Vehicle Safety Report

Students from PS 2004, Physics: Mechanics and Energy, and one instructor ran the twice-yearly Vehicle Safety Day on Friday, November 15th between 12.30 and 4.00pm at the workshop in the Unity House garage.

Nearly fifty vehicles were examined, a large number. The weather was reasonable, which may have contributed. Students who had signed up for the third shift were very good and stayed to the end of the fourth to help deal with the large number of "customers."

Even with these relatively large numbers, some students may have missed the various messages about the service. We want you to be safe. If you need to get your vehicle checked and were not able to for any reason, email mwomersley@unity.edu and ask for an appointment.

Most safety checks were routine. The following specific problems were noted, and are reported here so other vehicle owners can learn from them. If you can't afford a brand new car, but want to get around reliably, you need to begin building some knowledge about automotive technology, even if it's just knowing when to take it to a shop! Students that want to learn more about mechanics and vehicle maintenance can now sign up to take PS 1003, Practical Mechanics and Carpentry, every second fall. It will next be offered in Fall 2020.

1. Most vehicles had low tire pressures due to the cold weather. If you set a tire that doesn't leak to 32 PSI in the summer, the tire will often read say 26 or 27 PSI by the time the cold weather comes. Tires need to be pumped late each fall.
2. Several vehicles had the check-engine light on and so reported  "trouble codes", which were "pulled" and recorded for the owners to seek further help. Some trouble codes can be more or less safely ignored, but not all or even most. Even if you choose to ignore one, it's best to check it periodically to make sure a second code has not been triggered.
3. One vehicle was suspected of high oil consumption, at least 1.5 quarts in less than a month of very little driving. the owner had originally planned to drive this car a long way home at the holidays. These plans were revised. It may be best to sell this vehicle for whatever residual value it has here in Maine. However, the oil consumption data must first be nailed down to be sure. The oil level needs to be checked more frequently, at least at every gas filling, and careful notes taken of the consumption.
4. One fuel-injected vehicle had check engine codes for a misfire. The codes were "pulled," reporting PO300: "multiple generic misfire," and PO301 and 303: Misfires in cylinders 1 and 3 respectively. These are standard codes that might appear in any post-1996 vehicle with onboard diagnostics (OBD). This vehicle had a single central coil and distributor rather than individual cylinder coil packs. It's a relatively easy matter on most such vehicles with a single cylinder misfire or misfire in a few cylinders to detect which cylinder or cylinders are malfunctioning by alternately disconnecting the plug leads and then the injector wires while the engine is running. The engine note and rpm will not change when the wires, ignition or injection, to a cylinder with an active misfire are disconnected. In this case, no misfire was found despite the codes. This is not unusual. Trouble codes linger for one or more "drive cycles" after faults are fixed or after they "fix themselves." In this case it fixed itself. The diagnostic process must be repeated when the trouble reappears. This is a general problem with intermittent faults. You can't trace a fault that isn't there, even temporarily.
5. One vehicle had a coolant leak from the bottom radiator hose. A turn of a screwdriver fixed this leak. This was lucky.
6. Two vehicles had malfunctioning low beam headlights. One was due to a trapped abraded wire that had shorted a fuse, the other was because of a loose connector. Both were discovered through standard troubleshooting technique. Vehicle light systems, because they are usually quite simple, respond very well to logical troubleshooting. It's also good training for critical thinking, which, other than the fact that you can't actually repair very much without it, is why we include this skill in PS 2004, PS2014, PS 2023, and PS 3003.
7. A student needed advice about what to do with a flat tire. the flat had already been replaced with the emergency spare wheel (AKA "donut"). This student was advised to either a) trundle slowly a few miles on the donut to a local repair shop or b) get a ride in a different vehicle a bit further, to take the wheel with the flat tire to a specialized tire shop in a local town. The car can only run safely on the emergency wheel for a few miles, hence the advice
8. A vehicle had a loose plastic fairing under the front bumper, following an unfortunate episode with some snowbank, ditch, or other unspecified obstacle. These fairings and indeed the bumper covers too are available cheaply from online parts houses, and are typically held in place with simple plastic "popper" type fasteners. You can often fix problems with these parts or replace them easily yourself with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

Thanks to all the students who assisted with this activity, as well as the Student Affairs and Maintenance Departments.

Drive safely, please,

Mick Womersley

Professor of Human Ecology

Head Grease Monkey