This event was limited to women only in order to encourage the participants to go ahead and ask the questions that they might perceive to be considered “dumb”.   We felt men might inhibit this atmosphere.

We also explained how the cooling system works.

How to Spot Trouble:

We had quite a few failed parts available for “hands-on” contact.  We demonstrated where a radiator hose commonly gets soft prior to bursting  (on the outside radius of a bend where the hot coolant comes out of the engine).  We showed them a number of belts in various stages of failure.  One student found a bad hose on her own car during the clinic. 

No instructions were given on how to repair their car, or how to change their own oil.  We did, however, accidentally repair one car.  The owner reported the car had a poor idle quality and stalled frequently.  While doing the under-hood check, we found the PCV hose unhooked, causing a massive vacuum leak.  Reinstalling the hose fixed the idle and stalling concerns.  Rule number one: always look for the obvious! 

We also studied disc and drum brakes.  The parts were shown  both on and off the car.  Each student held a set of brake pads and examined what a “wear indicator” looks like and how it functions.

Tires were studied.  We had on hand a number of tires with different problems.  We learned about some common symptoms that relate to tire failures.

This segment of the class concluded with a showing of the underside of a car and an explanation of the various steering, suspension and exhaust components. 

The Grand Finale:

The final part of the class was for each student to change a tire on her own car.  No one in the class had ever done this and most were quite apprehensive.

 The response of most drivers to the issue of changing a tire is,  “I’ll call a service truck”.  However, a car with a flat tire is a sure sign of a captive audience.  No one knows how long it will take for the truck to arrive, who will be driving the truck or who you’ll have to wait with.  These can all be threatening situations.

Taking command of the situation is easy, once you’ve done it.  You’ve never seen more smiles, more confidence or a greater sense of accomplishment than we saw at the end of our 4 hour Car Clinic when every each and every one had  properly installed the spare tire on her own car.

The number one error we observed was the tendency to want to “pull up” on the lug wrench to loosen the lug nuts.  This takes too much strength.  We simply showed how to turn the wrench the other way and step down on the wrench to loosen them easily.  As each tire was changed, we also used a torque wrench to measure the tightness of the lug nuts, so the students knew how tight they had to be to stay secure.

These Car Clinics have become a regular event that we hold several times a year for our customers.  The Clinics are advertised in our Newsletters and are mailed to our current customers as well as to a list of prospective customers.  We specialize in Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars and mail out about 6,000 Newsletters to promote these events.