Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Why you should pay attention to your car?

I know, most of us agree that the typical loose nut behind the wheel is merely a passenger in his/her car, but paying attention can really pay off.

We probably have a story about how we could tell that car up ahead was going to do something stupid, and we gave enough room to avoid a collision.

But what about paying attention to how your car behaves.

Here is my story from last Thursday.

It actually starts about a week or ten days earlier when I notice a "new" noise in my 87 LeSabre. I quickly figure out that it is the cooling fan, as I hear it "wind down" after I shut off the key.

Fast forward to Thursday morning when, while sitting at a drive through late morning getting an Egg McMuffin, (a late start to the day due to several late call outs the night before) and I notice my A/C is getting warm, hmm, do I need a recharge, compressor clutch worn out, or what.

I get on the highway, and everything is "cool" again, but why? Because we have air flowing over the radiator and condensor (I think that is what the small A/C "radiator" is called.) The cooling fan has failed.

So I call the boss and tell him I'll be delayed as I want to swap cars before I get caught in a traffic jam in 90+ degree heat with no radiator fan. He's ok with that and I drive home.

Upon inspection, there is no power to the fan, and no power to the relay either. I pop the plastic cover on the drivers side and notice the fuseable link (why is it called that when it really unfuses when it burns up, LOL?) is just powder.

Relieved that I know what the problem is, and that Advance Auto across the street from my house has the parts, I load my tools, laptop and a few other items in the 'Tour and I'm off for the day.

Now how many people burn up an engine because they don't pay attention to the signs of trouble their car sends them?

TB

Probably quite a few.....

Sometimes I drive without the cd player on just to see if I hear something new/wrong. Thats how I noticed something wrong with my rear brakes (basically I had none ....)

my buddy saw a dodge caravan sitting on a gas station with a seized engine b/c the owner didn't bother to *check* oil level for about 30K miles. BTW, the owner was totally bewildered and personally offended by remarkably low quality of stupid chrisler engines :rolleyes:

Hahaha! I read a report on an owner, upon having his Toyota engine seize up and being asked by the dealer if he didn't have regular maintenance performed on the car, reply "no, I thought the oil was mixed with the gas and therefore I didn't need to worry about it."

Back to listening to what your car tells you, decades ago when I was young and stupid my Cuda was making a funny noise, sort of a moaning sound. A few weeks later my cooling fan went through the radiator. I found the source of the noise! The waterpump bearing had seized. Problem solved!

Karl

i love the people who drive around with their tires at a 45 degree angle to the road(not literally). its obvious their tierods are about to bust. about a week ago, i actually pulled up to a car with this problem only to look over and see a hottie in the driver seat. so i did what any good guy would do and signaled to roll down the window. i told her that her wheel was about to fall off and that she should have it checked/fixed immediatly. she responded by saying that it had been like that for months and "nothing happened yet". i laughed to myself and let her drive away. funny stuff.