Machine Guides

Do I take to wait to wax my new car?

John Paul, AAA Northeast's Car Physician, answers a question from a reader wondering if there'southward a waiting period to wax a new vehicle.

Mike Jones waxes his car in New York. Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times/File

Q. I recently purchased my starting time new car. How presently can I wax it? I in one case heard that you should look before you lot wax a new car.

A. Years ago, specially with newly painted cars, the rule was wash it in a week and wax in a calendar month. With your new car you can wax it as presently equally you go information technology home. In fact, the sooner y'all wax information technology the less chance of environmental damage from route droppings, acrid rain, decomposing leaves, and bird dropping. This time of year, if yous're going to wax your car, find a heated garage. Wax likes temperatures above fifty degrees. The colder the temperature the longer it will take for the wax to dry. Today there are also lots of choices when information technology comes to wax. There's spray-on (quick and easy), liquid wax (more work and lasts longer) paste wax, as well as carnauba, ceramic, and hybrid ceramic coatings.

Q. I have a 1966 Jeep CJ-v with a V-6 engine. It more often than not runs pretty well but the engine bogs down when accelerating. I have replaced the spark plugs and plug wires and the timing was checked — it was slightly advanced. Any thoughts on this?

A. This is a case where starting at the get-go makes sense. Check the ignition points and bespeak gap (dwell), cheque the ignition scroll for a strong spark, and cheque the fuel force per unit area and volume. I would besides exist looking at both the benefactor vacuum and mechanical advance. The carburetor is a 2-butt which was very common on your Jeep's Buick-derived engine. There should be 2 potent jets of fuel squirting down the carburetor when accelerating. Typically, with that carburetor, the accelerator pump gets lazy and there are a couple of springs and check balls that stick and cause fuel flow problems. Rebuilding that carburetor is not difficult, merely the principal components should be soaked overnight in a special cleaning solution to clean upwards all the internal passageways.

Q. What are your thoughts on those small jumpstart boxes? Some are the size of a paperback book with small jumper cables attached. Do they work? What do you apply at AAA?

A. At commencement, I was concerned with voltage spiking from the Li-ion batteries, but they've become very popular and my concerns may have been unfounded. I have tried different units from WORX, NOCO, and Scosche, and they all worked well. Based on what I take seen personally I have one in each of my family unit vehicles as role of my emergency kit. At AAA, where we use jumper packs 24 hours a day, nosotros use a more robust unit with a larger sealed and serviceable lead acid battery.

Q. I love old cars and would love to restore i, but don't have the space or budget to purchase and restore an one-time motorcar. Now that I'm retired, I'1000 looking for a hobby. Whatever thoughts?

A. Many people collect vintage oil and gas products, sometimes called Petroliana. This can exist an addictive hobby — researching, finding, restoring, and fifty-fifty sometimes reselling vintage signs, gas pump globes, and even oil cans. Some others will find and restore pedal cars. These were once a fun way for kids to get around, simply original cars from the '50s and '60s can sell for several thousand dollars. If you just like mechanical tinkering, small engines and vintage minibikes can be a fun projection. Finally, you could volunteer at a automobile museum.

Q. I have a x-twelvemonth-quondam minivan with a volt gauge in it. Two weeks agone, I replaced the original battery, and everything was fine, I idea. Lately, when driving on the highway, the voltage (charging estimate) doesn't show that the alternator is charging. Concerned my new bombardment would go expressionless, I replaced the alternator. Even with the new alternator on the highway the alternator doesn't seem to charge. What'south incorrect?

A. Mayhap nothing. The alternator uses horsepower to recharge the battery. Horsepower comes at the expense of fuel economy. Many manufacturers will limit charging when in that location is depression electrical need to maximize fuel economic system. Next time you are on the highway, turn on the lights, wipers, and rear defroster, then then check the voltage. Chances are, with the additional electric load, you lot will see the alternator charging as designed.

John Paul is AAA Northeast'south Car Doctor. He has over 40 years of experience in the automotive business organization and is an ASE-certified master technician. Electronic mail your car question to [e-mail protected] . Mind to Machine Dr. on the radio at 10 a.m. every Sat on 104.9 FM or online at northshore1049.com .

Go Boston.com's browser alerts:

Enable breaking news notifications straight to your cyberspace browser.

Cracking, you're signed up!

An error occurred. Please endeavour once more later on.

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please bring together elsewhere on Boston.com