Emergency Roadside Repair Tips

Roadside Emergency Repair Tips

Getting stuck on the side of the road with a broken down car is usually something that ruins our entire day. With a little preparation and smarts you can be back on the road and on the way to the repair shop in short order.

List of things to put into a bag and keep in your vehicle at all times

• Booster Box
• Jumper Cables
• Emergency air pump
• Fix a flat
• Super glue gel.
• Baking soda
• Duct tape
• Towel
• Pair of comfortable walking shoe (just in case all fails)
  

Flat Tire:

The most common thing that happens to slow us down is a flat tire. This can be from a number of things sometimes simple negligence or just debris in the road either way there is an extremely simple fix for this, keep your spare properly maintained and replaced once it’s used ONCE. I usually check the pressure on mine during normal maintenance cycles. This takes an extra 3 minutes, but it sure beats the hell out of sitting on the side of the road with a flat tire and a flat spare. A can of Fix a Flat and an emergency air pump is also something that is good to have on hand. You never know when you can lend a helping hand to someone who is not prepared. Most emergency pumps have caution lights on them which give you some added protection when on the side of the road.

Another common problem that occurs is overheating. This can happen because a leaky radiator a busted hose or even a stuck thermostat. There are a few things that you can do to get back on the road again regardless of the problem.

Fixing a Leaky Radiator:

Depending on where you are this can be easy or hard but you will need some water and a couple eggs. This is a very temporary fix but it does work.

Step 1: Let your car cool off; don’t rush this it’s worth waiting to be safe.

Step 2: Refill water

Step 3: Crank car and let idle

Step 4: crack open eggs and pour into radiator

Step 5: Get to repair shop ASAP

Fixing a Busted Hose or Broken Radiator:

Step 1: Let your car cool off; don’t rush this, it’s worth waiting to be safe.

Step 2: Dry off area around the hole and the hose very well.

Step 3: Wrap the hose tightly and smoothly with duct tape, lots of tape extending each direction from hole.

Step 4: Refill Water and go to repair shop ASAP

Unfortunately, there is not a way to fix the thermostat on the side of the road short of replacing or removing it. But you can still make it home or to the repair shop. Let the car cool off and top off the water and turn heat on full. Keep an eye on the temp gauge and once it starts to get over ¾ pull over and repeat process.

Now a much less common problem I have personally experienced is during overheating in a car with plastic radiator end tanks. I have had the neck actually break off the radiator. When this happens you may think you are beyond any help. Definitely not the case, if you are prepared. I had this happen to one of my BMWs a few years ago and an old guy at a truck stop came over and helped me out. We cleaned the surface of the broken plastic parts and used an ample amount of super glue on both broken surfaces, as soon as the two pieces were joined together, he sprinkled an ample amount of baking soda on the wet seam of the super glue. This makes a very strong bond, in fact, it was so strong I drove it for another year until I blew the engine up with a little too much nitrous, at that point I replaced engine and got a new radiator. This super glue and baking soda fix can be used for a number of things.

Battery Problems

A common problem regardless of the type of battery you have. Leaving your headlights on will kill one in just a few hours. The booster box comes in handy for this and if that fails, jumper cables work as well. With new cars jumping a car is not as obvious as one might think. On old cars it was very obvious, the battery has a ( + ) , usually a red cable or cap and a (-) negative, usually black. With newer cars the battery is sometimes hidden and you can’t access it. What you have to look for in these situations is a red box that is about 1.5 x 3 inches, its usually snapped closed and opens easily. Once you open it you will see a large diameter bolt this will be where your ( + ) Positive cable will go. There is actually a procedure to hooking up the jumper cables to prevent any damage from occurring to either car. Be sure to unplug anything you may have plugged in inside the car such as GPS, MP3 Players as very high amperages can surge through the car and could very easily fry anything plugged into cigarette lighter. Another thing to remember that most people don’t know is to connect the dead car first this makes it less likely to ground out the other clamps and short something out. Sometime it takes a few minutes of charging before your car will start but usually after a few minutes your car will start. Once your car starts you have to remove the cables and yes there is a procedure for this as well

Battery Connection Procedure

Step 1: Connect one end of the Positive (+) cable to the Positive (+) post of the dead battery.

Step 2: Connect the other end of the Positive (+) cable to the Positive (+) post of the good battery.

Step 3: Connect one end of the Negative (-) cable to the Negative (-) post of the good battery.

Step 4: Connect the other end of the Negative (-) cable to a good solid SHINY, NON PAINTED metal part of the engine on the dead car. Usually a giant shiny nut on the engine block will do. A painted, dirty, or oily nut will not work. You usually want to avoid placing the Negative (-) cable directly on the dead battery to minimize the chance for explosions. You should only use the ground post on the dead battery as a last resort. On this step you'll get a normal spark as you connect the ground and complete the circuit.

Battery Disconnect Procedure

Step 1: Disconnect the Negative (-) cable from the engine block of the car that had the dead battery.

Step 2: Disconnect the other end of the Negative (-) cable from the Negative (-) post of the good battery.

Step 3: Disconnect the Positive (+) cable from the Positive (+) post of the good battery.

Step 4: Disconnect the other end of the Positive (+) cable from the Positive (+) post of the dead battery.

Preventative Maintenance

Here are a number of things you can do to prevent you from having to do any of these things on the side of the road. The following list is a pretty solid list of things I do periodically.

Bi - Weekly - Check Tire Pressure

Bi – Weekly – Charge Booster Box (a dead booster box doesn’t really help you)

Monthly - Check hoses and wires under hood for broken and brittle places.

6 Months – Flush Coolant system (seems excessive but it’s very inexpensive and it tells you a lot about what is going on in your engine)

Obviously your regular maintenance schedule for your fluid changes specified by the manufacturer should be followed as well.

I hope you never need this information, but if you do, remember these are temporary fixes and please be extra careful on the side of the road and stay keenly aware of your surroundings. Many people that do not pay close attention while driving. Being right beside the road is a very dangerous place to be. Pull as far to side of the road as you can safely get, without parking in dry tall grass or getting stuck.

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