Drivers focusing on their estimated time of arrival can generate horror stories.The most recent was a gentleman who inquired about the purchase of a tire. He said he was traveling down the interstate and heard a “big bang”.
Evidently his front left tire had a piece of tread partially peel off and the remnant was slapping against the plastic fender. By the time, he showed up at our door (about one quarter mile from the exit) none of the fender remained, his plan was to replace the tire and continue on his way.
Drivers tend to be destination driven to the detriment of their vehicles. This shows up in their reaction to a rising temperature gauge. Currently car radiators are constructed of plastic tanks which are crimped to an aluminum radiator core, but previously they were made of copper and brass with the tanks held to the core with tin and lead solder. At times motorists would drive in with vehicles whose radiators had overheated so badly that the solder had melted from the joint.
To get a handle on just how hot such a car would be, consider that the type of solder used in auto radiators has a melting point of 349 degrees Fahrenheit. For comparison, your car’s thermostat opens at 180 degrees and 50/50 mix of coolant and water under standard operating pressure will not begin to boil until about 265 degrees. Most temperature gauges begin to go into the “red” zone when they reach 210 degrees.
For some car owners brake noise substitutes for periodic brake checks as an indicator that brake service is needed, others ignore the noise as well. The worst case of this in memory was on a Lincoln Town Car that had the entire outer surface of the rotor worn completely away. It is this area that comes in contact with the brake pads to stop the car. By the time this car came in, all that was left was interior part of the rotor which attaches to the hub. On that wheel there was literally nothing there to stop the car.
So how can you know that your tires, cooling system or brakes need immediate attention?
Tires – Start with a visual inspection for pressure and wear. If you are adding air on a regular basis or your Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is prompting you to add air, you must assume that you have a puncture and seek professional help. Next look for the wear bars that tire manufacturers provide between the cleats of the tire tread, if the remaining tread is approaching or even with the wear bar you have received the expected useful life from the tire and need to replace it.
Next react to any unusual shaking of the vehicle as you drive. There is probably no other tire condition that will alert you to a serious tire problem as quickly as a tire that has become out of round due to a shifted belt. If the driver cited earlier had reacted at the initial stages of his tire’s disintegration, it would not have led to a lost fender.
Include in your visual tire check, the presence of any gouges or bubbles on your tires and be sure to look at the entire width of the tire for excessive wear. To accomplish this turn the steering wheel to the extreme, so that you can see all of the tread. This is not an all inclusive list of areas of tire concern, but it is a good starting point.
Overheating – Other than running a car after a sudden oil loss, few avoidable conditions are as detrimental as continuing to run an overheating car. Of course, at times overheating is not avoidable, however continuing to operate a hot engine is not necessary.
React immediately to your hot light or rising temperature gauge by safely pulling over to the side of the road. Carefully raise the hood and look for coolant leaking onto the roadway or on other parts of the engine. If you have a leak, you must call for assistance since there is no way to control engine temperature while losing coolant.
If there is no leak- DO NOT REMOVE THE RADIATOR CAP. Your options are to wait until the car cools down and resume driving while watching the temperature gauge or hot light or to call for help. The only safe way to continue on is to react to rising engine temperature by pulling over repeatedly and allowing the engine to cool down.
Brakes – There are many ways owners describe a brake noise that they fear is the sign that they need new brake pads. “A scrunching sound” or a “metal against metal” sound that is in sync with the application of the brakes are among the most common. Actually some brake systems are equipped with a metal sensor that emits a high pitched sound (eeeeeeeee) that usually goes away when the brakes are applied. This sound alerts the driver to a minimum amount of brake pad material being left and the need to redo the brakes.
If you don’t respond to the sensor noise the next sound will be the scrunch which means that all the brake pad material is gone and your rotor is contacting the steel superstructure or frame that holds the pad. The better way to monitor brake pad life is with periodic brake checks starting at about 18,000 miles. Look for comments from your technician like “50 percent remains”. By keeping track of how many miles since your last brake job you can accurately project when you will be due for new brakes.
There are many other brake conditions that signal a need for inspection such as the way the pedal feels an illuminated ABS or BRAKE light or the need to add brake fluid. All of these are reasons to have them physically inspected by a knowledgeable person.
By responding to the warning signs associated with tires, cooling systems and brakes you can avoid the trouble that the failure of these components can cause.
Souce: Personal Experience