Repairs

EMERGENCY REPAIRS

In the event of your vehicle breaking down, gradually move over to the parking side of the road where troubleshooting can be carried out in safety.

A substantial number of breakdowns are can be traced to a lack of maintenance of the battery water level, dirty battery terminals or a loose fan belt.

1. The following procedure should be carried out when failure to start is evident.

a) Switch on the headlights and try to start the engine.

b) Now observe the headlights. If they fade whilst trying to start the engine, check for loose or corroded battery terminals, or flat battery.

A flat battery can also be evident with a click sound emanating from the starter motor.In this case,assuming you have another vehicle available with a good battery, go to the section which covers "jump starting."

2. The next step is to check whether the fuel tank has petrol. Don't always assume that the fuel gauge is correct.

a) Remove the fuel tank filler cap.

b) Shake the car,by pushing it from side to side in a violent manner. If there is fuel in the tank, you should be able to hear it sloshing around.

c) If there is no fuel, obtain some from a roadhouse or garage.(It is a good idea to carry a small fuel can for just such an event).Now try again to start the motor.If the motor still refuses to go see the next step.

3. The next system to check for correct operation is the ignition system. Check whether the spark plug is supplied with spark. The procedure is very easy:

a) Remove the spark plug lead and position approximately 5mm away from the engine. Warning!! An electric shock may be sustained if the metal tip is held, so make sure you hold it on the insulated section. Do not carry out this test on electronic ignition systems

these are extremely high voltage and any shock may be fatal.Electronic ignitions are usually only found on late model Australian cars,unless fitted as an after market accessory.

b) Now a second person is required to crank the engine over.

If there is no spark between the gap, remove the distributor cap, and the rotor button and clean them as well as the spark plug lead terminals with a clean rag. Spray with an Aerosol such as WD40 or RP7 and sand paper the ignition point surfaces.Check for spark at the points with the ignition turned on (use insulated screwdriver).You should see a spark jump across the points between the gap.The gap should be approximately .4mm.Check that the gap has not closed completely as this will prevent a spark from happening.

4. If the above components are in working order, the failure to start may be caused by an internal mechanical failure and requires professional attention at the nearest garage or roadhouse.

ENGINE FLOODING

Sometimes during attempts to start the engine we pump our foot on the accelerator pedal causing excessive liquid fuel to enter the engine, fuel must ideally enter the engine in an atomised state, that is, suspended in air for easy combustion.The state where there is an excess of liquid fuel in the engine is known as flooding.This condition may be eliminated by:

1. Placing your foot fully upon the accelerator pedal.

2. Then try starting the engine, maintaining the pedal in fully open position.

3. Remove your foot from the accelerator pedal once the engine has started.

EMERGENCY PUSH STARTING

This can only be carried out to manual transmissions due to the

direct mechanical drive of the rear wheels causing the crankshaft to

rotate via the gearbox.Do not attempt to push start an automatic vehicle, as you

may damage the transmission.

The most important thing is to turn on the ignition switch, (which a lot of people

forget) and select second or third gear.

Press the accelerator pedal about halfway down. When the vehicle is

being pushed at a sufficient speed (approximately 1Okm/h), release

the clutch pedal to start the engine.

JUMP STARTING

If you need to "jump start" a vehicle that refuses to start due to a flat battery, here is a simple set of procedures to follow.First of all you must have a vehicle which has a sound battery.This might sound easy enough but if you are in some remote regions it may be a matter of hours before another vehicle comes your way.Needless to say it is customary to offer asistance to those in need whilst travelling in the outback.Once you have got someone kind enough to assist manoeuvre the cars in such a way that the cars batteries are close enough for the jumper leads to reach.Turn off all electrical accessories,place the gearbox in neutral and place the hand brake on.Batteries under load give off a reasonable volume of hydrogen which can explode, so take care to minimise the amount of sparks created when connecting and disconnecting the jumper leads.Remembering that the body of the car acts as the negative or earth for the whole car, so touching anywhere with the red lead will result in a flash of sparks.Likewise if you connect the battery with the wrong polarity.(see below).

When connecting the jumper leads make sure you connect the batteries postive to positive,

(that is + or red terminal) and negative to negative (- to - or black terminal).

The sequence for connection is ;

(1) connect the positive or red lead, on the good battery to the positive on the flat battery

(2) then connect the negative, or the black lead on the good battery to the negative on the flat

battery.

(3)Start the car with the good battery then start the car with the flat battery.If the battery is very flat it may help to apply some accelerator on the car with the good battery

(4)disconnect the leads in the reverse order of connection.