Enjoy Freedom of the Road

But have your car, truck or SUV checked before leaving your McHenry home

It’s summer in McHenry, you’ve got your car, truck or SUV and the roads will take you almost anywhere you want to go. That’s some serious freedom stretching out along the concrete and asphalt, beckoning you to explore the sights and activities that abound on a summer day.

Those roads will take you near or far from your McHenry home. And they’ll bring you back when you’re ready to return. Well, that’s the plan anyhow.

What could spoil the plan?

This time of year, you could run into road construction. While inconvenient, there’s always alternate routes so you can continue on your way. But, if your car, truck or SUV breaks down, that’s another matter.

What could possibly go wrong to leave you stranded on the side of the road somewhere? There are any number of possibilities.

You could have a flat tire. That’s one of the most common possibilities. You pickup a nail or a screw somewhere and, next thing you know, you’re riding on the rim. Better hope your spare has air. And you might want to check it before you leave your McHenry driveway.

You could run out of gasoline. As long as your gas gauge works, and you keep an eye on it, this isn’t very likely.

You could drop a muffler or have some other malfunction of your exhaust system. But exhaust systems don’t generally have cataclysmic failures suddenly. You’re liable to notice an increase in the volume of the engine before exhaust parts start falling off the car. In any case, have your exhaust system checked out the next time you have the oil changed.

Your car could overheat. This is customarily the result of a faulty cooling system; you haven’t enough coolant, the coolant is old and ready to be replaced, the thermostat is stuck, the radiator is clogged, the water pump isn’t pumping and/or you have a leak. Once again, have the cooling system checked out before you hit the road. And, speaking of oil changes, having the oil changed on schedule will help when the temperature begins to rise. It will add life to your engine along the way.

Your charging system could fail. If the charging system fails, you’ll keep driving for a little while. But that’s only because the car is running off the battery. When the battery is dead, you’ll want to drift your car onto the shoulder of the road. Keep in mind that, if you run the battery down, you won’t have juice to run the emergency flashers. Better make sure you have emergency flares or reflectors, and have your charging system checked.

Brakes can fail. Suspension parts can fail. Your windshield wipers, lights or turn signals can fail. The car, truck or SUV’s air conditioning can fail.

Whatever the possible problem, the best way to avoid issues that leave you stranded is to have your vehicle checked out before you leave your McHenry home. It’s the best way to ensure that the freedom of the road continues to stretch out wherever you want to go.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog