Have you ever had your car just "die" on you, you try to start it and
it just will not start. You end up calling a tow truck and paying
those big tow bills, then to make matters worse the technician at the
shop tells you that it will cost hundreds of dollars to make it run
again,is that true? Maybe maybe not.
I own and work as a
diagnostics Tech here at Ace Automotive in Lakewood Wa and I can tell
you from experience if some people knew just a little more about their
cars workings they could save a whole lotta money. Say for instance you
are driving at night wipers and heater ,lights and radio on you notice
that the headlights keep getting dimmer and dimmer soon the vehicle
"dies" and now won't start the most likely cause is the alternator has
failed, not the battery because if the battery failed the alternator
would still keep power to the vehicle until you turned it off then it
would not restart.
You are driving for a while and the car just
"shuts off" all the instrument lights come on but when you try to start
it it just turns over but will not start. First it depends what kind of
car this happend to if it was an import like say Honda, acura, toyota,
subaru, nissan, mitubishi, the engine timing belt may have broken (if
it's been more that 60,000 miles since you changed it last time) you
should be able to tell if when you try to start the engine it sounds
different like its just "freewheeling" faster than normal, this is bad
cause most of the import cars mentioned will do expensive damage to the
engine when the timing belt breaks.
If your vehicle is a domestic
one chevy ford ect, be patient wait a little bit maybe 30-45 min and try
to start it if it starts hurray! But it will "die" again once it's hot
enough again, be sure to tell your local tech this valuable information
and ask for all parts they replace to repair your vehicle to let them
know you know something about the car too.
- Randy Harkins Owner / Technician Ace Automotive
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
