Battery terminal problem

It is very frustrating when a car battery loses charge over several days of the vehicle not being used. It is also not good for the battery and if this continues to happen in many cases replacement will be necessary.

The most common cause of the battery going dead after sitting for a short while would be a drain from the electrical system on the vehicle. Most often this can be traced back to a light in the vehicle that is either left on or will not turn off automatically.

A couple of examples would be a glove box light or a trunk light. In most cases these types of courtesy lights are supposed to turn off automatically. When they don’t the car battery loses charge.

The automatic operation of these courtesy lights is controlled in most cases by a pin switch but in some older vehicles you can still find the old-fashioned mercury switch. Testing of these items is further explained below. Click on read more.

Courtesy light drains battery

Hot at all times circuit

These types of courtesy lights operate similarly to a refrigerator light. In automobiles the courtesy light is connected directly to the battery and receives power whether the ignition switch is on or off (hot at all times).

In the example of a pin switch or a mercury switch power is supplied to one side at all times. There is no drain on the battery until the circuit is completed by the switch. Note if the bulb is removed the circuit would not be completed as well.

In the case of a pin switch on a glove box or trunk lid when the plunger is depressed it opens the circuit and stops current from flowing. These are usually two or three terminal switches that are easily tested by pushing on the plunger.

Testing for battery losing charge

automotive meter

In the automobile there are some constant drains on the battery that are normal and draw small amounts of current known as a parasitic drain. An example of this would be a digital clock or even the cars computer which has a function known as stay alive memory.

When these parasitic drains become excessive the car battery loses charge and intermittent no start conditions can happen. There are several ways of performing the battery drain test. Some people use a test light connected in series with the positive terminal.

I prefer to use a multimeter or an ammeter that is connected in series with the negative cable. This is where you disconnect the negative side of the cable from the battery and connect one lead of the meter to the cable and the other lead of the meter to the battery.

A good rule of thumb is that the ammeter should read less than .25 amps with everything turned off in the vehicle including the hood light. If you need more information on how to use a meter or want to see my top picks for good ones you can visit my page about automotive meters.

Fixing a battery drain problem

It is best to remove the hood light bulb from the socket when you’re performing these types of battery drain tests. If your readings are high, especially over one amp what you can do is pull the fuses out of the car’s main fuse panel one at a time and observe the meter for any changes.

For example if you pull the courtesy fuse and the meter drops down to a normal condition you have located the circuit that contains the drain on the battery. You can then grab your wiring diagram and see what loads are on that circuit.

Inductive Pickup

An even better way of testing for a car battery losing charge is to use a meter with an inductive pickup. This allows you to leave the battery fully connected to the vehicle and place inductive probe around the positive cable connecting to the battery. This is the preferred method but not everybody has an inductive pickup ammeter or multimeter.

When a car battery loses charge several times it eventually loses its ability to recover from the low voltage condition. Batteries that are exposed to normal heavy drains such as trolling motor batteries or even marine batteries are known as deep cycle batteries. They are designed to be drained and charged several times. The standard car battery is not a deep cycle battery and therefore cannot handle this type of battery drain problem for long.

timing belt

People often ask me about timing belts. Sometimes the question is when or how to replace a timing belt. On Foreign cars your better off getting a service kit (available below). Other times they might be having a performance problem and deep down inside they believe that the belt may have something to do with it.

All automotive manufacturers have recommended maintenance guidelines for this wearable component. Nothing that is made out of rubber will last forever. With the improved technologies used in the manufacturing process cars today enjoy longer life then vehicles just a few years ago. But they will still need to be serviced.

For example when I worked for Mazda many of their engines had timing belts. The manufacturer’s guidelines for replacement in the 90s were every 70,000 miles. Very few customers followed those guidelines. They either didn’t know the part needed to be replaced or ignored the factory’s recommendations.

In these cases we would most often see the vehicle on the flatbed. What was interesting about it was how long the car would actually go past the recommended interval. On Some cars the belt failed at 71,000 miles. On other cars they went as far as 125,000 miles before the belt broke and the car had to be towed.

More about timing belts

Hydraulic Belt Tensioner

The valve train and the camshaft work together to open and close the intake and exhaust valves of the engine. The camshaft is rotated from the mechanical force from the crankshaft. It is the job of the timing belt to keep this relationship on track.

As a timing belt ages some slack can and will develop. This is why many engines with a chain driven camshaft and all engines with a belt driven camshaft use some kind of tensioner. Some belt tensioners are simple and use a spring type that operate in the same way as a serpentine tensioner. Some are much more complicated and use a hydraulic type tensioner.

Even the mighty timing chain can stretch a little and most manufacturers use a spring-loaded nylon shoe to maintain the proper tension on the chain itself. Sometimes these nylon shoes are referred to as timing chain guides. In my opinion a chain driven camshaft is more reliable and will require less service if any.

Replacing timing belts

Honda timing belt kit

I have replaced many in my 26 year auto repair career. The procedures for each vehicle are so different that I always break out a service manual and follow the factory’s guidelines for replacement. The timing belts on a Honda Civic often drive the water pump. In this case you might as well replace the water pump at the same time.

On a Toyota you made need a tensioner compressor. In the case of a Mazda protégé replacing the timing belt is extremely easy and I can do it in about an hour and a half. The hardest timing belt I ever replaced was a complicated set up on a 3.4 L dual overhead cam Chevy Lumina LTZ. That one took me about two days.

So even though people ask me all the time how long is it going to take me to replace the timing belt on my car, unless I have done it several times I really don’t have an answer for them. But I can tell them this, you should stick to the maintenance guidelines that the factory recommends no matter how hard the job is.

Some engines are known as free spin motors and when the belt breaks no damage occurs. Other engines are called interference engines and when the belt breaks it can bend the valves and damage pistons. Be on the safe side and replace the timing belt at the mileage recommended.

When car brake problems develop most often the driver will immediately investigate the issues. This is usually one condition a driver will not put off looking into. When you put your foot on the brake pedal and apply pressure you expect your vehicle to stop with authority. If this doesn’t happen a pleasant drive can turn into a safety nightmare.

ABS warning light

Some drivers are known for putting off car repairs like regular maintenance. Things like oil changes, coolant flushes and tune-ups can seem unimportant when the car is running good.

Often drivers even put off diagnosing warning light problems such as abs lights, airbag light and check engine lights but few will ignore car brake problems.  Let me use my sister as an example (sorry Sis).

I got into her car the other day and the check engine light was on. I asked her how long the light had been shinning in her face. She told me that it’s been about 10 days and she was meaning to talk to me about it. When this same young lady had a brake system problem she called me immediately so that I could diagnose it.

Some common car brake problems

Disc brake rotor

A lot of times drivers will complain about the way the brake pedal feels when they apply the brakes. A sinking brake pedal can give you the feeling that the vehicle may not stop. A common cause of brake pedal fade (but not the only cause) is a braking system that is overheating.

Any braking system must be able to effectively handle the heat created by friction within the system. This tremendous amount of heat created by the rubbing brake surfaces must be conducted away from the pad and rotor and be absorbed by the out side air.

Automotive brakes that do not effectively dissipate heat can experience brake pedal fade during hard or continuous breaking. The linings of the pad can become glazed as well from this heat buildup. The rotor can also become glazed. When you have a glazed rotor and pads the friction action is greatly reduced. To the driver this will feel like the vehicle does not want to stop.

The way I prefer to correct this condition is to disassemble the front brakes and physically sand the glaze off of the friction material. For auto repair safety reasons you always want to wear a dust mask when doing this. On the rotor side either they will need to be resurfaced on a brake lathe or if they are composite rotors they may need to be replaced.

Getting to the bottom of car braking issues

The root cause of the overheated brakes and glazing issue will still need to be addressed after the repairs mentioned above are completed. The cause of overheated brakes can be traced back to a few different things. For one thing it could be the habits of the driver.

A 2 foot driver that constantly hovers their foot on the brake pedal can actually be applying the brakes slightly while driving. This can cause overheating problems because the brakes are continuously applied and they are not allowed to dissipate their heat as they would during normal operation.

Another possible cause of overheated brakes could also be traced back to problems with the braking system. If a caliper is binding and not fully releasing when the brake pedal is released the same results could happen as in the 2 foot driver scenario. When people have a binding brake caliper it also in most cases will cause other problems such as a pulling condition.

When inspecting brake pads and binding calipers are suspected you can often find glazed pads and rotors on only one side of the automobile. Also common with this car brake problem would be uneven wear comparing the inboard pad to the outboard one. If this subject interests you I have built a repair module on the you fix cars website that talks about car brake problems in-depth. Or you can head back to the homepage for this blog for more auto repair information articles

Replacement Brake Pads

Learning about disc brakes would be good information for any driver to be knowledgeable about. You do not have to be a do-it-yourself mechanic to learn more about the subject. This is valuable information because if you own a car you will probably need a brake job sooner or later.

When you take your vehicle into a repair shop they may throw some up sales your way. It is nice to be able to discuss specific problems with your auto repair shop in and knowledgeable way. Even if your car has a highly technical antilock brake system when it comes to the basic maintenance of replacing brake pads this operation is very similar to the way it was back in the 70s.

Maybe the only difference is back then they where disc brakes in the front and drum brakes on the rear. Although some drum brakes are still around today it is most common to see a four wheel disc braking system. This even true for light duty and heavy duty pick up trucks and vans.

Car disc brakes offer major advantages over the drum brake system. The nice thing about disc brakes is they are resistant to pedal fade due to fluid overheating. They are also very resistant to the effects of water such as when the vehicle runs through deep puddles. The rotating of the disc throws the water out using centrifugal force. The squeezing of the pads on either side of the rotor quickly dries the braking surface.

Do-it-yourself brake jobs

Because the braking system is so important to the safety of the driver and the people that travel with them I really don’t recommend performing this operation on your own unless you have a good amount of auto repair experience under your belt.

Premium brake pads

If you are determined to perform your first brake job I recommend that you find a mechanic to stop by and either give you a few lessons or at least inspect your work before you put the wheels back on the automobile. Often I will show friends and neighbors how to perform their own brake jobs.

After some basic instruction and checking their work they are able to perform their own brake pad replacement on future maintenance services without my help. Recently a neighbor decided that he was going to jump in and perform his own brake pad maintenance. He asked me to stop by and take a look.
By the time I got there he had the wheels back on the vehicle and had already road tested it.

As I pulled into his driveway I couldn’t help but notice the smoke pouring off the front wheels. Obviously he did something wrong. We took the vehicle for a short road test and I could feel that the front brakes were dragging or staying applied. His new brake pads were smoking because they were constantly pushed against the rotor.  After we let things cool down and pulled the wheels off I didn’t see anything wrong right away.

I decided to remove the caliper and I instantly saw what he had missed. He replaced the brake pads and took the time to clean the caliper slides. But he did not install any lubricant on the caliper slides before he reassembled the front brakes.  I prefer to use a specialized caliper lube for this operation. It is specifically designed to withstand the extremely high temperatures associated with front braking.

Using any other kind of lubricant can cause problems. I ran home to get my caliper lube and let him lube up the caliper slides. On the next road test we could feel that everything was back to normal. He was able to save money by performing is own brake job and he learned something about solving front brake problems.

This auto repair information blog has more than 130 pages of car repairing articles. This next link will take you to the homepage from this article about disc brakes.