engine mount or engine block. 
4. Now, connect the corresponding RED clamps to the RED (POSITIVE) battery terminals. At this point, you should have red to red and black to black. 
5. Make sure the cables are not in danger of getting caught by any moving parts when the engines start. 
6. Start the vehicle with the good battery. Allow to run 1-4 minutes. 
7. Try starting the vehicle w/the dead battery. If the vehicle doesn’t start after 4 minutes of charging, there is probably a secondary issue that needs to be addressed. Do NOT attempt to keep restarting, this could lead to damaging the starter. 
8. Keep the newly revived car running at least 30 minutes to give the alternator adeuquate time to recharge the battery. This would be an ideal time to have the alternator and battery tested. 

This has been another Auto 101 tip from My Car Doc. If you like what you see, find us on twitter, tumblr, facebook, and online. Thanks!

—John

My Car Doc: Auto 101 Tip: Batteries don’t like cold weather

Winter is super hard on batteries. A battery is a box full of chemicals that produce electrons. The chemical reactions inside of batteries take place more slowly when the battery is cold, so the battery produces fewer electrons. The starter motor therefore has less energy to work with when it tries to start the engine, and this causes the engine to crank slowly. 

What can you do to help prevent battery problems? Best answers:

• keep the battery warm by keeping the vehicle in the garage in a parking garage as much as possible, 
• use an engine warmer like this one,
• have the battery tested to make sure it has enough cold cranking amps to keep you starting time after time this winter. 

This has been another Auto 101 tip from My Car Doc. If you like what you see, find us on twitter, tumblr, facebook, and online. Thanks!

—John

My Car Doc: Auto 101 Tip: Winter Tip: Junk in the Trunk

Junk in the trunk can be a good thing! Hey gang, when driving this winter, keep a bag of sand or kitty litter in your trunk. The rear end of your car is very light; most of the weight is in the front with the driver and engine. What does this mean? With less weight in the back pushing the tires down, there’s less friction of the tires against the road. Less friction means less traction. Less traction means possible spinouts and “uh oh, honey did we send in the car insurance check last month?”

So, if you have cats, get a couple of 25 pound bags of cat litter to keep in the back this winter. Then, in the spring, use them for the cats. It’s a win/win. If you don’t have cats, get potting soil, sand or topsoil. Then, in the spring, use it in your yard. Again, win/win. :) 

This has been another Auto 101 tip from My Car Doc. If you like what you see, find us on twitter, tumblr, facebook, and online. Thanks!

—John

My Car Doc: Auto 101 Tip: Frozen Fuel Lines

Dear My Car Doc, 

My friend says that last year her fuel lines froze in the winter and it left her stranded. I told her that gas is like alcohol and doesn’t freeze and that there must have been something else wrong. Can you settle a bet at the office? 

—Cosmopolitans on Friday Riding On This

Dear Cosmos, 

It’s cold out there, folks. One of the biggest challenges your car faces in weather like this is freezing fuel lines. Fuel lines that feed the fuel from the tank to your engine are made of metal that gets cold really quickly. To top it off, they’re very thin (see bottom for picture). As you know, thin amounts of liquid freeze faster than thick amounts. And while water freezes much faster than gasoline, fuel can still freeze if left in sub-freezing temperatures long enough. What happens when fuel lines freeze? Car no go.

So how can you fight freezing fuel lines? I’m so glad you asked!

• Keep at least 1/4 tank in your car at all times. This is the number 1 thing you can do to prevent fuel freezing. It’s harder for mother nature to freeze large amounts of fuel.
• Use high octane fuel. That’s right, I know it’s pricey, but harder to freeze fuel that’s more potent. 
• Keep it inside. Even in a non-heated garage, your house will trap enough heat in the garage to help prevent freezing issues. 
• Add heet. No, I did not misspell that. Heet is a fuel additive that you can add to your fuel tank that will help keep it from freezing. 

That’s about it. Just keep fuel in your vehicle and keeping it in the garage as much as possible will go a LONG way to help prevent fuel line freeze-up this winter. 

So the real question is….where are we drinkin’ this friday and who is buying the drinks? 

This has been another Auto 101 tip from My Car Doc. If you like what you see, find us on twitter, tumblr, facebook, and online. Thanks!

—John