Car trouble?

I’ll have a look, but it seems that the OEM tires that my car came with(also Dunlop in the approx NT$5000 price point) are reasonbly priced for their size, so I’m not complaining. That doesn’t mean that I look forward to shelling out that amount though. :wink:

Haha, in a past life, I was quite a car enthusiast. Well, I still am, but it’s a lot more difficult in Taiwan as your car and parts buying dollar will only go about 1/2 as far is it would in my home country. The lack of affordable enthusiast oriented cars, the lack of racetracks, the city traffic, and speed cameras everywhere put my automotive hobby on hold while I’m here.

As for what brand of tires are best, that depends on a number of factors. The first thing I would take into account is if your car came from the factory with tires specifically designed for your car. If so, I would just go with the tires that your car came with. This group is generally just a handful of sports or luxury cars, so it doesn’t apply to most people.

As MaPoDoFu said, it all depends on what you plan to use the tires for that will determine which brand/model is best for you. One brand may have a model that is better for one application while another might have a model that is better suited to another application. Judging from your tire size, however, I’m guessing it’s for a compact car that you drive from point A to point B, and factors such as tire wear and wet weather performance are more important than say, cornering ability or speed rating.

If just from point A to point B, I think pretty much any all-season radial will be fine, and the determining factor will probably be the treadwear rating and price, although these tires usually last long enough (when properly cared for) to only require changing them once, or maybe twice during the lifetime of your car. You can get really good deals on point A to point B tires by just going with a local brand like NanKang or something similar.

That said, my personal preference for brands on your list goes in this order, with the disclaimer being that when selecting tires, I’m biased towards high performance dry-weather tires (expensive, amazing dry weather cornering, poor wet weather performance, don’t last very long):
Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin, Goodyear, Toyo, Firestone.

Yokohama I think deserves some mention. I was very happy with the ones I used to run on my last car, but the disclaimer is that they were specially designed with that make/model of car in mind, to the point that they were corner specific. The other model Yokohama tires I used for my other cars were kind of noisy, but they were cheap (relatively speaking) and performed well.

My battery was totally flat yesterday – not even enough juice to turn the starter over. Battery is two years old and I didn’t leave the lights on or anything like that. Anyone have any ideas how the battery could drain like that? And Bassman, why don’t you edit the thread to make it sticky?

Same happened to me some time ago, but I found out that the kids had left the interior lights on - or that is what I suspect happened.
We tried to re-charge the battery, but the garage claimed the performance after recharging was “no good”, so we ended up buying a new battery (gullible, gullible…)

Did it hold a charge just fine after you jump started or charged it? If not, then check the alternator. If it charges just fine, then double check the interior lights and accessories that run w/o the key inserted. Is the battery casing itself ok? Make sure no punctures, tears, or cracks. Most modern batteries are maintenance free, but if it’s not a maintenence free battery, is the water level ok? Do you have any aftermarket accessories like an alarm, TV system, or huge stereo?

It’s true that deep cycling a battery (draining it to little or no charge) will cause it to lose some of it’s performance even when recharged, but if after recharging it, it can start your car without too much trouble, then I’d just run with it if the battery isn’t too old (less than 3 years), and hasn’t been deep cycled very often. My car at home has a 5 year old battery in it, and it basically deep cycles every time I’m in Taiwan, but works fine each time after I get home and jump start it and drive it around for awhile.

Sorry for being ignorant, but if I want to jump start it or charge it, I’ll either need a new battery or a battery charger, which would kind of defeat the purpose, no?
Also, how would I go about checking the alternator?
Also, I just realized that the wife used the car last, so all bets are off that she didn’t leave the interior lights/hairdryer/electric foot spa switched on. :wink:

[quote=“sandman”]
Sorry for being ignorant, but if I want to jump start it or charge it, I’ll either need a new battery or a battery charger, which would kind of defeat the purpose, no?
Also, how would I go about checking the alternator?
Also, I just realized that the wife used the car last, so all bets are off that she didn’t leave the interior lights/hairdryer/electric foot spa switched on. :wink:[/quote]

To jump start it, you’ll need jumper cables and another car (or another battery). Usually, you can borrow a friend or neighbor’s car to do this, so you don’t need a new battery. Jumper cables can be purchased at any of the automotive parts/accessory stores (Yellow Hat, Autobacs, etc.) for a few hundred NT$. I have a set in my trunk, and I recommend that all car owners have a set in their trunk also. The first time you have to use them, you’ll be glad you had them, and it will have been well worth the cost. I would say a dead battery is the 2nd most common problem after a flat tire.

Jump starting a car could be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing, so I’m issuing a disclaimer now that if anyone get’s hurt or injured doing any of this, I’m not responsible.

To charge it, you’ll need a battery charger. This is not something the average household will have, so you may need to jump-start it (or have it towed) to the shop and have them to charge it.

The first step of checking the alternator is to make sure the alternator belt is in good condition, and is installed properly.

There are two ways for the layman to check the alternator:

  1. If you choose to charge the battery, and it holds a charge (enough to start your car), then your battery is probably good. If after running your car for some time, you notice your battery is steadily getting weaker (the next time you start it, for example), then it’s probably the alternator. When the alternator system is bad, then your car basically runs off the battery alone until the battery can no longer power the car’s systems.

  2. If you choose to jump-start the car w/o charging the dead battery, then soon after the jumper cables are removed, then the car will die if the alternator is not working.

2 ways to check the battery:

  1. If you charge the battery with a charger, and it’s still dead or very weak after you charge it, then the battery is bad.

  2. Assuming the alternator is good per the above test, jump start it and drive around for enough time to charge the battery (exact time depends on driving conditions). If you shut off the car, and the battery is still completely dead, then it’s probably a bad battery.

Another thing is that all the interior lights may be off, but a bad switch for things like the glovebox light, or trunk light may cause those lights to be always on (but you can’t see them). You might want to take a look at those.

Thanks for the tips Ben.

So, for the glossary:

Alternator:
Jumper Cables:
Battery Charger:

Then a note about Jumper Cables.
Most new cars are filled with sensitive electronics. I have seen reports that these electronics can be knocked out when plain, old jumper cables are used. It is therefor recommended to use cables with ripple-/surge-protection.

[quote=“X3M”]
Then a note about Jumper Cables.
Most new cars are filled with sensitive electronics. I have seen reports that these electronics can be knocked out when plain, old jumper cables are used. It is therefor recommended to use cables with ripple-/surge-protection.[/quote]

I’ve never heard of this! Can you point me to a link or article that describes this? I’ve never even seen these types of jumper cables for sale! Where can you buy them? However, I would imagine that attaching a battery for jump start purposes is no more harmful then changing the battery completely, and that can be done without surge protection. Besides, all electrical circuits in a car have to go through a fusebox, which should theoretically protect against this. Can you shed more light on this?

Back home with plain jumper cables dating back to the early '80s I’ve jumped cars from 1992, 1993, and 1998 model years. The 1998 has a lot of electronics too!

Luckily, I’ve not had to use the jumper cables I bought at Autobacs here in Taiwan yet. (Knock on wood).

As for the Chinese terms for those, again, when I need to say them, I describe them in laymen’s terms until they get it. Sorry, not much help.

I am not sure if I can find back, and link to the information, and even if I could, you would probably not understand a bit anyway, unless you are familar with Scandinavian languages.
I also remember that the diameter of the cable is important.

I am asking for the Chinese translations, just to follow the origin of this topic.

Yes, the diameter of the cable is very important. The gauge of wire must be thick enough to carry the current that the car being jumped needs to start. In general, the thicker, the better.

As for the chinese translation, I know that battery charger is Tsong1 Dien4 Chi4, but I’m not sure if that applies to car batteries as it does to small electronics. Let me ask some of my co-workers for the others.

[quote=“X3M”]I am not sure if I can find back, and link to the information, and even if I could, you would probably not understand a bit anyway, unless you are familar with Scandinavian languages.
I also remember that the diameter of the cable is important.

I am asking for the Chinese translations, just to follow the origin of this topic.[/quote]

[quote]As for the Chinese translation, I know that battery charger is Tsong1 Dien4 Chi4, but I’m not sure if that applies to car batteries as it does to small electronics. Let me ask some of my co-workers for the others.
[/quote]

Don’t know how correct it is, but I’ve used it to buy both types of charger without too much hassle.

I found myself outside a technical college with a flat motorcycle battery and a passing automotive lecturer kindly assisted with a jump start in their shop. He insisting on turning the bikes headlights on before attaching the cables, so I guess that will do to soak up any surge (was pretty worried about the very expensive bulbs in the ZXR though…). Presumably you can do that with your car.
If you’re still living in Bitan, and haven’t got the car sorted, I have a battery charger you’re more than welcome to borrow.
You can generally check if the alternator is functioning by leaving the car ticking over with the headlights on for a couple of seconds then revving it, you should see the headlights brighten, especially if the battery is very low. Also the red alternator light on the dash will sometimes glow dimly or flick on and off if you have a dud cell in the battery or some problems in the charging circuit, either the alternator/rectifier.

Ok, we have a thread for car trouble - perhaps we can modify this thread title to Car / Scooter trouble, that way we can cover more things. What do you think? or Start another thread - “Scooter trouble?”

Alternator = Fa1 Dien4 Ji1
Jumper Cables = Gao1 Ya1 Shien4

My co-worker isn’t sure about the jumper cables, but says if you describe in layman’s terms that you want to jump a car, the people in the store/shop will know what you are talking about.

[quote]
You can generally check if the alternator is functioning by leaving the car ticking over with the headlights on for a couple of seconds then revving it, you should see the headlights brighten, especially if the battery is very low. Also the red alternator light on the dash will sometimes glow dimly or flick on and off if you have a dud cell in the battery or some problems in the charging circuit, either the alternator/rectifier.[/quote]

This doesn’t work on certain cars that have the newer gas discharge headlights, as each lamp has a ballast to control the output and brightness of the light. If the voltage drops below a certain level, then the lights go out completely, but will never vary in brightness. I suppose you could use the high beams, but the light from the gas discharge low beams being on will make it hard, if not impossible to check the high beam brightness. Because of this, I didn’t mention the headlight test earlier.

As for the alternator light, I think some cars may not have them, although if it doesn’t have that, it definitely won’t have gas discharge headlights, so one or the other method will work. :slight_smile:

Great thread!

1997 Land Rover Discovery, 94,000 miles

The temperature gauge goes way up after a few minutes on the road. I discovered that there was a leak in the cooling system. I haven’t gotten it fixed yet, but fill up the radiator(?) with coolant/water regularly.

But recently, the temp. gauge has been going up even when the car is filled with coolant. The “Check Engine” light has come on, and the car “knocks” when accelerating.

Should I be very worried? I am going to take it in, but I don’t drive it very much and would like to know what the cause may be.

Could it be something lame like adding motor oil? (You can tell I don’t know too much about cars). The last oil change was 5,000 (but almost 1 year) ago.

Thanks.

I had some problems with that too (Nissan 1990). It was the thermostat, which started the fan at 94C instead of 70+C. It was fairly cheap and the car doesn’t overheat.

The leak in the cooling system should be fixed ASAP if you ask me.

You car needs an oil change now. I do it every 3 months/5000 km.

I would take the car to an authorized repairman, as the average Taiwanese mechanic aren’t all that good at special imported cars.

How hot is way up?

Does it happen with or without the A/C on?

First, if your temp gauge is going much over 3/4, don’t DRIVE it! You can do serious damage to your engine by running it (warping engine head or even cracking a water jacket in your block!) this hot… :cry:

You can do some checking on your own before you take it to the shop…Fire it up, and wait for it to warm up…Open your hood and check to see if your fans are turning (both engine and a/c fans). Then check all hoses for leaks, including the area around the water pump and thermostat…Next, check the water in your radiator, if it’s filmy and oily looking, you could have a blown head gasket (fairly major repair)

Cooling system problems are a pain in the butt to diagnose some times, but here’s a basic rundown on how to address the problem.

Engine fan turning too slowly…Blown fan clutch
A/C fan not turning when A/C is turned on…Most likely a simple bown fuse or short (check wiring harness around the evaporator)
Clean and flush radiator…A MUST DO
Remove thermostat and make sure it opens and closes at the right temperature…
Close inspection of all cooling hoses
Water pump for leaking and noises
Inspect head gasket…

IMPORTANT…NEVER ADD WATER TO YOUR RADIATOR WHILE THE ENGINE IS OVERHEATED…AGAIN YOU CAN CRACK THINGS THAT WAY…YOU MUST WAIT FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS TO LET THE ENGINE COOL DOWN…

Finally, go to a dealership…The Discovery is prone to overheating problems…Also, I would recommend replacing your radiator with a copper oversized unit. Expensive (about 12,000NT) but will keep you cool on those hot summer days.

The Discovery is a nice ride…Take care of it :wink:

[quote=“BAH”]The temperature gauge goes way up after a few minutes on the road. I discovered that there was a leak in the cooling system. I haven’t gotten it fixed yet, but fill up the radiator(?) with coolant/water regularly.

But recently, the temp. gauge has been going up even when the car is filled with coolant. The “Check Engine” light has come on, and the car “knocks” when accelerating.

Could it be something lame like adding motor oil? (You can tell I don’t know too much about cars). The last oil change was 5,000 (but almost 1 year) ago.
[/quote]

Stop driving it, and have it looked at immediately. If the engine is knocking, that’s not a good sign. Michael covered pretty well what you can look at if you want to try to troubleshoot yourself.

Not only shouldn’t you add water when the engine is hot, don’t even open the radiator cap when it’s warm, otherwise, you could be injured by scalding hot water coming out.

Motor oil isn’t the problem here, but definitely get an oil change. I do it every 5000km (3107 miles) in Taiwan. The air is so dirty and the driving style in Taiwan is really hard on engines, so change it frequently. Make sure they change the filter every time they change the oil. As I stated in another post, my dealer network changes the filter every other oil change, which kinda defeats the purpose of changing the oil at all. I specifically request they change the filter each time. And, make sure they use the right grade oil as recommended from the factory (not whatever they happen to stock)

Yeeeh, the water in the radiator is filmy looking. You say that could be a blown head gasket… this may sound really stupid, but what is a head gasket, where is it, and how do I tell it’s blown?

I don’t know what this means, but sounds ominous.

Thanks for the help.

I have a problem with my old car too. I have this sound from one wheel, a “low donk” when the wheel makes one turn. It has had it since I bought it 40000 kilometers ago, and it hasn’t gotten worse. I think it might be a worn ball-bearing. The dong-dong-dong sound is only mildly annoying and I can live with it, but if it will endanger the health of the car, I will have to get it fixed. I can’t hear it at high speeds, and it can drive long distances without anything heating up in a bad way in the suspension/around the wheels.

It’s not in the transmission, as the sound does not dissappear, when I press down the clutch.

Any takers?