Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

I have a 2016 Mazda CX5. A few days ago, during the first warm spell of spring, I noticed a mouldy/mildew smell when I turned on the air conditioner. What causes this and how can it be corrected? Thanks for your help.

Rick from Burlington

ANSWER

The musty mildew odour, that comes from your air conditioner when you first turn it on in the spring, is generally caused by the build-up of mould (bacteria) in your car’s heater core and coolant ducts. The enclosed area of your air conditioner, along with the heat, is a breeding ground for microorganisms to grow. I am reluctant to suggest a product that will fix this for you because I do not know if you have allergies. I am suggesting that you can visit any one of the CAA approved coolant garages and they will suggest a product for you that will get rid of the smell.

QUESTION

My friend came over and hooked up a battery charger. I was wondering how long my battery should be on the charger? Can it do any damage if it is too long on charge? I hope that you can tell me and thank you for your time. I am a longtime reader of your column in the Spectator. PS: The battery is almost 1 year old.

Thanks, Jack

ANSWER

I am not a great believer in over the counter battery chargers simply because many of them do not properly regulate to stop charging when the battery is up to full power. An overcharged battery can produce Hydrogen Sulphide, which is poisonous and can be explosive. In your case, I would leave the battery charger on high for about tem minutes and then start the car and let the car’s own alternator charge the battery. A twenty-minute drive will bring your battery back to full power.

QUESTION

Hi Dennis,

I am having problems with my 2013 Hyundai Sonata car battery. If I do not drive my car every few days, it has trouble starting. I then take it for a long drive to recharge the battery. A friend checked the battery and it tested OK. I added some water to the battery cells because they were down slightly. Before I turn off the car, I now turn off the radio and automatic lights. I presume that I need a new battery before winter because this one is seven years old. How long do batteries last in vehicles with push button starting systems?

PS: I enjoyed your informative talk that you gave at our South Cayuga Community Church men’s supper. Maybe we can have you back again?

Robert from Dunnville

ANSWER

I think that a seven-year-old battery does not owe you anything but before you buy a new battery, there is one thing that you should look at first. Make sure that your battery connections have not corroded and are making proper contact with the battery posts. You could also have your technician try to charge the battery to see if the charge will bypass 10.5 volts. If the charge will not go past 10.5 then the battery most likely has a dead cell caused by longevity and a build up of lead sulphur.

I am reluctant to suggest the following procedure and I would rather recommend that you have a technician do it, unless you are technically capable of doing this yourself. If you want to determine if the battery has an internal short, you properly disconnect the negative terminal of the battery after one of your long drives and wait a couple of days and then reconnect the battery. If the vehicle starts, then you know that it is not the fault of the battery and your vehicle may have an internal short somewhere. If an unsealed battery has an internal short, explosive fumes could be leaking from the battery and could cause an explosion if there was a spark generated between the battery and the negative cable when removed. If it were my vehicle, I would not spend the money for the technician to tell me that I need a new battery when the likelihood is, that a new battery will fix the problem.

READER’S COMMENT

Last week you again stood up for the crooked car dealers and threw a young girl under the bus. If the dealer had any heart at all, they would have immediately taken the car back and reversed the deal. Instead you allowed them to rob that young girl of five hundred dollars when I suspect that she was getting a job for the summer to pay for the car. Your advice to her stinks of favouritism and to you and all the crooked dealers out there, I hope that you and your dealer friends go to ----.

A friend from Halton

ANSWER

Isn’t it a great country when you can use all the foul language that you like in an email and then you get a columnist like myself to edit your words without anyone knowing just how rudimentary you really are.

There is no better education for young people than for them to acknowledge their mistakes and own up to any decisions that they make. If you had read my column, you would have seen that the dealer, as indicated, would have helped this young woman if she had immediately contacted them and told her story. Instead, she just dropped the car off and left a note telling the dealer that she did not want the car and was going to cancel any cheques that she had left with them. That was not the correct decision to make. She ignored the dealer until they sent her a registered letter and that is when her foulmouthed boyfriend tried to intervene. I am sure that this young woman will not make the same mistake again. For you, I suggest that this is a good time for you to plant flowers. I have heard that it releases tension, which many people are now suffering from, as a result of staying indoors.

PS: My sources tell me that you are the boyfriend.