What’s Wrong with Your Car?

Unfortunately, when we hit a pothole, run over a bag flying near the road, or have a rock hit the windshield some things can go wrong with your vehicle. While these instances are easier to diagnose than others, there are times when our vehicles give us plenty of warning signs with odd smells, sounds, and warning lights that need to be diagnosed and resolved before we can move on and get back on the road. With that in mind, here are some of the possibilities of what you may encounter as you drive and what you should do.

Rattling Interior –When you hear a rattling noise in the interior of your vehicle it’s likely you’ve hit a pothole or some small parts have worn out and need to be replaced. If you can find the location where the items are rattling you can remove the panel and take a look behind it to see what’s happening that could be fixed so that you don’t hear this rattling any longer.

Maple Syrup Smell –If you head into your garage and are greeted with a sweet smell that is somewhat like maple syrup you have a leak in your coolant system. Often this could mean a hole in one of the hoses, but there are times when this could be much worse and require you take the vehicle to a mechanic to be evaluated and repaired.

White Exhaust Smoke –If you’re exhaust is burning a white smoke out of the pipe this means the coolant is getting into the engine during the combustion cycle. This is caused by a blown head gasket which is a serious problem and will require to you either start looking for a new vehicle or begin to think about a complete engine rebuild or replacement.

High-Pitched Squeal in the Engine –When the serpentine belt is slipping it will make this awful noise and cause you a lot of trouble if you don’t get it replaced. You can replace this belt yourself by using the alternator or a tensioner to loosen and then tighten it once again and rid yourself of the squeal you’ve been hearing from under the hood.

Wheel Squeak that Stops Upon Braking –In this case, you probably need to replace your brake pads because the wear indicators are making themselves heard and let you know the vehicle needs to have new brakes put on. This is a repair you can accomplish on your own and have the new brakes ready to go in no time so that you can keep driving down the road.

Vibrating Steering Wheel –This is an issue that’s typically caused when a wheel is out of balance. This can be caused by snow or ice that gets into the wheel and can be knocked off to make the tire feel right again. This could also be caused by one of the wheel weights falling off the rim which will need to be replaced at the tire shop in your area.

Dead Battery, Even After a New One Was Installed –If you’ve replaced the battery and it’s dead once again it means you likely need a new alternator. This is a repair that some people will do on their own, but if you let a mechanic take care of it you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches and some busted knuckles.