Questions and answers from the ‘Car Doctor’
Q. I am leaving my car up North for the winter and will have a neighbor check on it. Is there anything I should do or not do to keep any problems from happening? I don’t have the luxury of a garage and the car will be stored outside, and it will be registered and insured so it can be driven. My neighbor has the keys and has offered to start it from time to time.
A. Having your neighbor drive the car is an ideal option, rather than just allowing the car to sit and idle. Every three weeks or so have your neighbor take the car for a ride for about 30 minutes. This will help keep everything moving, remove accumulated rust of the brakes and help keep the battery charged. If they do drive the car after a snowstorm washing off any accumulated salt will also help prevent coorsion. In addition, if they can check the tire pressure a couple of times over the winter and keep the fuel tank close to full and add fuel stabilizer, even better.
Q. In the spring and hopefully after the “chip” shortage straightens out I want to buy a new car. I am looking for a small SUV and I have narrowed the choices to three vehicles. The vehicles that I like are the Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV. I want to know how you would rate these three vehicles. I just want to make sure that it is the best buy for the money.
A. I have driven all three vehicles, and none would be a poor choice. Comparing a standard CR-V to the RAV4 I would put the CR-V as the top pick. I would put the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V as equals and although the Subaru is very popular in the Northeast, I would rank it just a bit lower than the RAV4 or CR-V.
Q. This should be such a simple problem. I have a 2009 GMC Yukon and the dome-light doesn’t work. Thinking it would be a bad bulb, I replaced it and it still didn’t work. I then checked all the fuses under the hood, and they all tested fine. To me that only leaves a wiring problem. Is there a known area that the wiring fails that you can share?
A. I think you were on the right track with the fuses, but you had the wrong location. There is a 10-ampere fuse for the dome light in the fuse panel at the instrument panel. Many vehicles today have two and even three fuse panels. I always check every fuse with a test light or meter, just in case there is an issue with wiring diagrams or labeling.
Q. With the used car shortage, I recently purchased a Toyota Camry that was totaled and then repaired. The car runs great, and the body work was performed very well. The seller did tell me about one problem, the airbag light is on. What do I do?
A. The problem with buying a car that was in a crash you can’t even be sure if there is even a airbag in the car. I remember looking at car with an airbag light on and the airbag was actually missing. At this point have a technician preform a diagnostic check and read fault codes. The fault codes should help the technician determine where there is a failure in supplemental restraint system.
Q. I have a 2009 Chrysler Town and Country minivan and lately it has been a pain to fill with gas. I have a fill the tank very slowly and it takes forever. For some reason this has only happened in the last month since the temperature has been consistently below 35 degrees. What do you think is wrong?
A. The issue is most likely with the evaporative emissions system. If there is no obstruction in the in the fuel tank or fuel filler neck, the problem is most likely a blockage in the EVAP canister or vent hose.
Q. I have a 2006 Ford Explorer with a V-8 engine and according to my local repair shop the valve cover gaskets are leaking. I asked then to give me a price and they weren’t interested in doing the repair. I have called several places to get quotes and I was told prices between $450-$550 Spending what could be $600 on a minor oil leak on an old SUV seems like a lot of money. I don’t see oil on the ground, and I only add a little oil between oil changes, Should I get it fixed?
A. From your description the leak appears minor in nature if you didn’t see oil on the ground or smell oil on the engine. Some gasket seepage is perfectly acceptable and considering the age and mileage it may be okay to take a wait and see attitude. The next oil change you might even want to switch to a highmileage oil. High mileage oils can help rejuvenate gaskets and may help slow the leak.
Q. I have an old Ford dump truck I use on my property and the battery keeps dying. I had had it looked at a couple of times and no one can find what is wrong. It is a hassle getting it to the mechanic because I don’t register it or insure it. Any idea what is wrong?
A. The issue could be any number of things draining the battery, from chafing wire shorting out to a faulty alternator or even a bad ignition switch. Although not a fix, you could add a battery disconnect switch. This way you can easily and safely disconnect the battery and prevent it from discharging.