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“The power windows and my cooling system stopped working in my Hyundai Accent and I suspected a blown fuse. When I went to change it I found that it was miraculously working again. Now the problem is intermittent and seems to only occur when it is extremely hot in the car. Can extreme heat be causing the electrical to occasionally shut down? – Sweating-in-Saanich.
“You are right that when an isolated interior electrical component shuts off you should be thinking blown fuse. The majority of the time it is as simple as that. When it turns out to be intermittent, you need to go through a series of steps to determine where along the line the power is being broken. In this case, there is a known issue with Accents where condensation will accumulate inside the connectors going to the engine computer. When moisture accumulates in the right spot it can affect continuity and break the flow of power. What does heat have to do with it? Heat causes water to expand, so in this case, the hot weather is exasperating the problem. iIf a component has a poor connection due to moisture then the heat causes it to expand it can push it over the edge to a full blown power outage. A quick clean up should resolve it. Be in touch and we will show you how to do it.” Andrew Kralt – Parkside Motors.
“I have a black car that I take very good care of, regular washing and waxing and the whole 9-yards. The problem is that the plastic parts on the outside of the car, namely the rear spoiler, window mouldings, and wiper arms are fading so much faster than the body panels and it looks awful. Can I keep it from getting worse and can I restore the damage that is already there?” – Faded-in-Victoria.
We are going to defer to our friends at Island Detail & Color to shed some light on this issue:
“What you mention here are two different issues, one is faded plastic parts, and one is faded paint and clear coat on plastics body panels like bumpers and spoilers. The faded wiper blade arms, mouldings, tires, and window seals can be treated a few different ways. You can grab an off the shelf product like “Back to Black” or “Forever Black” and let them soak into the surface and effectively dye the parts back to their original black. This works well, but does not hold up all that great in the rain and snow, so you will need to reapply it often. You can also use a service from a detail shop who will use specific paints for each area of the car (i.e. metal paints for the wiper arms and different paints for the plastic bits). Since it is a new coat of paint it actually restores the parts instead of just temporarily reviving them.
The second issue is the faded paint on plastic body panels, which is a bit of a different animal. Spoilers that are plastic tend to be the first to fade. Since they are perpendicular to the sky at all times they get the brunt of the sun’s rays. There is really nothing you can do but have it repainted and clear coated. You could try an over the counter plastic restoration product, but it will never match the rest of your car since the damage to the clear coat is so extensive. The silver lining is that these parts can be repainted very inexpensively. We offer these services at Island Color and I am sure that detail shops near you offer similar services as well. If you are selling your car or want to dress to impress, you should take the plunge at get the faded areas restored.” – Patrick Alexander – Island Detail & Color.
If you have questions about driving or car maintenance, contact the experts from Parkside Motors though Facebook or our contact page.
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