The Citizen, 1997-04-23, Page 15THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23,1997 PAGE 15.
Spring Car Care 1997
The squeaky hinge gets the lube
Isn't it annoying? You just open
the car door, and suddenly it
sounds like the front door of
Disney World's Haunted House.
Or maybe you drive a minivan,
with a sliding door that just doesn't
want to slide. Help is near at hand.
As close as your nearest
automotive store, in fact.
There are several products that
can help you get the squeak out of
your hinges. Most are packaged as
spray cans so that you can spray
lubricant into those nooks and
crannies around door hinges. Some
are more of a grease that you'll
have to rub on.
Some of these products have
graphite in them. Graphite is an
excellent lubricant, but it can leave
black runs on your paint. Spray oils
are good, although perhaps not as
long lasting as the graphite based
lubricants.
There are also penetrating oils.
When you have a frozen nut that
just won't come loose, spray or drip
some penetrating oil onto it, let it
sit for 10 minutes, and then try
again to loosen it. If that doesn't
work, repeat the application and
then give the nut a sharp tap with a
hammer to break the adhesion.
Many of the products in spray
cans include a plastic tube that fits
on the end of the nozzle. This is an
excellent way to free up a stiff lock
(before you break off your key in
the lock in a fit of frustration).
Simply insert the tip of the tube in
the lock and give it a short squirt of
lubricant. Then work the key four
or five times to make sure the
lubricant is spread around the
moving parts.
In winter, this technique can also
help you free up a frozen lock. The
spray of lubricant will drive out the
ice and help you to get into a car
that would otherwise sit there until
spring (or a Chinook, whichever
comes first).
It's not just car doors, of course.
There are other moving parts that
should receive attention. For
example, the hood latch and the gas
cap door. It's a terrible feeling
when you want to pop the hood to
add windshield washer fluid, and
you can't get it open.
Car Care Canada notes that an
ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure (or is that a gram of
prevention is worth a kilogram of
cure?). Lubricating your hinges
every couple of months is an
excellent way to avoid problems.
Overheating equals breadown
Overheating, a leading cause of
mechanical breakdown, is
notorious for interrupting vacation
travel. Avoid the expense and
inconvenience of a breakdown on
the road far from home. By
spending a few extra dollars for
complete cooling service on your
car, truck or van before your
summer holiday, you could save
big dollars in the long run! Car
Care Canada recommends the
following ways to save money and
to take care of your vehicle's
cooling system.
1. Save labour charges (or your
own time, if you do your own
work) by taking care of all
necessary replacements at one
time.
When one hose or drive belt
needs replacing, you are likely to
find more in marginal condition.
Rubber components under the hood
live in a hostile environment,
surviving temperatures ranging
from sub-zero to more than 118°C,
circulating up to 28,000 litres of
coolant per hour at up to 7.2 kg of
pressure. They warrant periodic
attention.
Have the system pressure tested
and inspect all hoses, clamps, and
connections. Hoses may become
spongy and soft, or, in some cases,
brittle. Also, belts should be
inspected for signs of cracked,
Continued on page 16
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