The most Important Storm Chasing Tool

[Jason Boggs]

A list of important storm chasing tools include a video camera, a still camera, a tripod, a weather radio, and many more that have slipped my mind. One very important item does slip our mind when we think about chase equipment. It's in my opinion, the most important tool of all for storm chaser's, it's our vehicle.

Now that storm season is shutting down and the heat of summer is upon us, I have been doing some long overdue maintenance on my vehicle. I thought that some tips and links would help others that may have neglected their vehicle like I have. I hope some of these tips will help you get the most out of your #1 chase tool.

1. Check your oil weekly and replace it every 3,000 miles.

2. Check your air filter at every oil change and replace if necessary.

3. Check your anti-freeze level and replace every 30,000 miles.

4. Non platinum spark plugs need to be replaced every 30,000 miles. Platinum type can go for about 100,000 miles before being replaced.

5. Rotate and balance your tires every 6,000 miles.

6. Replace your fuel filter every 30,000 miles.

7. Check hoses and belts monthly and replace if necessary.

8. Change wiper blades every 6 months.

9. Check your battery for corrosion on the terminals. Clean the corrosion off with a baking soda and water mixture. Put a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the terminals to help prevent future corrosion.

There are more items to check but these are some of the basic ones.
Be sure to check your car manual to get a maintenance schedule for your particular car.


Not only should you maintain your vehicle year round, you should also check certain items before you leave on a chase day:

1. Check your spare tire ( Carry a couple of cans of fix-a-flat).

2. Check your oil level.

3. Check your anti-freeze level.

4. Keep a full reservoir of windshield washer fluid.

5. Check your tire pressure and tread.

6. Check wiper blades.

7. Fill up your gas tank.

8. Make sure your air conditioner is working properly.

9. Check battery terminals for corrosion and clean if necessary.


Here are a few links for car maintenance and troubleshooting car problems:

http://www.advanceautoparts.com/english/yo.../categories.asp

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?F..._care_aware.jsp

http://www.accessconnect.com/vehicle.htm

http://www.partsamerica.com/MaintenanceTips.aspx

 

[Anthony Silver]

Vehicle maintenance is one thing I've been really laxed on this year and now I'm paying for it. I just had my 1998 Crown vic in the shop last week for some minor tranny repairs because it was overdue for it's routine service. And now I discovered that there is an engine misfire and the a/c compressor has gone out. The engine misfire is probably a quick fix...a tune up should take care of that, but the a/c compressor work wont be cheap (probably in the $400-$600 range) :shock: . I guess I should be keeping a close watch on my maintenance schedules from here on out.

Anyways...that's a very good list you have going there. Tires, Oil changes, and tranny flushes make the top of my list...but the cooling system and fuel filter maintenance are very important as well.

 

[mrobinett]

I figured the best tool was common sense.. That might be a given though, huh?

Good to meet you Jason in Garden City, KS on May 11th!!
Its not good to have torns sneaking up on you at night, was it?

Mike

 

[Blake Michaleski]

Changing your oil every 3000 miles is the oil companies' way of making more money. Notice where you read this, on bottles of oil or from adds from oil companies. Read your owners manual. If you own a honda it'll likely tell you to change it every 7500 miles, mine did.

Every mechanic I know says that a reasonable amount of time is 5000 miles. I change mine every 5-6000 and no problems yet.

Go on and change it every 3000, you certainly arent hurting the car. But just keep in mind, if you hit several consecutive chase days and are near 3000, dont sweat it, change it when you have time.

on a very high mileage car (over 150k) it does make sense to change the oil more often as it is more likely to get contaminated from blowby due to work piston rings.

If your chase rig has an auto transmission (probably 95% of all chasers run an auto I'd assume) then that is definately one thing not to neglect. an auto trans can work fine on the edge of failure sometimes and all it may take is a hard acceleration and you'll toast the clutches. Yes auto's have clutches, each gear has its own clutch pack, auto's dotn actually 'shift' gears, they disengage one clutch pack and then engage another. Anyway, when you check your auto trans fluid, smell it. if it smells burnt, your auto trans needs attention immediately. this is a sign of clutches going out. also the fluid should be bright red, not brown at all.

If you prefer to serice your auto trans yourself, dont just drain the fluid and replace the filter. this will leave alot of the old fluid up in the transmission.I like to drop the pan and drain the oil, leave the old filter on for now. throw a cork gasket on there with no sealer and cinch the pan back down not too tightly. fill it up with fluid, then start the car and cycle it through all of the gears or go drive it for a bit. then come back and drain that fluid and replace teh filter. refill and your done. This helps reduce greatly the amount of old ATF in the system. some will be left but not much. shops actually flush the entire system and this would be good to do probably every other service.

In my hotrod thoguh i change the trans fluid by just drain and refill with a filter change, I dont flush it , but I also change it every 15000 miles.

Also, When you check that auto's level, make sure the engine is running. but when checking engine oil level, make sure the engine is off.

dont forget to check your brake fluid and power steering fluid.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I read in one of the car mags recently that the newer cars' computers will tell you if the oil needs changing.

You can go to almost any shop, have a guy plug into the computer, and, voila!, the computer says if the oil needs changing or not. This is not based simply on number of miles on the oil, or how long it's been in there, but whether or not it is lubricating your engine properly or not.

Amazing.

The article also said that typically, an oil change is really only needed every 15K or 20K miles these days, because the engines and the oil are made so well.

So, I still change my oil with full or semi-synthetic every 5000 miles, LOL. Unless I do 7400 miles in 14 days like May 30-June 13. Priorities, ya know.

I have a Sonoma with 138K miles that I bought new in 1994 that burns one quart every 10,000 miles. I attribute that to the TLC of the frequent oil changes and synthetics.

Also, I sometimes see someone turn on a cold engine and floor it (to warm it up, basically). Man, don't ever do that! That is just about the worst thing you could ever do to an engine! Take it easy until it's warmed up!

Bob

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Most semi-recent vehicles, as the above posts indicate, do not NEED an oil change every 3000 miles. Checking the manufacturer book for my car (1999 Pontiac Bonneville), it says that 3000 mile oil changes are only needed if you drive in 'heavy' conditions (lots of stop-and-go, short trips, etc). Otherwise, if you drive mainly highway miles, the recommended oil change interval is every 7500 miles. I drive a mix of both (highway and city), so I usually go about every 5000 miles between oil changes.

Both of my parents' cars (Cadillac and GMC Yukon Denali) have oil change algorithms and indicators (lol yes, these are oil change indicators, not oil pressure indicators). On both cars, you can see the percentage of "oil life remaining" at any given time... Most of the time, they get between 7000 and 10000 miles before the computers tell them to get an oil change. LOL good thing for the Cadillac, since I think it takes like 13 quarts of oil per change! :shock:

 

[Chris Sokol]

Let get down to the deeper meaning...if yopu own a new car that is still under warrenty, and you have a major mechanical problem, the first thing that the service dept will do is ask to see all of the receipts, since you bought the car, showing that you had the oil changed every 3000 or less miles. If you can't produce these...well, guess what happens to your warrenty (not to mention your bank account for the repair cost). Also, you are required to have your oil changed at an actual shop...you can't but the oil and filter and change it at home.

 

[Tony Laubach]

Keeping my car in good form was tops on my lists going into the 2005 season. I spent a lot of money to fix minor issues and made sure all my fluids and general stuff was taken care of. Aside from a blown alternator on April 5, I had no issues with my car. I did make oil changes during the season about every 5000 miles, and I flushed out my transmission as well prior to the start of the season.

I also use BG oil additive on my oil changes as my car is a higher mileage car (over 136,000 now).

I also just replaced my timing and serpentine belts as both were getting worn. Unfortunately, I still have a chunk to spend as my catalytic converter and mass air flow sensors are both in need of replacement. :cry: I am going to have the car paid off in August and am probably going to put the extra grand into the car (hoses, catalytic converter, air flow sensor) in hopes that I can keep it around another couple of years.

We shall see!

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Let get down to the deeper meaning...if yopu own a new car that is still under warrenty, and you have a major mechanical problem, the first thing that the service dept will do is ask to see all of the receipts, since you bought the car, showing that you had the oil changed every 3000 or less miles. If you can't produce these...well, guess what happens to your warrenty (not to mention your bank account for the repair cost). Also, you are required to have your oil changed at an actual shop...you can't but the oil and filter and change it at home.

That may be true for some makes, but I can't imagine it's true when the manufacturer says that oil changes are only suggested every 7500 miles if you drive "schedule B" (in my book, that's highway driving). In other words, if you drive mainly highway miles, that don't even suggest changing it any more often than every 7500 miles. I just can't imagine that you'd get denied warranty service for following manufacturer recommendations and guidelines.