Answers to your car questions
QUESTION
I have a 1965 Chevrolet half-ton truck that is in new-like condition and I have had this truck since new so I do not want to get rid of it. There is less than forty thousand miles on the odometer. I almost drain the battery every time before it starts in the winter and it does not seem to have any power on acceleration. It has also been hard to start in the summer but in the wintertime, it just cranks over and over before it wants to start. I have been to the garage on three occasions and they have done a tune up; replaced the ignition wires: changed the fuel filter and put on a
new choke spring but that has not helped in any way even after spending over four hundred dollars. The garage does not have any idea as to what the problem could now be. I am looking for any help that you can give me please. Albert from Simcoe
ANSWER
Your vehicle has a mechanical fuel pump that is weak and needs to be replaced. The hard starting is the result of the fuel pump not holding its fuel pressure over the night and it takes cranking time to pump the fuel from the tank to the carburetor when trying to start the truck in the morning. The weakness of the fuel pump pressure also is why the truck has very little power when you are trying to accelerate. The camshaft activates the fuel pump arm and if the truck had many more miles on the odometer, I might suggest that you look to see if the cam lobe is not worn out but I suspect that with the low mileage, the camshaft lobe would not be worn.
READERS COMMENT
Your response to my letter was ill informed and wrong. You believe that I should have taken my service manager’s word. My rotors have been just fine for
20,000 kilometres of driving since I was told of this “problem”. There has been no ill effect in my braking system and there has been plenty of thickness. Ron from Kitchener
MY COMMENT
A couple of weeks ago, I suggested to Ron that his service manager was correct in telling him that the brake rotors on his car, which had wear ridges on them, should be changed and Ron did not agree with my answer to him. You have missed my point Ron! The service manager was correct in telling you that your car’s rotors
did have wear ridges, which means that if you measured the rotors you would most likely find that they are below manufacturer's specs. There is no question that your car will stop under normal conditions with the brake rotors below factory specs but in some situations, you could find that thin brake rotors would over
heat and could cause vapor lock and loss of the brakes. The same situation holds for someone driving a car with a bald tire. The bald tire still holds air but the tire could fail at any time. Your service manager was protecting you, the dealership and others on the road when he recommended that to be safe, the brake rotors would need to be changed. Who do you think would be blamed if your vehicle’s brakes failed as a result of undersized brake rotors and you hurt yourself and others because the service manager did not caution you about the condition of your car’s brake rotors? He did not tell you that your car was dangerous to drive but that he would recommend that you change the rotors to be safe and I still agree with his recommendation.
QUESTION
I need your help in getting my car back. I was at a party about three weeks before Christmas and I had a cardboard covering my passenger’s door window, which had shattered about two weeks before the party. At the party, there was a mechanic who noticed my broken window and offered to fix it for me. I still do not have my
car back and my girlfriend noticed that he was driving the car around, still with the cardboard in the window. When I called him, he told me that he is still looking for a window and that I can have my car back when he gets it installed. I want my car back now and he will not give it back to me. Can you help me? Arleen from Burlington
ANSWER
The person that you left your car with is not a mechanic and I think that you now know that. You have been dating him a few times since the party and that did not work out but during that time, he told me that he lent you one hundred dollars for apartment rent which you promised to pay him back about two weeks ago. The bottom line is that he does not have any right to keep your car but he told me that you will get your car back with the cardboard still in the window when you pay him back the one hundred dollars. You
can go to the police to get your car back but the easiest thing for you to do is to pay back the money that you borrowed and you will get your car back much sooner.
QUESTION
I have a question regarding Reflex Ice -49C winter washer fluid with deicer sold at Canadian Tire. If you use this on the car windows and doors and in the windshield washer to remove ice build up, will it damage the moving parts on the window washer and doors? PS: It removes ice very well, even when you spray it on with a spray bottle. Thank you for your answer. Berend from Hamilton
ANSWER
You are correct Berend, it does remove the ice very quickly and it will not hurt your car’s moving parts which also includes your car’s paint.
QUESTION
Hello Mr. O’Sullivan. First off, I look forward to your articles every week. I am not a mechanic OR know anything about cars. You’ve educated me about some things whether it relates to me or not. You have also helped a lot of people. I’m hoping that you can help me. Our children drive a 2002 Saturn ION (great car). The driver’s side wiper seems to be losing contact with the windshield. My husband has changed the blades and bent the arm slightly thinking that that would solve the problem. It’s good for a few days then it acts up again. We’re not sure if the arm needs to be replaced and if it does, is that a job we can do or does it require a mechanic? Hope to hear from you. Happy New Year! Sonja from Hamilton
ANSWER
I suspect that the wiper arm spring is weak and the arm has to be replaced. To replace the arm, you need to lift the plastic cover at the bottom of the arm, if so equipped and then you need a 13 mm socket to remove the nut. Once the nut is removed, you then have to remove the wiper arm from the shaft, which is where I think you might run into problems because of corrosion between the shaft and the wiper arm. Here is what I would do: Purchase the wiper arm yourself and then ask your mechanic to install it for you which should not take any more than five minutes to install. I suspect yor mechanic will not even charge you for that service if that is your regular garage.
Send questions by email to:: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca or mail: Box 10019, Winona, ON L8E 5R1