Breakdown Cover Articles

Handy Car Tips

There are a number of DIY tricks when it comes to keeping your beloved car problem free.

Lets have a look at a few areas.

Firstly, rust. This potentially effects all cars as they age and if not treated, can quickly corrode your car’s bodywork, leaving an expensive trip to the garage as the only alternative. So once you spot that first bit of rust, rub it away with a piece of steel wool and paraffin. Alternatively, aluminium foil, balled up and dipped in water, works as well.    

Now, if a dent appears, have a go at using a sink plunger. Work up some suction with the plunger, then suck out the dent. This works well for small dents obviously, for larger problems get behind the dent with a rubber mallet and tap it out, although it’s harder to achieve a good finish.

If you’ve got dirty spark plugs, then these can be replenished by using oven cleaner. Let them soak for a couple of hours, scrape away the muck and hey presto, clean plugs to go.

With sticking locks, don’t spray them with lubrication, which can actually make them worse. Use a graphite powder which helps free the lock mechanism. This can be bought in a can, otherwise work in some lead from a soft pencil and then use the lock a couple of times; it should free it up.

With tar stuck to your bodywork, use linseed oil to soften it, then rub it off with a hard cloth. And for those bugs who are determined to throw themselves at your car, use the net bag that you buy onions, or fruit in. This is abrasive enough to remove dead insects, but not your paintwork.

Now with foggy windows, men might be pleased to hear of a tip that involves their shaving cream. Use a damp sponge to apply the cream, sparingly, then use paper towels to buff the area clean. This should help keep your windows clear, although you will have to re-apply the cream when the effect starts to wear off.

If your battery terminals start to look a bit corroded, give them a spruce up with some baking soda mixed with water. And make sure the cable ends are clean as well, and then spread the bits with petroleum jelly, as it helps keep them free from damp and dirt.

For a cheap air freshener, and one which actually works better than many of the chemical varieties which can give you car a sickly smell, is to use a load of potpourri. This has a strong, natural smell and will not create an unpleasant odour. And it can be refreshed quite easily.

And for those annoying stickers that get burned on with the sun and cannot be peeled off, then one of the best tips is to rub cooking oil into the sticker, allow it to penetrate the old glue, then rub off with a flat knife, or razor blade, taking care not to cut your fingers.  

And finally, a couple of tips if you find yourself broken down with a bust fan belt, or a leaking radiator, although how much credence you lend to the latter solution, is up to you.

If you’re in a remote location and your fan belt goes, use tights, or stockings as a replacement, winding the material tights around the pulleys and cogs. But always making sure that the material can’t get caught in any part of the engine’s other moving parts. Now, this remedy has been around for some time and you might argue, has a fundamental flaw if you’re a man, or if you don’t have a woman in the car with you, or that woman is not wearing tights, or stockings. Nevermind though, just pray that if your fan belt does go, you have a willing female to hand.

The next one seems a bit far-fetched to this writer, but if you’re desperate, stuck on the roadside with a leaking radiator and happen to have just done your shopping and have a few eggs in your basket, then this one might be worth a go.

If the radiator is still hot and it’s a small leak, then chuck a few eggs in and, so a number of people say, it will seal the leak, allow you to fill it up again and get to a garage.

Of course, you might just end up with scrambled egg in your water system, but again, it all depends how desperate you are.  

Another tip for the radiator is black pepper which does the same job, blocking a small leak.

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