Driving Tips:

Don’t Be That Guy: How Neglecting Auto Maintenance Can Cause You To Cause Serious Traffic Snarls

Getting stuck in highway gridlock is bad enough. But, when you reach the bottleneck and see that the jam was caused by some sad sack’s sedan straddling two lanes with the hood open and the slack-jawed driver peering at his steaming engine compartment, it’s enough to make you want to grab your tire iron and crack open his thick skull.

Of course, this kind of judgment is easy to dole out when you’re not on the receiving end of the tire iron. All of our automobiles have the potential of breaking down at inopportune moments because of bum auto parts. It doesn’t matter if you’re rolling on top of a pile of Honda parts, Toyota parts or even some Dodge parts because they will all wear out and fail on you eventually. Knowledge is power, though, and as long as you know to keep an eye on a few key components, then you won’t end up being that guy.

Filters

Know why camels have such long eyelashes? Those lengthy lashes are there to keep desert sand from blowing into their eyeballs and wrecking their vision. Likewise, your automobile is equipped with a handful of filters that catch and contain impurities so that they don’t flow into your moving parts. Here are the three main filters that you’ll want to swap out on a regular basis.

Arguably, the most important filter is your oil filter because it’s the first line of defense for your engine. It’s the oil filter’s job to sift through the viscous fluid that’s lubricating your motor, trapping nasty contaminants and allowing the clean oil to pass through. There are three main types of oil filters (mechanical, magnetic and centrifugal), but they all do essentially the same thing: block crud clots from causing an aneurism in your motor. The experts say that you should swap out your oil filter every 3 months or 3,000 miles, and riding around with a crusty old filter can lead to a serious engine meltdown on the road, accompanied by a lengthy traffic buildup in your wake. Smooth move, dude!

The second-most important filter under your hood is the fuel filter. They work just like your oil filter, except that they clean your go-juice. Most of the gasoline that you pump into your tank contains low levels of contaminates, and the inside of your gas tank can transform into a hotbed of rust flakes after years of moisture build-up and corrosion. All of this junk gets stopped by your filter, assuming that it’s working. When it does bite the dust, those chunks of grime will gum up your fuel pump and injectors, bringing you to a standstill while you’re put-putting around town. Thanks, buddy!

Unlike oil filters and fuel filters, cabin filters indirectly cause traffic because they distract drivers. These often overlooked filters help clean the air that blows into your cockpit, stripping some allergens and other eye irritators. But a clogged cabin filter can turn your cockpit into a disorientating chamber of horrors if you suffer from seasonal allergies. One minute, you’re whistling along to Yah Mo B There; the next, you’re a leaky-nosed, teary-eyed allergic mess who’s losing speed while searching for a Kleenex. Soon enough, you’re crawling along at 5 mph on the interstate, and the rest of us are drafting slowly in your wake all because of a funky cabin filter. Way to go, pal!

Ignition Parts

Now, your ignition system is an intricate web of important parts all working in tandem both to start your auto up and to keep the thing running until you find a parking space. If any of the pieces in your ignition system go bananas on you, you’ll find yourself stranded in your parking spot. Then, some kook will think that you’re simply preparing to leave your parking spot and will sit blocking the aisles with the rest of us behind the kook furiously gnawing on our fingers waiting for you. Appreciate it, guy!

Car starters are the likely culprit if your ride has power but your keys won’t turn over your motor. If you do hear your motor trying to start up but can’t quite make it, your problem might stem from a weak ignition coil not sending enough juice out to your spark plugs to get a combustible arc. And, if you’re still rolling around in a carbureted engine, you may simply have a few clogged jets or a messed up idle mixture.

Electrical

So what causes a vehicle to go from full-power to full-failure midway through a drive? Often, this condition stems from busted alternators, which are supposed to charge the battery and keep the rest of the automobile’s electrical system humming along while you’re motoring around. When an alternator dies, though, the vehicle will simply run directly off of the battery, which can only last for so long before it withers and dies. In rare instances, the alternator fails because the serpentine belt slips off. That’s why you should always take a gander at the condition of your belts, making sure that they’re free of cracks, fraying and other signs of wear.

Air Conditioning

You might not think that an automobile’s air conditioning system can lead to traffic tangles, but a downed AC has caused more roadway troubles than all the busted auto body parts combined with trannies that have ever run out of manual transmission fluid and automatic transmission fluid. In fact, AC-induced street woes are some of the worst because they combine mechanical and psychological breakdowns.

Typically, the trouble begins with a leak in an ac hose or maybe a busted ac compressor. In extraordinary cases, the auto may suffer from a shot blower motor or broken fan blades, but the results are still the same: The air stops getting conditioned, the cockpit start to cook, and the driver’s blood pressure begins to rise steadily. Given enough time, the motorist will start losing connection with reality, often weeping openly and fidgeting uncontrollably with the flaps on the air vents until they finally just slam on their brakes, hop out onto the street, and begin shedding clothes while cursing the heavens—all because they didn’t just pick up some replacement Nissan Parts or Acura Parts.

Have a suggestion of your own?  I would love to hear from you, and more than willing to add it on the list.  Let me know!  Monkey Meter, the original road rage traffic reporter!