At the moment we have had funny weather with November being more mild than normal, but don’t get fooled into thinking winter is going to be mild. Get yourself prepared now for the unexpected. The last thing you want is to be coming home from work and stuck in traffic because the weather has taken a bad turn. Worse still, is to be stuck in your car, as many motorist experienced last year and to run out of fuel, over-heat your engine and have limited visibility as your screen wash ran out.

I thought I would put together a check list of items you need to be thinking about packing into your boot so that you are prepared and I mean, as soon as possible:

1 – High visibility waterproof coat, gloves and hat. You might need to ditch the car and walk.

2 – 3 litre bottle of water, not only will it keep you hydrated, it can be used to top up engine water if your car has over-heated due to no water. It can also be used for the windscreen washer, if you forgot to top that up.

3 – Shovel, it will most certainly help you free your car in the snow.

4 – Snow chain and a tow rope are ideal, but understandably most people won’t have these items, so the shovel would be a must!

5 – Emergency phone numbers and mobile phone car charger.

6 – Torch

7 – Sweets, it might help keep the hunger worms at bay if you have missed dinner stuck in your car.

8 – Mask, or at least scarf of some sort to wear over your face if you have had to ditch the car and are walking past traffic. This happened to a friend who said the fumes almost knocked him out!

9 – Jump leads, this is something you should always carry, but certainly if you are stuck in traffic and are using electrics, you don’t want your battery to go flat, particularly if the life of your battery is old.

10 – Warning Triangle and first aid kit. Be prepared if its not you that’s in trouble and you come to the aid of someone else!

It’s been a while since I have blogged and as you can see from my last post months ago, I have joined the ranks of parenthood and certainly did not get an extra hour in bed!

Anthony Nicolas Martin is almost eight months old and I am very aware of the the early dark evenings. My wife finishes work and collects Anthony from nursery and has to travel back home in the dark. I don’t like it, and I am sure there are other Dad’s out there like me, who want to make sure that if their loved ones are traveling in the dark, the car had better be tip top for any winter weather troubles!

Recently I have been promoting a free winter health check for your vehicle with any service from £99, which includes parts. But since you are a Panic Mechanic follower, I am going to give you a winter health check list here, so that you can make sure you or your family members are prepared, and I hear its going to be a tough winter this year!

Okay, so here are a few things you can check for yourself that does not require any mechanical knowledge:

1 – Check the condition of your tyres including the spare.

2 – Check the condition of your windscreen wiper blades.

3 – Check the level of your windscreen washer fluid. In most cars the bottle can be found in the engine bay.

4 – Make sure all the lights are working correctly and that the light covers are clean.

5 – Salt gets sprayed over the roads when its icy, which is a main cause of rust. So if you have any scratches in the bodywork that has gone through to the paint. Get it repaired or at least layer with thick polish.

6 – Check your windscreen for any chips or cracks that would get worse under freezing conditions.

Whilst these are a few things you can check, you should seek professional help to ensure your car is ready for winter, such as topping up anti-freeze and condition of your brakes and fuel lines.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about the above or if you are in need of a winter service.

Keep warm, drive safely!

After neglecting my blog for a long time, with all my anticipation for the arrival of our first child. He has finally arrived!!!!

Our little Anthony Nicolas Martin was born at 3:44 am on Wednesday the 16th March and weighed in at 7 pounds 7 ounces!

My wife had quite a long labour and I am glad that both my wife and our baby is healthy and doing well.

Now I understand the meaning of sleepless nights!

Best regards,

Shane.

Anthony Nicolas Martin

I just wanted to let you know about a promotion I am currently running. I am offering a full vehicle service at your work or your home from only £99!

As you know, I am a mobile mechanic, so there is no need to worry about taking your car in to a garage and having the hassle of organising transportation, not to mention the high labour prices, the mark-up on parts and the worry that “they always find something wrong that needs fixing…ho hum!”

You will find it hard to compare my low costs and 100% honesty with any garage. If you click this link you can read a few customer testimonials that have been posted to google.

I also offer Maintenance, M.O.T Preparations or M.O.T Failure Repairs and Custom Modifications on any Private, Fleet or Light Commercial Vehicles.

Your relationship with your mechanic should not only provide you with the confidence that your car is in good hands, but also be built on trust and honesty. If you would like to change mechanics to get a better deal or simply feel you are not getting the right service from your existing mechanic, but feel nervous about changing, I am happy to provide customer references so that you can be sure you have made the right choice.

Please feel free to post back any questions to this blog posting and I would be happy to help!

Winter/Spring Full Service From £99

I was busy servicing a family member’s car last week, (I am sure some of you can sympathise with the family freebies), and the car was due for its MOT. I took it to a garage I have used before, when suddenly at the end of the MOT I was told that the car had failed. Quite to my surprise I asked how it failed. It turns out that the MOT failure was due to the brakes needing to be changed. Well I immediately knew something was wrong since the breaks had been changed not so long ago and should have passed. When I quizzed the garage and we all took a trip out the back where I asked them to re-check the breaks in front of me, low and behold, I had proved that I was right and the car should have passed its MOT without any hesitation.

Quite surprisingly, the MOT engineer had not check the breaks properly and somehow “assumed” they needed to be changed. I am sure you can imagine that I was not impressed!

Since it is my job to repair all sorts of vehicles I make it my business to get to know the history of my customer’s car or bike and what potential areas could fail an MOT. I was able to question this garage because I have mechanics knowledge. But what if that was someone else who does not know about cars. That person would have paid out unnecessarily for a set of brakes.

Okay, this may not sound like good news, so what can you do to make sure you are not a victim of a bad MOT?

One simple thing is to ask to watch the MOT from an MOT viewing area. Most if not all garages have an area that the owner can stand or sit to watch an examination. At least then you know what is involved and how thorough the examiner is checking your car. But if you have no time to wait around and watch you could do two things: ask your own mechanic to take your car in for an MOT, or, have your car checked by your mechanic before your MOT to assess what the potential failures could be and possibly fix.

If anyone else has a similar story, please feel free to share?

This example shows that you need to pay particular attention to the the tension of your handbrake. My wife said that she thought she had pulled the handbrake all the way up, but in fact it was just one click away from the top. It came to light that for a while she was parking without the handbrake on full because she thought that she had raised it high enough according to how tight it felt to her. That last click would have been very tight and so she never knew there was a “last click.”

So how do you know if your handbrake needs adjustment? The average number of handbrake clicks from down to up should be between 5 and 8. Anything above 8 could suggest that your handbrake needs to be made tighter and likewise, less than 5 clicks means it’s too tight and can cause your rear brakes to drag.

The next time you are parked on a slope make sure you have your handbrake all the way up, otherwise you could end up in an embarrasing situation like my poor wife!

I should probably say that if you have parked on a slope and realised your handbrake needs adjustment, keep you car parked in gear to help prevent it from rolling…then give me a call

Just a quick blog today. You may have noticed we are all currently going through a typical British Summertime weather system. Baking hot for days followed by rain for days, followed by sun for days, and it goes on. This is the time to be aware of the hidden dangers caused by this dry and wet period. The first showers after a dry spell will bring the oil that has accumlated on the road to the surface, this makes it potentially slippery so please take care. Even though there may not seem to be many puddles, the oily wet surface can be just as bad. My wife, who happens to be a good driver, (brownie points for me), had a slight scare today, which could only be oil on the road, I am glad she is okay.

Watch your speed limit and drive safely!

This is the first of a series of posts offering mechanical tips, do’s and don’t's and a little bit of fun to! If your a bit of a piston head I invite you to post your comments and any tips also. If you have any useful advice for other readers or for the novice mechanic, your comments and pictures would be helpful.

I would love to hear from anyone who is doing their own engine conversion, or customising your car. How is it going? What problems have you encountered and what advice can you give others thinking of doing the same. Send me your comments and any pictures.

Look forward to blogging some more soon!

The Panic Mechanic