Car Electrical Repair Tips

The article contains tips that will be useful to all motorists repairing the electrics of their cars.

TIP 1. When repairing any electrical component of the car, be sure to disconnect the ground wire (common wire, usually “-”) from the battery, this will protect you from accidental short circuit and failure of some elements.

TIP 2. Know that the main enemies of automotive electrics are moisture and dirt, which reduce insulation resistance, thereby contributing to the possible short circuit and failure of electrical appliances and components.

TIP 3. A normal spark plug should have a light brown color, without strong soot and oxidation.

TIP 4. A candle with a velvety black soot is a sign of malfunctions in the fuel system, this can also include severe clogging of the air filter and improper carburetor adjustment (or injector breakdown).

TIP 5. A candle with a reddish tint (brick color) is a sign of an excessive amount of additives in the fuel mixture that include metal particles.

TIP 6. A candle with traces of oil is a sign of severe wear on the oil in the reflective caps. In addition, oil consumption is significantly increased, and there is also unstable engine idling and during warm-up.

TIP 7. To check the glow plug of a diesel engine, apply “+” to the plug terminal, and connect the negative terminal to ground, that is, to “-”. The glow plug of a working candle heats up almost instantly, after it is completely heated, it starts to glow.

TIP 8. To identify a defective spark plug (without turning it out), you can drip a little water on the pipes of the exhaust manifold - water will evaporate almost instantly from a working cylinder, and it will delay for a considerable time for a non-working cylinder.

TIP 9. The cracked cover of the distributor breaker can be temporarily glued, which requires thoroughly rubbing the fragments with a clove of garlic, then tightly squeeze and wait about three minutes.

TIP 10. One of the reasons for poor and sluggish starter operation (when fully charged battery ) There may well be no reliable contact of the "mass" with the car body.

TIP 11. You can determine the complex state of the ignition elements as follows - in the dark and when the engine is running, inspect the motor space, the presence of piercing sparks indicates the need to replace tips or high-voltage wires. Jumping sparks from the ignition coil and the distributor chopper are the first sign of malfunction.

TIP 12. When servicing the battery, as you know, distilled water is necessary, if it is absent, you can use the “ice pillow”, which is constantly in the freezer of the refrigerator. By melting such ice, you will get water that has exactly the same properties as distilled.

TIP 13. In the event of cracks or damage to the filling mastic of the battery, use a heated blade, which is slowly applied in places of electrolyte leakage. However, it should be remembered that first, without fail, all electrolyte should be drained, and the battery should be dried with compressed air.

TIP 14. If your car does not start stably in damp and wet weather, as a rule, the worn cover of the distributor, as well as its slider, are the culprits.

TIP 15. When checking the generator, remember that most of them (when the engine is idling) produces a voltage of 13.9 - 14.9 V, while turning on the load, the voltage should be between 13.4 - 14.0 V.A drop below 13.2 V indicates problems with the generator, while the presence of an increased voltage (about 15 V) indicates a malfunction of the relay regulator.

TIP 16. For quick repair of the rear window heater, we press the magnet (from the outside) to the glass at the place of the cliff, and on the inside put small iron filings on the strip, smooth and cover with a thin layer of colorless varnish.

Pavel Zotov