Word to the wise

[wrpsuite]

After this weekends fiasco leaving me on side of the road with temp gauge in the red I started thinking about last week. It’s been getting cooler at night and in the morning a few days I noticed high idle for longer than usual. I assumed was taking longer to warm up but was weird. After the 2nd day I looked for vacuum leaks and searched around for possible causes thinking it could be a couple different things. Turns out antifreeze was leaking and or water pump not working. Not sure if water pump failed but I got lucky. Changed pump, radiator, cap, pulley, belts etc and back in action. Moral of the story check your fluids anytime you sense something haywire.

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[jgue467]

Even wiser is to schedule a fluid level and tire pressure check at least once a month.....I like the 1st as a reminder, same as I give me dog her dewormer, haha.

 

[brillo_76]

Good idea. I try to check my fluids a few times a week. I am also on a constant lookout out for puddles under the rig. As the old girls can spring leaks very quickly.

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[Romeo1]

The machines are always talking to you. You just have to listen and pay attention. Sounds and smells are part of it. Gauges are giving you info.

If you see a puddle underneath it’s time to investigate.

It’s all part of a learning curve that most people can’t be bothered to learn these days because it interrupts book face and TikTok time…….

Back when I was a professional mechanic the joke used to always be that we became mechanics because we were too poor to pay other people to work on our cars….lol..

You don’t, in my opinion, I need to uncork the cooling system or check the oil every five minutes. You can if that is what you choose to do though. And it certainly doesn’t hurt provide if you don’t damage the radiator cap in the process. Most automatic transmissions require the system to be running to check fluid level.

That said, I’m also at the point, that strictly as creature of habit I always glance underneath the vehicle as I walk up to it to from a distance( it takes 2 nano seconds) see if somethings leaking. I can tell by the exhaust color and smell if it’s burning oil or coolant. If it’s not leaking, and it’s not getting burned, odds are it’s where it belongs. Same goes for differentials and transmissions. Provided there’s no leaks, and nothings wet under the vehicle, the fluid is probably where it belongs.

Until you develop that sense though, yeah, you should probably visually check everything.