Sunday, December 20, 2015

How to Select a Battery

Replacing a battery isn't as clear cut as it used to be, vital memory can be lost in the process, affecting everything from radio presets to important KAM (Keep Alive Memory). The newer vehicles need a continuous stream of power to protect this data and special devices may have to be attached to do so. But if you are a dedicated DIYer here's one of my most popular articles originally published on Yahoo Voices. By the way, if you replace a battery preemptively (prior to a failure) we do not charge a labor charge for the replacement on most vehicles.

                                                        How to Select a Battery


BCI stands for Battery Council International. Now you can forget that bit of information because the industry just uses the term BCI when referring to a type of battery cataloging system for cars. What the BCI or battery group number allows you to do is to determine the length, width, height as well as the terminal configuration of your car’s battery.

This is helpful when confirming that the replacement battery that you have selected is a direct match to the one you are replacing. Here’s what you do. Find the catalog number for your existing battery. It will say something like 8475 if it’s sold by NAPA. What this is telling you is that this battery is in the 75 BCI group and carries an 84-month warranty. Now measure your battery and record the dimensions. Next go to batteryweb.com  and click on BCI Group Sizes to confirm your decoding of the catalog number. Always move the battery so that the terminals are closest to you to correctly determine the position of the positive and negative terminals. So you will find that 8475 ends up being a side terminal battery with the positive terminal on the left.

Now that you know that the battery will fit and the cables will reach and tighten properly, let’s make sure that your battery selection is going to start the car. Look for CCA or CA on the battery, these stand for cold cranking amps and cranking amps respectively. These ratings indicate the battery’s ability to turn over your car’s engine in stressful conditions – the higher the rating the better. CCA is just a higher standard than CA. We’re looking for a battery with a rating that equals the one you’re replacing or fulfills the requirement as listed in your owner’s manual.

The final rating that appears on the battery is RC which stands for reserve capacity. The battery manufacturers have thought of everything including the hapless possibility that your vehicle might have to run all of its accessories solely off the battery. So reserve capacity is a rating in minutes of how long the battery could sustain that condition if the alternator or its belt failed.

Even though cold weather is associated with car battery replacement, probably because of the visceral reaction of seeing the service truck in your driveway during a snow storm, heat-related issues are just as destructive to batteries. So whether you’re trying to replace your battery wearing a winter coat or a tee shirt, start first with the numbers that you find on the battery to make the job easier. 
        

Sunday, August 16, 2015

The Importance of Voltage as in Your Vehicle's Battery | Joe & Tony's Service Inc.

We all are very familiar with the impact of low voltage on our cell phones. So take that chaos and multiply it by 30-100 which is the number of micro-processors that  a 2010 NY Times article estimated are in today's cars and trucks. This estimate precedes the onslaught of factory installed infotainment systems in cars, so I'm sure you get where I'm going. But then again maybe you don't.

What I'm proposing is a new way to look at replacing the battery in your vehicle. The old way is to milk every day that you possibly can out of the power supply that starts your vehicle and helps to run all its computers. Car batteries can be purchased with warranties of anywhere from 48 to 84 months, but the fact is that most batteries fail at about the 48 month mark depending on where you live. This reality is the reason that a well respected consumer publication recommends that in hot climates owners begin to test their batteries' condition every year beginning at 2 years old and in cold climates beginning at 4 years. Yes that's right, sweltering heat is harder on batteries than freezing cold.

The point of all this is that it may be penny wise and dollar foolish to squeeze an extra day or two out of your car's battery. Since a lack of available voltage could trigger a diagnostic trouble code and illuminate your check engine light, you should consider a marginal battery a threat to your vehicle's diagnostic system. Although the initial check of your vehicle's condition would include an evaluation of battery health, why not eliminate exposure to a misdiagnosis and all the angst that goes with it.

The cost of diagnosing an erratic code could exceed the money saved by extending the replacement time of your battery by a few weeks.

Have your battery tested as it ages
Copyright 2015 Joe & Tony's Service Inc.  
 

Friday, April 17, 2015

NHTSA Decides No Recall on Rusting Brake Lines | Joe & Tony's Service Inc.

The National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) has ended a multi-year investigation into 1999-2003 full sized pickup trucks and sport utilities vehicles which have experienced brake line failures. The government agency has decided the problem is due to "end of life wear out" and will not be recalling the subject vehicles.

The lines that NHTSA looked at carry brake fluid throughout the brake system and play the primary role in the hydraulic functionality of the brakes. Fluid in the lines is responsible for applying pressure to the mechanical brake parts that stop the vehicle. Lines compromised by rust and corrosion eventually leak and result in loss of pressure greatly increasing stopping distances. If this condition is not addressed all the fluid is lost resulting in no brakes.

NHTSA offered consumers in the "Salt Belt" (a list of 20 states & DC where deicing preparations are applied to roadways) suggestions to "protect against brake pipe corrosion in older vehicles". They are: 1.) Periodically remove from the undercarriage of your vehicle road salt that leads to corrosion
       2.) Monitor your brake system and the undercarriage components
       3.) Replace the entire brake pipe assembly at any sign of scaling or flaking

The agency also describes what to do if you experience a brake failure while driving. These instructions can be viewed at NHTSA Brake Corrosion Press Release.

Comment -As covered in the last blog post and reinforced here by NHTSA,  there is no substitution   for a trained eye periodically looking over your vehicle.




Dripping Brake Line Copyright 2015 Joe & Tony's Service Inc.







           

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Reasons to Maintain Your Vehicle

J.D. Power's Automotion Blog forecasted that the average new vehicle transaction price for March 2015 would be $30,530, which would be a record for the month of March. Median income adjusted for inflation has been hovering around $52,000 in recent years. The math indicates that we are plunking down nearly 59% of a year's wages when we give the salesman the OK to place the happy tags on our new ride. This makes a case for maintaining a vehicle. Some of the other reasons are...

200,000 Miles is the New 100,000 Miles - Admittedly, we don't see an abundance of brand new cars since the the first 36 months and 36,000 miles are covered by the new car warranty. But the odometer readings we do see actually make a case for vigilant maintenance, since the best way to maximize your investment is to exploit the 200,000 mile potential your vehicle can achieve.

Longer Power Train Warranties- Hyundai broke new ground when, many years ago, it introduced the 100,000 Mile/10 Year power train warranty. Today the decision appears to have been prescient since the average age of the national fleet is 11 years. The stickler here is that you have to maintain the vehicle per the manufacturer's specifications to avail yourself of warranty coverage- no service history, no warranty.

Higher used car values - It is no secret that selling used cars is profitable - think CarMax
CarSense and Autotrader. So how could you use that knowledge to your advantage? Yes, by diligently maintaining your vehicle. Don't consider it a transportation device, instead think of it as an investment. Make deposits into it in the form of oil changes, inspections and scheduled maintenance and think of your technician as a vehicular adviser who is there to protect your nest egg.

The Golden Rule- If self interest doesn't motivate you to keep up on your car, consider this. I have always been struck by the democracy of the road. Find a vehicle, register it, insure it and you can enjoy the same rights as everyone else as long you follow the rules of the road. Your piece could be a Mazda 2 or a Hennessey Venom GT and you're equal on the roadway. But isn't there an inherent responsibility that comes with that freedom? Of course there is, and it's the regard you must have for yourself, your passengers and the guy in the other lane on I-95. That regard is shown when you seek regular and competent advice about your vehicle.

Rusted Rear Suspension Copyright 2015 Joe & Tony's Service Inc.  
 

             


     

Saturday, January 10, 2015

How I Sold the Best Car I Ever Owned | Joe & Tony's Service Inc.

One of the benefits of working in an auto repair shop is that you are on the front lines of the used car market. Without much effort, you know who is in the market to buy and who would like to sell a vehicle. So over the years I have purchased a number of cars from customers and likewise have sold a few to other clients.

A 1975 Mercury Monarch and a 1985 Chevy Caprice Classic were OK buys for me. They provided sound transportation and maintained their integrity in terms of appearance and reliability for the duration of my ownership. I sold the Chevy to another customer who drove it for a number of years without spending much on repairs. Unlike stocks, when it comes to cars, past performance can be a guarantee of future results, as long as they are properly maintained.

But without a doubt the best car I ever owned was purchased from a little old lady in 1979. When she owned the car she would drive by to have me check the gas gauge and inquire whether she should fill up or wait. Usually I would tell her to wait and try to use up her current inventory, because I was concerned that the gas would “go bad”. All the details of this 1969 Chevy Nova are burned into my brain, because she decided to sell it to me when it turned 10 years old when it had only been driven 1500 miles.

No, I didn’t forget a zero, in a decade the owner had barely driven the car beyond the inspection lanes and back and undoubtedly could have taken a taxi as cheaply on all of her jaunts. So how do you establish the value of a car that has been driven so few miles? We called the Chevrolet dealership and arrived at something that made sense to both parties and I became the proud owner of a two door, glacier blue Nova with a standard transmission and a 6 cylinder engine. On the showroom floor its price tag was less than $2500.

What made it the best car I ever owned? It’s simplicity. Although its amenities were non-existent, the vehicle’s Spartan functionality provided reliable transportation and it didn’t put up much of a fuss when something went wrong. When is the last time you raised the hood of a car and could actually see the pavement below?

But like many things in life, everything has a time and the tipping point for the Nova was a growing family that required a vehicle with two more doors. This brings me to the other reason that this Chevy is so memorable. I did indeed sell it to another customer. Let’s call him Len.

Len was a very good customer, who was well appreciated, but in today’s jargon  he would earn the label “high maintenance”. I was anxious to move the Nova and mentioned it to Len contrary to the advice of my co-workers. He said we had a deal as long as I agreed to teach his 20 something son how to operate the stick shift. So one Saturday we found a parking lot that had a couple of elevated grades on which we could simulate preventing the car from rolling back at stop lights and with Len kibitzing from the back seat we practiced and practiced.


Of course, on Monday morning everyone wanted to know how my tutorial had gone. Without any hesitation I told them, “Len said it was a deal.” I didn’t mention that he was insisting that I have the clutch replaced prior to the sale.