Dealing with issues with the car is nobody’s favorite job. One day you’re smoothly driving along the road and the next day you can hear that rattling and that crashing that’s happening somewhere in the engine and you blissfully ignore it. Of course, you do, blissful ignorance always comes up when the car is in trouble, and you don’t have the finances to get things right.
It doesn’t matter that the car is having an issue, what matters is knowing what is happening and whether it’s irreversible or not. Problems with the car are always something that you’d like to avoid, whether they are happening to the windscreen wipers or happening to the adjustable coilovers. Regardless of the issue, you need to make sure that you are doing the required maintenance regularly. Unfortunately, most people don’t care about this, and they will sell a car when the problem starts to appear.
You should always make sure that you know exactly what’s going on with your car so that if you were to sell it, you’re not handing somebody else a vehicle that really shouldn’t be driven. So, here is a list of the most common car issues that you may notice when you own a car, and they should signal to you that now is the time for maintenance.
- The engine has become noisy. Normal engines of cars are quiet. They should technically purr or just gently hum as they are driving along the road, but if you notice splattering common knocking or rattling noise, there could be some trouble going on and you may not know how to fix it. It’s here where you should be going to the mechanic. Car engines have a lot of high oil pressure, and this ensures that there is no metal against metal parts in the engine. When something is wearing down, however, that metal will meet other metal and that’s where the noise tends to come from.
- The dashboard lights are flashing. Your dashboard has a set of lights that will warn you if there’s any car engine trouble. Overheating, all the car needs a routine service, or there are any battery problems there will be a red light pop up to show you. It’s quite clever how modern engines can do this, but your car is designed to keep you safe on the road so that you can get where you need to be in one piece. Most of the modern engines out there now have a control unit that has sensors attached to various components in the engine, and this can enable you to pinpoint exactly what the issue is.
- Your wheel bearings are wearing out. You can hear a wheel bearing when you are driving at high speeds, and if your wheel bearing has gone bad, the noise will let you know straight away. When you are turning left and right, if the noise changes, then you need to get your car checked out as soon as possible.
- You have smoke pouring from the exhaust of your car. Functioning cars are supposed to produce some smoke in terms of exhaust gasses. Usually, it’s completely colorless and when you start your car during winter you notice it. The problem is when smokers are excessive. This is a sign that there is some serious trouble going on within your engine and the colour of the smoke can tell you what’s going wrong. When the smoke is black it can mean that the engine has too much fuel. When it’s blue, there could be oil in the combustion chambers. It’s important to get to know your car and how it runs so that you can tell if something is wrong straight away.
- Your car is eating through the gas. We all see that petrol prices are going up these days, but your car shouldn’t be eating its way through the gas in it. You shouldn’t be going through hundreds and hundreds of dollars within a space of a day or two. If your engine hasn’t been serviced correctly, you’re going to notice that you eat through gas much faster than ever before.
- The tires are starting to go flat. When was the last time you had your tires checked? It’s quite common to experience tyre punctures, but they do also wear out. When the car is wearing out it’s more prone to things going wrong. Your tread wear needs to be checked regularly so that you know whether your car has a decent grip on the road. It’s always recommended that you avoid driving the car beyond the recommended tread wear because you can skid and that can cause fatal accidents.
- Your car keeps stalling. We don’t mean when you’re at a section and you’re looking to cross when the lights are turning green, but we mean when you try to Rev your car in the first place to get the engine going and you can’t do it. When you cross tools like that, you go to an exceedingly kind person with jumper cables to get you out of this sticky situation. This can show that your car battery is no longer able to move the way it should. If your battery is dead your headlights may be dim, you may not be able to power the stereo or AC and you might have issues starting in the morning. If the battery is working fine, then the issue could be with the alternator and that requires a mechanic intervention.
- The starter motor of your car is no longer working properly. Did you know that the battery and the starter motor work together? This cranks up the engine to get the car moving. Replacing the starter motor can be quite expensive, but it is something that you must get replaced sometimes. It should hold up for at least a decade before needing any help.
- You are noticing your braking is taking its time. When you’re driving a car for so long you get used to responding to the way that it moves. So you know when you don’t put too much pressure on the brakes, it’s still going to slow down and stop it with a decent time for you. When the brake pads are wearing out, however, you will notice that the car no longer brakes the way you want it to and it takes its time to stop. If you are reading too hard press the brakes for them to be effective it can be disastrous if in an emergency. Always have mechanics inspect the brake pads for you because they should be able to replace them if they have worn down too far.
- Your engine keeps overheating. This is a particularly good sign that there is some engine trouble going on. The internal systems within your engine do produce a lot of heat, and with the right coolant the engine will cool down. If the coolant is leaking, however, it cannot reach the engine block, and this can cause the car to overheat completely. All this leads to further engine problems that you could have avoided in the first place.
Now that you know all the signs that your car could be in trouble, you should consider making sure that you are getting your car scene to buy regular mechanics. It will help you to learn a bit more about your car and how it runs, and it will help you to see whether there are any other signs out there that your car is going to break down. Once you’ve learned these things, you will know what to look for the next time.
