A quick fix for small leaks. For flat tires with small leaks, emergency aerosol sealants and inflators like Fix-A-Flat can be used as temporary solutions that will allow you to get to a mechanic. You may need to add air before sealing the leak, so a portable compressor will come in handy. These products will not work on a leak that is too large or on a completely flat tire. They should be used only when absolutely necessary, as they may cause damage to the expensive tire pressure monitoring sensors present on cars manufactured from 2008 on; these are the sensors responsible for illuminating that handy low tire pressure light on your dashboard, so you don’t want to mess with them.
Sealants and inflators may prevent the tire pressure light from working properly.
Steering: Navigating Your Chariot
With nothing but the slightest nudge of the wheel, you glide your 4,000-pound baby into the tightest parking spots and around the gnarliest turns. It’s time to talk steering, the system that allows you to navigate winding mountain roads or dodge through rush-hour traffic. The steering process involves force, fluid, and all the metal rods and links that connect the steering wheel to the wheels on your car. But if one of the links in that chain is compromised, all that Fahrvergnügen can go flying right out the window.
Without power steering, even the combined force of two adult humans cannot steer a car. Just as with your car’s braking system, you’ve got hydraulics and a Super Mario Bros. power boost to thank for the fact that you don’t need a superhero’s biceps to exert total control.
Anatomy of Your Steering System
The process of steering a car starts with a casual turn of your hand on the wheel, command central for navigation. The wheel is connected to a series of gears and parts that, when given a boost from the power steering system, manipulates the wheels to the right or left, enabling the car to turn.
Here’s a breakdown of the parts involved. (See the illustration on page 212 to get a sense of how it all comes together.)
Steering Wheel. Turns the car left or right. Connects to the steering column and ultimately to the wheels of the car.
Steering Column. A shaft connecting the steering wheel to the gears inside the steering rack.
Steering Rack. A long transverse bar that moves from side to side when the gears it contains are rotated by the steering column.
Steering Linkage. Several arms, rods, or links that connect the steering rack to the front wheels of the car. The ones you are most likely to hear about are the inner tie rods, outer tie rods, and Pitman arm.
Power Steering System. The Super Mario Bros. boost or assist that allows the driver to turn the steering wheel. Its components include the reservoir that holds the power steering fluid, the pump and hoses that move the fluid around, and the drive or serpentine belt and pulley, which trigger the pump. Your power steering system is fairly easy and inexpensive to maintain, so there are no excuses when it comes to giving a little bit of that scheduled TLC (see Maintenance and Repairs chart).
A series of racks, links, arms, and rods connect your steering wheel to your tires, and a hydraulic boost from your power steering system provides the muscle to get the job done.
What’s That Grinding Noise?
While loud grinding noises are indications of a probable steering issue, it’s normal to hear some grinding or whining when your steering wheel is turned all the way to the left or to the right, as in parallel parking. There’s a lot of pressure and force being applied throughout the steering rack during a parallel parking maneuver, and some amount of noise is a natural result. If you hear loud grinding noises regularly while driving and turning, check your power steering fluid (see page 172).
An internal view of the steering rack (pictured opposite) reveals the gears at the center of the operation.
STEERING MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS
PART
ISSUE
FIX
TIMING
COST
Power Steering Fluid
Over time, power steering fluid will pick up water and chemically break down, causing it to evaporate or boil off at a lower temperature. This decreases the fluid level in your reservoir. Without enough fluid in your power steering system, you won’t be able to turn the steering wheel, and you’ll eventually cause damage to the steering rack
Fluid flush
Every three to five years
$200 or less
Power Steering Pump
Low fluid can cause a pump to wear out, but pumps also wear over time
Replace
When fluid leaks or pump fails
$500 and up
Steering Rack
Steering racks can spring a leak, lowering your supply of power steering fluid. Their gears can also become worn or bound up. If a rack is leaking at the seals, power steering fluid will be low, and you may hear loud grinding or whining noises or encounter lots of resistance when turning the steering wheel. If the gears are worn, the wheel will feel very loose
Generally, replacement
When fluid leaks or rack fails
Rack jobs involve many hours of labor, and unfortunately tend to require pump and hose replacements as well; $750 and up
Steering Linkage
Potholes and high curbs are kryptonite to the steering linkage, which can bend or break and wear over time, particularly at the inner or outer tie-rod ends. When it’s time to replace elements of the steering linkage, you’ll hear knocks or loud bumps when turning or going over potholes
Replace
Normally not until at least 60,000 to 70,000 miles
Mechanics recommend replacing these in pairs. If one side is going bad, the other side will fail soon after. An alignment is often needed after steering linkage is replaced; $150–$500 per side
Power Steering Hoses
Leak. There is a high-pressure power steering hose and a low-pressure power steering hose; both will tend to leak from use over time
Replace
When hoses leak or fail
$350 and up
Signs of a Power Steering Issue
Got a steering wheel that locks up, feels hard to turn, or feels extremely loose? These are obvious signs of a steering issue. But if you hear loud grinding, bumping, whining, or knocking noises while turning the wheel, you likely have a steering issue as well.
Whining noises in the steering rack can result from low or dirty power steering fluid. That might simply mean you’re in need of a fluid flush (see page 71), but such noises could also be signs of a leak in the system. Power steering failures aren’t all that common, but if they’re ignored, they can lead to safety issues and faster wear of the overall steering system.
Know that power steering problems tend to be expensive, because often multiple parts need to be replaced. Replacing a power steering rack sometimes requires replacement of the power steering pressure hoses and the pump, costing close to $2,000.
Suspension: Giving You That Smooth Ride
Keeping the wheels connected to the frame and all four tires on the road, the suspension system is every driver’s best friend. Without it, the ride would be rough, your tires would wear out extremely fast, and your car would be bouncing off the ground anytime you hit a bump. Imagine a bouncing ball hitting a rock and pinging off in a random direction. That’s how our cars would behave without the suspension system. Without suspension, there is no control.
The suspension system doesn’t require any maintenance. Parts will fail over time, or due to physical damage. (Running over curbs, hitting potholes, getting caught in minor crashes, or driving over road hazards can all cause significant damage.) But unless you drive a truck with greasable bearings, you don’t need to do anything to maintain this part of the car if everything is running smoothly. And given normal wear and tear, suspension system parts don’t start failing until you’ve clocked around 80,000 miles.
Anatomy of the Suspension System
The suspension system is symmetrical, with many of its parts coming in pairs. What tha
t means as far as maintenance is that if the right front wheel has a wheel bearing that’s going bad or has failed, the left front wheel bearing is picking up the slack and being worked harder. It will likely fail soon as well, which is why mechanics often recommend replacing suspension parts such as struts, shock absorbers, ball joints, bushings, and wheel bearings in pairs. Here are the main components of the suspension system and where they fit into the picture.
Springs, Struts. Absorb shock and vibrations from driving on bumpy roads. Will fail from use over time.
Rods, Bars, and Links. Help with stability of the car while turning. Will fail from use over time.
Bushings. Rubber and plastic pieces that absorb shock and vibration. Will fail over time, cracking and becoming less pliable.
Wheel Bearings or Hub Bearings. Expensive components that allow the wheels to rotate. Wheel bearings support the weight of the vehicle.
Steering Knuckles, Ball Joints, and Control Arms. All the previously listed suspension parts are connected to the steering knuckle (aka spindle) and control arms through ball joints. Steering knuckles don’t normally exhibit issues unless they suffer physical damage, but ball joints will fail over time; often the entire control arm will need to be replaced instead of just the ball joint.
Smart Suspension Systems
Some luxury cars feature electronic suspensions with controls, sensors, and switches that allow drivers to tweak suspension in response to different road conditions. A driver may want to tighten suspension when going around corners at high speed or during quick acceleration or braking. While cruising, you would opt for a softer ride.
In standard vehicles, the only suspension system sensor is the wheel speed sensor attached to your wheel bearings. Flip back to page 162 for more on how this sensor helps manage your ABS system.
Signs of a Suspension Issue
Failed or failing suspension parts will make a lot of noise. Listen for creaks, whines, bumps, thumps, humming, and thuds coming from your car’s wheels as you drive. The car may also pull or wander left or right or vibrate while you drive. Unevenly worn tires can also be signs of a suspension issue. Listen carefully to see whether sounds are coming from the right or left side of the car—this is helpful information for your PCT.
Common Auto Airhead Mistake: Suspension
There’s only one thing you can do wrong here: Turning up the radio and continuing to drive your car while it is making unusual noises. You could be doing expensive damage to your suspension system, so take your car in to your PCT for a diagnosis.
Heating and Air-Conditioning: Keeping It Cozy
Any #shecanic who’s gotten work done on her climate control system knows that repairs in this area can get seriously expensive. Neither heating nor air-conditioning is required to run the car, but could we really live without them? In the middle of summer, as heat gets trapped inside via a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect, the internal temperature of a parked car can reach levels that are actually life-threatening. And who’d be crazy enough to try driving around without heat on a 30-degree day?
Climate control is definitely an example of engineering at its best—but when the price tag for those repairs comes in, the system can seem more like an example of luxury at its worst. Like any other system in our cars, the more technology attached (electronic climate control, heated seating), the more potential points of failure. So the same rule of thumb applies as in all areas of vehicular financing: Don’t buy more climate control than you can afford to maintain. Even without bells and whistles, AC repairs are very expensive because, like power steering failures, they often involve several parts at once.
Ice, Ice, Baby
Have you ever used a can of compressed air to clean computer components? The can gets ice cold when you squeeze or pump the compressed air out of the small nozzle. This temperature drop is due to the rapid expansion of compressed air, and the same thing happens inside your car’s air-conditioning system: Liquid Freon is squeezed through a small valve, cooling down the car when it expands.
Here are the major components of the system that keeps you cool as a cucumber.
Air. Outside ambient air.
Freon. Chemical refrigerant pumped through the AC system by a compressor.
Compressor. Pump that circulates Freon throughout the AC system. Located under the hood and attached to the engine crankshaft by a pulley and belt.
Accumulator. Reservoir where liquid Freon is stored and any foreign particles or matter are trapped before they can clog the expansion valve or orifice tube.
Expansion Valve or Orifice Tube. Part located under the hood through which Freon is pumped into the evaporator.
Evaporator. The container through which liquid Freon passes as it’s being converted into a hot vaporized gas. Hot outside air is blown past the ice-cold evaporator to cool down before being circulated into the car. Located in the dashboard, next to the heater core and blower motor, the evaporator also works as a dehumidifier, as moisture from the hot air collects on the outside of the cold evaporator.
Got a problem with your air-conditioning system? One or more of the pictured parts will probably need to be replaced.
Condenser. Sits in front of the radiator, converting vaporized Freon coming from the compressor back into a liquid. A fan blows air past the condenser to cool it down.
Belt and Pulley. The serpentine or drive belt and an AC compressor pulley, which connect to the engine’s crankshaft to power the AC compressor.
AC Lines. Aluminum tubing and rubber hoses that connect all the components of the AC system.
Frost and Fog
The defrost button and setting comes to the rescue when a windshield is fogged up with hot, moist air or frosted over in cold weather. But if your car has automatic heating and AC controls, the AC will automatically come on when you turn on the defrost; on cars without automatic controls, you’ll want to turn on the AC manually. The reason why? The AC acts as a dehumidifier, removing moisture from the exterior air before it is blown onto your windshield.
The heating and AC system contains three controls: the temperature dial or button, the fan speed dial, and the dial or switch button that turns on the AC. Here’s how you should set them for optimal defrosting or defogging:
• Set airflow controls to defrost. If it doesn’t come on automatically, turn AC on.
• Set temperature controls as desired—cool in the summer, warm in the winter.
• To speed up defrosting or defogging, set your fan speed to high.
If turning on the AC when it’s cold out sounds weird, worry not. As long as your temperature controls are set to hot, hot air will still blow out into your car. Remember, heat and AC are two different systems that share only an air delivery component. When the AC is on but the temperature control is set to hot, air will blow past the AC first to shed moisture, than past the heater core to warm up.
The best part about your car’s heating system? It runs on heat generated by the hardworking engine.
Hot Fire
Most people don’t know that your automobile’s heating system runs on recycled, redirected engine heat. When the heater is on, hot coolant is redirected through a small radiator on its way out of the engine. Air blown over the radiator picks up the coolant’s ambient heat, and the inside of the car gets nice and toasty.
Since the heating system uses the engine’s cooling system to procure heat, most of its components, with the exception of the heater core and valves, are already contained within the engine coolant system.
Heater Core. A small radiator located under the dash, the heater core provides heat to passengers as needed. When the heat is off, hot coolant leaves the engine and goes straight to the thermostat and radiator. When you turn on the heat via your dash heater control, a valve opens, sending coolant from the engine into the heater core before it goes on to the thermostat. As hot coolant flows through and heats the heater core, air passes across the heater core and picks up heat before it is redirected in
to the car.
Parts Shared by the AC and Heating Systems
Blower Motor. Fan that blows outside air across the cold evaporator or hot heater core and into the car.
Cabin Air Filter. Filters the outside air before it reaches your lungs.
Smart Controls
Cars with automatic controls are loaded up with sensors that monitor and regulate internal and external temperatures. But even cars with basic systems use computerized functions to monitor climate control. If Freon gets too cold, the evaporator could freeze into a block of ice—so a sensor monitors the coolant temperature and shuts off the AC compressor if things are getting too icy.
Puddles, Dampness, and Invisible Leaks
“Help, there’s something leaking under my car!” That’s a panicky email or text I’ve gotten pretty used to seeing. My first question is “What color is it?” If the answer is “clear, like water,” I smile and congratulate the sender.
In the process of helping circulate ice-cold air into your car, the evaporator itself gets ice-cold. Moisture from the hot air that blows across the cold evaporator collects and condenses on the outside of the evaporator. This condensed moisture then tends to drip onto the ground—kind of like morning dew on the grass. Nothing to get worked up about, just a little dew. In fact, this condensation is a sign that your AC is working properly. The water will almost always appear under the passenger side of the car, where the evaporator in the AC system is located.
If your the passenger side carpet is getting wet, that’s another issue. The evaporator water drip tube that directs the evaporator’s condensation to the ground has gotten clogged with dirt, leaves, or mud, and moisture is leaking from the evaporator housing into the interior of the car.
Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide Page 16