WHEN CAR STALLS AND REFUSES TO START: WHAT TO DO

is nothing unusual and it is expected that once in a while that even the most well maintained vehicle can experience stalling.

But however, if your vehicle is starting to stall a lot more than it used to, then you know that it’s time to restore the vehicle to its original state/condition by exercising excellent vehicle maintenance. Below is some of the basic vehicle maintenance, inspecting the components under the vehicle’s bonnet, looking for loose or broken belts, checking your oil levels and performing vehicle tune up. While most stalling problems can be solved with correct and regular maintenance, this vehicle problem becomes serious when your vehicles stalls and refuses to restart after several trials.

Here are some tricks you can do and items you can check to determine the cause of the vehicle’s stalling.

   1.      Start by turning off all of your vehicle’s accessories (e.g. radio, AC, lights etc.) in order to reduce possible draining of battery while you are trying to restart the vehicle.

  2.      Be careful of how many times you attempt to turn over the engine. Turning the engine too much will cause the battery to drain quickly. When this happens you will end up worrying further on how to jump start your vehicle.

  3.      Check your fuel ( petrol or diesel) level. If the gauge says empty then your vehicle did not just stall it ran out of fuel. The solution to this problem is to get some fuel into the vehicle to start travelling again.

  4.      Another possible reason behind the stalling of your vehicle is a flooded engine. Let excess fuel abate and wait for minutes before trying to restart your vehicle.

  5.      If your vehicle stalls and the temperature gauge indicate that the vehicle was operating beyond the normal range, then let your car cool down before attempting to restart it. It might be a classic case of overheating, if large white clouds of smoke start coming out of your vehicle from the bonnet, then you know your engine just overheated. Fill the (usually) empty radiator with water and try to get your vehicle’s operating temperature very much close to normal before restarting.

  6.      Inspect your dashboard (instrument panel) lights. If your ignition key is set to “On”, are all the lights still lit? This could help you determine what caused the stalling (lack of fuel, overheating etc.).

   7.      Check in the bonnet for broken or loose connections (especially around the battery and its terminals etc.)

  8.      When your vehicle engine and its surrounding components are no longer extremely hot (i.e. when it has started to cool down), check your distributor cap, radiator and engine. If you spot any signs of damage then you need to call for a tow truck or mechanic. If the problem lies with dirty spark plugs, then clean them out when you get home.

I HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE….. Place your questions in the comment box.

OCTOBER 1: Deadline on Speed Limiter

October 1, 2016 is the deadline for the installation of speed limiters in vehicles across Nigeria. Taking a quote from Jonas Agwu (Asst. corps marshal FRSC) weekly publication in the Sun’s Newspaper he wrote “I will be on the road looking out for defaulters whose vehicles will be on the road without the speed limiters, which is mandatory for all vehicles”. Though the October 1, deadline effects only commercial vehicles.

The new deadline is coming on the heels of the final approval by the president to begin the enforcement of the speed-limiting device from October 1, 2016. The enforcement was initially to commence partially on June 1, 2015 while full enforcement was to commence on September 1, 2015 but after a plea by stakeholders it was moved to 1^st of 2016 by the president who thereafter moved it to October 1, 2016.

It has been identified by stakeholders and the National assembly as timely in view of the need to apply technology that is cost effective and adaptable with capacity to regulate vehicle speed and checkmate the increasing spate of speed- related road traffic crashes. A meeting was convened to announce the president’s new date. The FRSC was particularly interested in enforcing the speed-limiting device so as to reduce road accident. It is important to note that the statutory powers on the regulation on the compulsory use of speed limiting device on vehicles in Nigeria is contained in the FRSC Establishment Act(2007) and the National Road Traffic Regulation 2012. In section 10, sub section (m) of the (Establishment) Act 2007, the commission is empowered in “determining and enforcing speed limits for all categories of roads and vehicles and controlling the use of speed limiting devices”.