Chapter 21

What to Do If Your Car Drops Dead or Won’t Start

In This Chapter

Moving safely to the side of the road

Figuring out what caused the problem

Cooling down an overheated vehicle

Dealing with a car that won’t start

Jump-starting safely

Whether your vehicle dies on the road or in front of your house, it’s always a time of unrivaled panic and stress. But an informed, well-organized approach to diagnosing your sick monster’s ills can pay off by getting you moving again with a minimum loss of time, money, and composure.

Whenever you encounter a term set in this font, you’ll find it defined in the glossary in Appendix A.

Getting Off the Road Safely

If you have reason to believe that your vehicle is having a problem, try to get to the right-hand shoulder of the road as soon as possible, especially if you’re on a highway. Very often, if a vehicle is going to do its swan song while in motion, it will give you a couple of hints first. If you can recognize those hints as signs of impending disaster, you’ll be able to get out of traffic before the car dies completely.

All the following symptoms are good reasons to head for the side of the road immediately:

Your vehicle experiences a sudden loss of power, or you suddenly have to floor the accelerator to maintain speed or to keep moving at all.

A warning light comes on.

Your engine suddenly runs roughly.

The engine is misfiring.

You hear unfamiliar noises.

Your vehicle is pulling to one side.

The pavement hasn’t changed but your tires are no longer rolling along smoothly.

You have a flat tire.

As you pull your vehicle off the road, keep the following safety procedures in mind:

Try to coast along the shoulder until you’re well away from any curves in the road behind you. This placement pays off when you’re ready to get back onto the road because you can spot oncoming traffic before it’s on your tail. And if you’re on a narrow road, try to park away from curves ahead as well so that you’ll see what’s coming at you when it’s time to drive away.

If the engine dies right on the highway and you can’t get off the road, don’t get out of the car! I know that sitting in a dead vehicle with traffic piling up behind you is unnerving, but attempting to cross a high-speed freeway on foot is suicide.

Just think good thoughts and surround the car with white protective light (every little bit helps!), and, most importantly, stay calm. If it’s after dark, put the interior light on so that you’re more visible. If the engine is operable, keep it running so that you don’t run the battery down.

Most heavily traveled highways are also heavily patrolled, and a nice highway patrol officer will be along before you know it. When the officer is on the scene, it’s a simple matter of stopping traffic long enough to push your vehicle to the right-hand shoulder.

Whether you’ve managed to park at the side of the road or you’re stuck in a traffic lane, take these additional safety precautions:

Roll down the window on the driver’s side, hang out a white cloth or piece of paper, and roll the window back up to secure it in place. The cloth or paper alerts drivers that your vehicle is in trouble and that they should proceed around you. If you can easily reach the passenger-side window without getting out of the car, do the same on that side. Just try not to obstruct your ability to see out the windows.

If you know that you’re going to need roadside assistance, use your cellphone to call your auto club or the highway patrol. If you’re reading this and you don’t have a cellphone, resolve to get one immediately; it’s the best protection against getting stuck in these situations and against carjackers. If you don’t otherwise need a cellphone, get a low-cost one without a contract that lets you just pay as you go.

If you have no phone, you’re not stuck in a highway traffic lane, and you can see an emergency call box only a few feet away, use the call box to call for help, get right back in the car, and lock the doors. If no call box is nearby, you’re probably better off just hanging the white cloth or piece of paper out the window and waiting for the highway patrol to spot you.

In these days of daytime carjacking, walking along the highway alone can be dangerous. So is opening the door to what appear to be good Samaritans. If someone stops to help, just roll down the window an inch or two, thank them for their help, and ask them to phone the highway patrol or the AAA or CAA (if you’re a member) and report your location.

To avoid being hit by a passing vehicle, never work on your vehicle from the side that’s exposed to traffic. If you can, drive farther off the road to a safe, well-traveled place, and try to reach into the trouble area from the front or the side that’s away from traffic.

If it’s daylight, put on your emergency blinkers or your left-turn signal to alert oncoming traffic to the fact that your vehicle isn’t moving. This is not a good idea at night because motorists coming up behind you may think that your vehicle is still rolling along the highway and run right into the rear end of your car. (Drunk drivers are especially prone to this sometimes fatal error.)

If it’s nighttime and you’re not stuck in traffic, quickly place warning lights or reflective markers about six feet behind the vehicle to alert traffic, and then get back in the car. If you don’t have lights or markers, either turn on the interior lights manually or leave the car door that’s away from traffic open so that the interior lights stay on. Don’t worry about running down the battery; the tow truck will either haul you away or jump a start if you need one.

To alert oncoming traffic, always carry reflective markers, a large battery-operated light, or a couple of milk cartons filled with wax and a wick in the trunk of your vehicle. (I don’t suggest carrying flares because they can be dangerous.) Forewarned is forearmed!

If you get a flat tire, do not attempt to change it unless you can get to the side of the road and the tire is on the side of the vehicle that’s safely away from traffic. Even then, I’d think twice about exposing myself to possible carjackers.

Because driving on a flat tire for any longer than it takes to park safely can destroy the tire, you need to replace it close to where it went flat. This is another reason subscribing to roadside service is a good idea!

If you have a flat tire in a place where no help is available, or if you’re in your driveway or garage, you can find complete instructions on how to change a flat tire in Chapter 1.

Troubleshooting the Problem

If you’ve managed to get off the road and into a safe area, and you want to try to deal with the situation yourself, it helps to view what happened in “dietary” terms: Your vehicle lives on a mixture of air, fuel, and fire — if it won’t go, it’s not getting one of those ingredients.

Air

Air is simple — and probably not the problem. Your vehicle gets its air through the cold air collector box, or air cleaner. Unless the air filter inside it is totally clogged, your engine should be getting enough air to keep it going. In a worst-case scenario, something has gone amiss with your engine control unit (ECU) and it’s keeping air from mixing properly with the fuel. If that’s the case, a “Check Engine” light should be glowing on your dashboard and the best you can do is call a tow truck and get to a repair shop. But the problem is most likely something else: One of the vacuum hoses may have become disconnected, or your PCV valve may be malfunctioning, either of which could keep your car from breathing properly. To troubleshoot the problem, do the following to check the hoses and the PCV valve:

Look at all the hoses under the hood. Have any of them become disconnected or broken? Do you hear air whistling while the engine idles — if it can? One strategic lost hose can slow or stop your engine. If this is the case, reclamp the wanderer or tape the hole and you’ll soon be on your way. Of course, if you make a habit of checking and replacing worn hoses before disaster strikes (see Chapters 2 and 12), you can avoid this trouble completely.

Check your PCV valve to make sure that it’s clear and functioning. The “Servicing the PCV Valve” section in Chapter 8 can help you to do so.

Fuel

Whether your vehicle runs on gasoline, has a diesel engine, or is a hybrid or an alternatively fueled vehicle, it may not be getting whatever fuel it needs to keep it going. Therefore, if the engine turns over but doesn’t start running, the first question you need to answer is whether your fuel tank is empty. Even if your fuel gauge says that you still have some fuel, the gauge may be on the blink. When did you last fill the tank?

No matter how nervous you are, never smoke when working on a vehicle, especially if you’re dealing with the fuel system!

Sometimes the problem is too much fuel. If you open the hood and find that everything is covered with gasoline, don’t try to start the engine! Gasoline is too flammable to monkey around with. Just hoist that white flag and get help.

If you’re not out of fuel and your vehicle lost power before it died, fuel is probably not getting to the engine. The following sections offer additional reasons that specific types of vehicles may not be getting enough fuel.

Gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles

If you have a modern vehicle with a multiport or sequential fuel injection system, either the fuel pump isn’t pumping fuel or the ECU isn’t triggering the fuel injectors. In either case, a professional will have to troubleshoot it.

Ethanol, methanol, and flex-fuel vehicles

The potential problems are the same whether the vehicle is running on pure gasoline or on gasoline mixed with alcohol in one form or another: Either you’re out of fuel no matter what the fuel gauge tells you, or the fuel pump or fuel injectors aren’t working properly. In any case, there isn’t much you can do but call for help and be patient until it arrives.

Electric vehicles

If an electric vehicle suddenly stops running, the battery that drives it (the big one, not the little guy under the hood) has run out of juice. Either you’ve driven too long without recharging it or the system is malfunctioning. Dashboard malfunction indicator lights should alert you to this problem before the vehicle stops completely.

If a cable that conducts the current from the battery to the motor has disconnected, don’t try to deal with it yourself. You can’t trace the cable to or from the motor to the battery, and the voltages are so high that you could put yourself in danger if you try to reconnect any loose cable or wire you find. Get the vehicle towed to a repair shop that can handle battery-powered electric cars and trucks, and let them do the job.

Hybrids

Hybrids combine a gasoline engine and an electric motor. If a hybrid vehicle suddenly stops running, the systems are too sophisticated to try to troubleshoot yourself, and don’t expect the tow truck operator to be able to troubleshoot or repair it. Because being pulled by a tow truck can damage your hybrid, request a flat-bed tow truck to get the vehicle to the nearest dealership that sells your vehicle and let them deal with it.

Natural gas, hydrogen, fuel cells, and other exotica

Natural gas and hydrogen are stored under great pressure and are definitely too dangerous to monkey with yourself. If your vehicle operates under any of these systems, request to be towed by a flat-bed truck to your nearest dealership because most service stations aren’t able to deal with these fuel sources either.

Fire

If you think that your engine is getting enough air and fuel, you’re probably having ignition system trouble. As I explain in Chapter 4, on traditional vehicles the “fire” is really electric current that’s stored in the battery, replaced by the alternator, monitored by sensors, and directed by the ECU to the spark plugs in the cylinders at the proper time. If something along the way goes wrong and the spark fails to reach the plugs, all the air and fuel in the world won’t produce combustion in the cylinders, and the vehicle won’t go. Because the engine was running before it died, it’s probably not the fault of the battery, solenoid, or starter.

If just one spark plug suddenly malfunctions, the engine will continue to run on the other cylinders. It won’t run smoothly, but it will get you off the road and into a repair shop.

If your car has an electronic ignition system, the ignition module may have gone bad. Because these vehicles have high-energy ignition systems that operate at 47,000 volts or higher, the old technique of pulling a distributor or spark plug cable to test for a spark is unsafe. Whether the vehicle has a distributorless ignition system or has an electronic ignition, you need to have a professional check it out. The good news is that these systems aren’t prone to breaking down, so they probably aren’t the problem. Chapter 5 gives you a good view of how both systems work.

If your vehicle is an older model with a non-electronic ignition system, you can check the distributor cap to see whether the spark is getting from there to the coil and on to the spark plugs.

As you can see, unless you’re out of fuel, most modern vehicles that drop dead on the road just can’t be dealt with on the spot. In addition to the causes I’ve already addressed, sometimes part of your engine has given out. If it’s the transmission, or some other part that’s really expensive to replace, you may be saying good-bye to Old Faithful if its blue book value is less than the cost of parts and labor. On the bright side, the sophisticated systems in most modern vehicles are relatively trouble-free; you usually have plenty of warning before they give up the ghost. Of course, if you haven’t checked and maintained your vehicle properly — if you’ve ignored the malfunction indicator lights, the knockings, the smoke from the tailpipe, the hesitations, and the other symptoms that I cover in Chapter 20 — well, you asked for it.

Handling a Vehicle That Overheats on a Hot Day

It’s rare with modern vehicles, but even the happiest, most beautifully tuned vehicle can overheat (nobody’s perfect). If you find yourself in stop-and-go traffic or climbing a steep grade on an extremely hot day, and your dashboard temperature indicator starts to rise or a malfunction indicator light comes on, here’s how to help your vehicle regain its cool:

At the first sign of overheating, shut off your air conditioner and open your windows. Doing so decreases the load on the engine and helps it cool off.

If you continue to overheat, turn on the heater and blower. Doing so transfers the heat from the engine to the passenger compartment of the vehicle. (This does wonders for your overheated engine but very little for you!)

If you’re stopped in traffic and the temperature gauge is rising, shift into Neutral or Park and rev the engine a little. Doing so makes the water pump and the fan speed up, which draws more liquid and air through the radiator. The increased air and liquid circulation helps cool things off.

Try not to ride your brakes. In stop-and-go traffic, crawl along slowly, on little more than an idle, rather than moving up and then braking repeatedly. Brake drag increases the load on the engine and makes it heat up. If traffic is crawling, move up only when the gap between you and the vehicle in front of you gets too large.

If you think that your vehicle is about to boil over, drive to the right-hand side of the road, open the hood, and sit there until things cool off. Remember, don’t open the radiator cap under these circumstances, and if your engine has boiled over, don’t add water until the engine is quite cool again.

If you must add water when the engine is still a little warm, add the water slowly while the engine is running in Neutral or Park. Follow the instructions at the beginning of this chapter to park where you can safely get out and open your hood. Then, to avoid the possibility of burning yourself, follow the instructions in Chapter 12 for opening a radiator pressure cap and adding liquid to the system safely.

Overheating When It Isn’t Hot Outside

Although hot weather is the most common cause of overheating, many other factors can cause the same problem. If your vehicle overheats in traffic in normal weather, one of the following may be the culprit:

The water and coolant level in the radiator is low. If you haven’t checked your fluid level in a while (or ever), check it now, either by looking at the level through the side of the coolant recovery system or by following the instructions in the “Check the Coolant” section in Chapter 2.

There’s a leak in the cooling system. Chapter 12 has an entire section that explains where to look for leaks in various parts of the cooling system and what to do after you find them.

If you can’t locate any leaks, your thermostat may be malfunctioning. Obviously, you can’t replace the thermostat at the side of the road, but Chapter 12 has instructions for doing so cheaply and easily when you’re safely back home. In the meantime, if you can park and get to the thermostat safely, you can eliminate this malfunction as a possibility. Wait until the engine cools down completely, and use those instructions to remove the old thermostat and reconnect the hoses without it. If the engine starts up and runs well without the thermostat, the old one was probably screwing up the works.

Get a new thermostat immediately if you find that your old one isn’t working. Driving for long distances without a thermostat can damage your engine.

If none of these seems to be the problem and your vehicle continues to overheat, check out Chapter 12 for other possible causes and their solutions.

If Your Vehicle Won’t Start

Consider those panicky times when your vehicle won’t start (they’re definitely on my “Top Ten List of Lousy Situations!”). If you left your lights, heater, radio, or some other electrical gizmo on after you parked the car and turned off the engine, you know what the trouble is: Your battery is dead. The last section of this chapter, “Jumping a start,” explains the safest way to jump-start your vehicle.

Of course, there are other possible reasons that your vehicle won’t start. The next section lists them.

Won’t-start symptoms

Your conventionally fueled vehicle may not start for a number of reasons. The following list outlines the most common circumstances and tells you what action you can take to try to remedy each situation:

The car is silent when you turn the key in the ignition. Check the battery terminal cable connections (see Chapter 2). If they look really corroded, you need to clean the battery posts and cable connectors or replace the cables, following the instructions in Chapter 2. Reattach the cable connectors to the battery, making sure they are firmly in place. Now try again to start the engine.

The car makes a clicking noise but won’t start. This sound usually means a dead battery. If not, check the wiring to and from the starter for a loose connection.

The engine cranks over but won’t start. You may be out of fuel, or the fuel isn’t getting to your engine (see “Fuel” earlier in this chapter). If it’s not a fuel problem, the electrical spark isn’t getting through to the spark plugs (see “Fire” earlier in this chapter).

The engine starts but dies. If you have fuel injection, you need professional help.

The car won’t start on rainy days. If you have a non-electronic ignition system or an electronic ignition with a distributor cap, check inside the cap for dampness.

Be sure the ignition is off and the vehicle is in Neutral or Park before you raise the hood and remove the distributor cap.

If you find moisture, get some mechanic’s solvent from your friendly service station — they use it to clean car parts — or buy an aerosol can of it at an auto supply store. To evaporate any dampness inside the distributor cap, turn the cap upside down and pour or spray some solvent into it. Swish it around and pour it out. Then dry the cap as best you can with a clean, lint-free rag, and replace the cap.

Use only clean solvent; even a tiny speck of dirt can foul the points. Gasoline won’t do because a spark can ignite gasoline fumes and cause an explosion or a fire.

The car won’t start on cold mornings. If you have fuel injection, you need to have a professional diagnose the cold-start problems.

The engine misses while idling. The spark plugs may be misfiring (see Chapter 6), the fuel pump may be malfunctioning, or the fuel filter may be clogged (see Chapter 8).

The engine misses or hesitates during acceleration. There are several reasons why this may happen: It could be faulty spark plugs, dirty fuel injectors, or a malfunctioning ECU. Some do-it-yourselfers buy diagnostic computers and learn to read the trouble codes, but chances are it will turn out to be something you won’t want to undertake yourself. It’s easiest to have a service facility put the vehicle on the “scope” and deal with it.

The engine is knocking or pinging. In older gasoline-powered vehicles, this usually was caused by using fuel with the wrong octane rating. In modern vehicles, the ECU senses engine noise and adjusts the timing, fuel/air mixture, and other factors to handle octane differences. Still, because using fuel with the wrong octane rating can affect your vehicle’s health and performance, if you aren’t sure whether it should be running on regular unleaded or premium gasoline, check your owner’s manual. If you have the right fuel and you want to track the problem down yourself, checking the cooling system (see Chapter 12) and doing a compression check on the engine cylinders (see Chapter 8) may reveal the answer.

Jumping a start

If your battery has died, you may be able to use jumper cables to jump a start from some good Samaritan’s vehicle — with some important exceptions.

If either vehicle has an electronic ignition system or is an alternatively fueled vehicle, the use of jumper cables may damage it. If your vehicle is one that may be damaged in this way, you may find a warning to that effect in the owner’s manual or on a decal under the hood. Even if you don’t find a warning, it pays to be safe, so call the service department at your dealership and ask about your vehicle’s make, model, and year.

If you can safely use jumper cables on your vehicle, make sure that the battery on the good Samaritan’s vehicle has at least as much voltage as your own. As long as you hook up the cables properly (and the proper way is the same in every case), it doesn’t matter whether your vehicle has negative ground and the GS’s vehicle has positive ground, or your vehicle has an alternator and the GS’s vehicle has a generator.

To safely jump a start, follow these steps:

1. Take out your jumper cables.

It’s a good idea to buy a set of jumper cables (see Chapter 3 for tips) and keep them in the trunk compartment. If you don’t have jumper cables, you have to find a good Samaritan who not only is willing to assist you but who has jumper cables as well.

2. Place both vehicles in Park or Neutral, with their ignition switches shut off and their parking brakes on.

3. Connect the cables.

The positive cable has red clips at either end, and the negative cable has black clips. It’s important to attach them in the proper order:

1. Attach one of the red clips to the positive terminal of your battery (it has “POS” or “+” on it, or it’s bigger than the negative terminal).

2. Attach the other red clip to the positive terminal of the GS’s car.

3. Attach one of the black clips to the negative terminal on the GS’s battery.

4. Attach the last black clip to an unpainted metal surface on your car that isn’t near the battery. (I usually use one of the metal struts that holds the hood open.)

Figure 21-1 shows how both the positive and negative cables should be connected.

Figure 21-1: Make sure to connect jumper cables in the proper order.

4. Try to start your vehicle.

If it won’t start, make sure that the cables are properly connected and have the good Samaritan run his or her engine for five minutes. Then try to start your car again. If it still won’t start, your battery may be beyond help.

5. Disconnect the cables, thank the good Samaritan, and resume your life.

If the jump works and your car starts, don’t shut off your engine! Drive around for at least 15 minutes to recharge your battery. If the car won’t start the next time you use it, the battery isn’t holding a charge and needs to be replaced.

If your alternator warning light stays on or the gauge on the dashboard continues to point to “Discharge” after your car has been running, make sure that your fan belt or accessory belt is tight enough to run your alternator properly. If your battery keeps going dead, have a professional check both the battery and your alternator.

In any case, never drive around with a malfunction indicator light on or a gauge that reads in the danger zone; have the vehicle checked out immediately — that’s why those lights and gauges are there!