4 signs your car is about to break down

Eventually, everything comes to an end. Whether it’s holidays, food or even our cars, things seldom do last forever. Sadly. Although some manufacturers would rather you picture their cars as indestructible and built for all occasions, this simply isn’t true.

Thankfully, there are a few ways to spot your car’s impending doom, making it easier to determine the time for an upgrade.

To save you from being stranded, it helps to know the tell tale signs of a car’s upcoming failure; especially if your car suddenly loses power. Get ahead of the curve as we run through some the unfortunate signs that your car is dying.

What causes cars to break down?

 With so many moving parts, cars do break down from time to time. It’s only natural, as our cars are used daily for all sorts of tasks. Therefore, it’s hard to give one sole reason as to why car’s break down.

However, there are a few key parts that often cause sudden breakdowns:

Dead batteries

As frustrating as it seems, sometimes, a car failing to start can be due to a lone dead battery. Car batteries are composed of lithium, which itself has a finite lifespan that eventually degrades. As time goes on, car batteries lose their charging capacity, meaning they’ll hold less power for shorter amounts of time.

Changing weather can also impact a battery’s lifecycle, with changing conditions causing the lithium to wear out faster than it would in stable conditions. Signs your car battery is dying include:

•  Slow turnovers
• Dimmed lights
• Clicking sounds while turning the key
• Loss of power while accelerating
• Dashboard warning lights

Tracking issues

Wheel alignment, or ‘tracking’ is what helps our cars travel in the right direction. If you’ve driven over a steep pothole, this alignment can be thrown off, causing your steering to appear off-kilter despite seemingly travelling in a straight line. If left untouched, this balance can gradually get worse, to the point where your steering column becomes warped. At this stage, turning becomes incredibly hard, almost to the point of impossibility.

Blown fuses

One of the most common electrical failures your car can experience is a blown fuse. Fuses are what manage electrical charges around your car, providing and regulating power to your radio, headlights, fan system, ignition, etc. Blown fuses can render our cars undrivable, causing intricate repairs to be needed.

Due to the complexity of such repairs, prices can begin to add up to extortionate proportions.

Overheating

In warmer climates, our cars must work even harder to keep themselves cool. This is usually done via a large fan sitting in front of a radiator by the engine. Fans, of course, are prone to failure. So, if yours isn’t working, the risk of your car overheating begins to increase.

Signs your car is dying

 1. Slow acceleration

 It’s a well-known fact that cars lose their power as they get older. Mostly, this loss is minimal and it’s very rare that owners notice it. However, a sudden decrease in power output is cause for concern and could be a sign that your car’s drivetrain has degraded.

 2. Loud clunking noises

Modern cars typically glide along the road with minimal noise, especially electric ones. If your car has started acting like a drummer in a rock band, you may want to get it checked out. Loud, random noises like this can derive from anywhere from wheel bearings to timing belts; both of which requiring arduous repairs.

3. Poor traction

 Much like other aspects of cars, traction is something that is usually hit or miss. Sometimes, traction levels are great and rarely fluctuate, for others, it can feel like driving on ice. Having said this, cars are usually fairly stable in the younger years of life, so a sudden loss of traction may spell issues with either the differential, or braking system.

Read more: What Is a Differential and What Does It Do?

4. High mileage

This one isn’t really a sign your car is about to die, but it’s more of an indication that its time could be up soon. Unless maintained regularly, high mileage cars are usually fairly unreliable, and are prone to developing all sorts of complications.

Usually, cars last about 10 years or 100,000 miles with bi-annual maintenance. So, if your ancient motor is clocking up the miles, it might be time to start looking at alternatives.

Is your car on its way out?

 If your car’s showing its age, the time for a change could be upon you. At findandfundmycar.com, you can find thousands of used cars. Take a look at models of all shapes and sizes, today.