Dummies Guide To Car Stuff

Underwater Car!

2009-03-05T08:26:00.006-05:00

This is a Mitsubishi Colt CZ3 underwater car.

Underwater Car!

2008-03-08T20:49:00.001-05:00

Underwater Car!

2008-03-08T16:27:00.004-05:00

Buying

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The Basics...
The Engine Compartment...
The Test Drive...
The Brakes...
The Tires...

The Basics

2008-03-04T17:30:00.002-05:00

If you want to know what to look for when buying a used car, you have come to the right place.

Although everyone is different, alot of times, the first thing people think about when buying a car is price. Then maybe they think about what kind of car, or what color they want. Personally, there were alot of other things that I thought about when I went car shopping.

Ofcourse I thought about price, but then I thought about age, mileage, make, mechanical condition etc. These were the things that were most important to me. I only had $800, so I knew that my choices were limited. But! Seeing as I have a degree in automotive technology, I knew what to look for.

So I decided to write about what to look for in a decent car, when you don't have alot of money to spend.

Hope this is helpful, and enjoy!

The Engine Compartment

2008-03-03T09:19:00.003-05:00

What you want:

a clean engine free of visable leaks, dirt, and broken parts

flexible rubber parts free of cracks

What you will see:

Obviously, things look foreign under the hood, and you probably have no idea what you are looking at. Right now that's OK. You don't need to know it all right now. Knowing the basics for when you go car shopping will be fine. When you are at the used car lot and you see a car that you are interested in, you are going to need the keys. So if you can manage to ask the salesperson for the keys before they get into their pitch to sell you the car, do that. They can continue their pitch while you look under the hood.

When you are looking at the engine, it should be relatively clean. The image to the left is what a clean engine looks like. This is a very clean engine. Most engines aren't this clean.

Alot of engine parts are made of black rubber. You will see wires, hoses, hard plastic pieces, etc. They shouldn't be hard or brittle to the touch, cracked, or broken. You will have to use your judgement at this point. If something looks broken, or if it looks like there is a piece missing, chances are there is.

Besides the wires and hoses, you are going to see some of the top and sides of the engine, surrounded by other parts that look like containers with fluid in them. These are things like power steering fluid, brake fluid, and the anti-freeze bottle.

For the most part, these should be clean and free of leaks. You are going to see some dirt, but you don't want to see caked on, black dirt, or wet spots anywhere. Sometimes, you will see spots that look thick and black. This is where there is most likely a leak that has so much dirt stuck to it that all you see is black. This is bad. If you see anything wet, dripping, little puddles of fluid, etc., this is bad.

Keep in mind this is a guide, not a gaurantee. Engines can be washed to look like new.

You will need to use your judgement here also. A clean engine doesn't determine the mechanical condition of it.

What I have described so far is basically how clean or dirty the engine is, and if there are any obvious visible broken parts. Unfortunately, there are unlimited degrees of clean, dirty, broken, cracked, leaks etc. Having basic knowledge of cars as opposed to non at all will help you determine how bad the bad parts are.

For example, you can have minor leaks or major leaks. You can have leaks that don't impact any mechanical engine parts at all.

Leaking windshield wiper fluid isn't going to affect how the car runs, so it doesn't have to affect your decision whether or not to buy the car. Unless, of course, if you don't like to drive with a dirty windshield.

Leaking brake fluid, on the other hand, can be potentially very dangerous, if not life threatening. NEVER drive a car that is leaking brake fluid. I'm not saying a car that is leaking brake fluid can't be driven. Small leaks, like a drop or two, or maybe a little moisture around the area of the leak, aren't as dangerous, however it is best to leave the decision to a professional.

This pretty much goes for the whole car. Minor problems don't do much immediate harm. Minor problems however turn into major problems if not addressed in a timely manor.

After you have looked under the hood, if you are still interested, the next thing to do is take it for a test drive. VERY IMPORTANT! How can you tell how a car drives if you don't drive it.

The Test Drive

2008-03-02T09:39:00.003-05:00

What you want: all functions of the engine and transmission should be smooth, immediate, and relatively quiet.

In terms of the test drive I will be referring to the engine and transmission together, as they work hand in hand. Without the engine, the car won't move, just as without the transmission, the car won't move. Either one can be functional separately, however are pretty much useless without the other.

Test driving the car is important because it can show any problems or potential problems the car might have.

One of the most important parts of the test drive is listening to each transition from starting the car, to turning the car off.

Starting the car should be easy, and fast. Easy meaning the key turns freely, the car starts smoothly, quietly, and in a matter of seconds. Assuming you have started and driven a car before, you should be familiar with how it generally sounds. Although all cars sound different, the same principals apply.

Shifting the car from the parked position to the drive position should pretty much feel the same, smooth, quiet, and immediate. This applies to shifting from park through neutral, through drive, and 1st, 2nd, overdrive, or whatever positions are available in any particular car.

There are so many things to listen for when test driving a car. There are also different conditions that affect how the car runs. It is hard to believe, but the weather or what time of year it is can affect how the car runs. Not only those, but whether the car is cold, or warmed up, different speeds, braking, excelerating, etc. Have you ever told your mechanic for example, your car only does it when you are driving over 60mph?

Again, I am referring to the functions of the engine and transmission. You are probably going to hear and feel alot of things since you have never driven this car before. Even though I am focusing on the engine and transmission, any loud noises etc. applies to the rest of the car also. So in a way it doesn't matter if you can't tell exactly where the problem is coming from, because no matter what or where it is, it may mean trouble.

After you start the car, whether you take a few minutes to let it warm up or not, is up to you. If it is summertime and it's 80 degrees outside, then you don't really need to warm it up. If it's winter, or the weather is somewhere below 50 degrees outside, then driving it cold as opposed to warmed up can definately make a difference.

As I was saying before about the different conditions that can affect how the car runs, sometimes cars will only "duplicate" the problem under certain conditions. Have you ever brought your car to the repair shop and when you went to pick it up, the mechanic said he could not "duplicate" the problem? In other words, he couldn't get the car to do it so he could see or hear it. Keep in mind, when I refer to "it", I am talking about a particular noise or maybe something you feel the car doing while you are driving. Just for the record, honestly, if your mechanic doesn't experience the problem themself, how can they identify what it is? So when they tell you they didn't hear it or feel it, don't be mad at them. It is just plain logic. Mechanics are not magicians.

Although an experienced mechanic will probably be able to diagnose the problem from your description of it, without confirming it, there is no gaurantee that their diagnosis will be correct. So do yourself a favor and save your money until you know for sure what the problem is. On the other hand, you can also go from repair shop to repair shop and still not know what is wrong with the car.

Back to conditions. Generally a cold car is going to seem sluggish. So when you drive out of the car lot, and the car has no "get up and go" this can be normal. As you are driving, the engine should sound relatively quiet. When I say relatively quiet, I mean there shouldn't be any loud noises. Noises such as sqeeling, tapping, rattling, grinding, etc. For the most part, if you hear anything like that, it could indicate a problem. Again, you are going to have to use your judgement. In your travels, listen to how other cars sound. When you are sitting at a red traffic light, listen to the noises around you. Maybe when you are walking through a parking lot, and people are driving past you, listen to how their cars sound. This can help you identify between normal sounds and bad sounds.

All the things I have talked about apply to the test drive from starting the car to turning it off. This can give you a relatively decent idea of the mechanical condition of the car.

The Brakes

2008-03-01T09:49:00.002-05:00

What you want:

upon application, the brakes should slow the car immediately. The brake pedal should be high off the floor and firm. As the car is slowing, the foot pedal should feel solid until the car comes to a complete stop.

The Test drive is an ideal time to see how the brakes are.

Some of the typical problems associated with brakes in need of repair or replacement are a low brake pedal, a spongey feel, squeeling or grinding noises, or a pulsation or pulling to one side when applied. These symptoms like any others can vary in degree of severity. Brakes that are still working properly, but are somewhat worn, will feel fine, except when you push down on the pedal, it will seem like it is going down farther. That is normal. Brakes that are just worn and in need of replacement will go down very low to the floor. In a case like that, you may hear a squeeling noise also. When you start to hear that noise, it's time to have the brakes checked.

Don't forget that, as I was saying before, you are probably going to be hearing and feeling lots of different things that you may not be able to identify. Most of the time, you will be able to feel brake problems directly through the pedal, so any problems will probably be obvious when you are driving the car.

The Tires

2008-02-29T09:58:00.002-05:00

What you want:

a smooth feel to the tire sidewall
tread thickness
even tread wear

Ok, I have a feeling you have no idea what I am talking about. It's probably easier to tell you what you don't want, than what you want.

When you look at a tire, you will probably be looking at the sidewall. You can tell it is the sidewall because it has all the writing on it. Besides that it is the side if the tire. The tread is the part of the tire that makes contact with the road. So you will kind of be looking across the treads.

Believe it or not, tires have manufacturer dates on them. These dates are on only one side of the tire, therefore, depending what side of the tire is facing you, you may or may not see the date.

At any rate, tires get old just like everything else. Some people think that just because the tire has little tread wear, that it is automatically still good. This is not necessarily the case. Rubber tires age the same way other rubber parts of the car do.

Tires that are older may have cracks in the sidewall and look dry. These cracks can vary from actual cracks that can be seen with the naked eye, to very tiny little cracks that are so close together, you can't see them. In addition to cracks, you don't want a tire that has a chunk of rubber missing out of it, or one that has a bubble in the sidewall. These will be obvious to you when you look at the tire.

When you look across the treads, first of all, you want there to actually be treads. If the tire looks smooth or almost smooth where the treads should be, this is bad. You might have heard the term "bald" tire. It is pretty much self explanatory.

Besides actually seeing treads, you want the treads to look like they have worn evenly.

Under certain conditions, tires can wear different ways. When it is under inflated, for example, you will see the tread has worn more on the edges than in the center of the tread. The opposite goes for over inflated tires. It will be more worn in the center, than along the edges.

A big part of how tires wear, is the alignment of the front of the car's suspension system, and how the tires make contact with the road.

I know this sounds complicated, but it isn't. Basically, the suspension system consists of shock absorbers, struts(which are basically the same as shock absorbers, except they look a little different), and various other parts that function almost like arms and wrists.

Real quick, imagine you are in the middle of the car with both your arms straight out to the sides. Now imagine your hands are the tires. If you move one arm forward or backward, the other follows automatically. Now imagine your hands and wrists doing the same thing. So if your arms and hands arent's lined up straight, it will affect how the tire contacts the road.

Maybe I should have started with the alignment and how it affects the tires. I'm doing it backwards. Anyway. To make a long story shorter, any extreme tire wear is bad. This includes a tire that has worn evenly, but has no tread left.

So you see a car that you want but it has 2 bad tires. If the rest of the car is in decent shape mechanically, buying 2 new tires is worth it. On the other hand, if the car has extreme tire wear, unless it's even, chances are there are serious front end problems that are potentially very costly. This will probably end up being more of a headache than it is worth.

2008-02-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

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