18 Of My Best Car Hacks
Share these 18 Best Car hacks
You never know when you’ll need one of these car hacks so download them and keep them on your phone. They’ll help you start your car, defrost your windows, get better traction in snow, and keep your car maintained. And be sure to share my best car hacks with your friends.
7 Car hacks to start a dead car
If you turn the key and the starter just clicks try these car hacks: The possibilities are: a weak battery, dirty battery terminals, a worn starter motor or a stuck start solenoid.
Starting hack #1— How to find out if your car battery is dead or the problem is a bad starter
• Turn on the dome light.
• Then turn the key to the START position while you watch the dome light. If the dome light goes out or dims significantly, that’s a sign of an almost dead battery. A good battery should have enough power to run the starter and your dome light. If yours can’t it’s deeply discharged
#2 Car starting hack to get the last bit of life out of a dead battery
• Turn the key to START, then OFF several times. Let the battery rest for about three minutes, then repeat.
If the car hack is going to work, it should start up after the rest period. If it doesn’t, move on to the next car hack.
This technique heats up the battery terminals and plates, giving you one last chance to maximize your battery’s power.
#3 Start your car with your shoe
Battery terminal corrosion isn’t always visible, and it can prevent your car from starting. All you’re trying to do here is cause some vibration or jiggling between the battery posts and the cable terminals.
• Remove a shoe and use the hell to tap on the battery terminals. 
Jarring the terminal can sometimes accomplish that. But don’t overdo it, or you can damage the battery posts. Try starting the engine. If it starts, that’s proof you’ve got some battery corrosion. Get the battery tested. If it tests good, get a battery cleaning tool and clean your battery terminals.
#4 Play knock-knock on the starter motor
Tap the starter with the jack handle or tire iron. The starter is an 
electric motor and can develop a flat spot on the armature. You’re trying to jar the armature enough to move it off the flat spot by tapping it. But don’t overdo the tap. If you rail on it, you can damage the permanent magnets inside and destroy the starter.
Then try starting it.
#5 Move the shifter to neutral and try starting the engine
You might have a bad transmission range selector (neutral 
safety switch). Shift into neutral and try starting. If that doesn’t work, shift back to PARK and try again. Repeat this cycle several times. If it finally starts, replace the switch.
#6 If the engine cranks but won’t fire up.
Turn off the radio and blower motor, so you have complete quiet. Turn the key to the “Run” (not START) position and listen for a 2-second fuel pump prime sound from the 
gas tank. If you don’t hear any sound when you turn the key, you might have a bad fuel pump relay, a bad fuel pump, or a poor fuel pump ground. There’s not much you can do right now about a bad ground because you don’t know where it is.
But you can try these two car hacks to overcome the relay and pump problem.
• Hack #1— Locate the fuel pump relay— In most cars, it’s in the under-hood fuse box. Refer to your owner’s manual or the legend printed on the fuse box cover. Once you locate it, find another relay that looks the same. Swap the two relays and try starting the car. If it fires up, you had a bad relay. Buy a replacement at any auto parts store. If it still won’t fire up, you’ve got one more car hack to try.
• Hack #2— Beat on the bottom of the fuel tank with the heel of your shoe to jar the fuel pump. Then try starting the engine. If it starts, don’t rely on this trick to last very long—your pump is on its last legs. Get it replaced ASAP.
Hack #7 to start a flooded engine
If you’ve flooded the engine, it won’t start (you know it’s 
flooded because you smell gas). Try this car hack: Press the accelerator pedal to the floor and hold it there. Don’t move your foot! Keep the pedal all the way down while you try starting the engine. That opens the throttle to allow fresh air in to evaporate the extra gas.
Part II
Here’s one last ditch car hack. You may have an engine vacuum leak or a funky temperature sensor. The vacuum leak throws off the air/fuel mixture, making it too lean to start a cold engine. And, a bad temperature sensor can mislead the computer into thinking your engine is warmer than it really is. So, if you’ve tried all the other car hacks and it still won’t start, try this: depress the accelerator halfway and hold it in that position while try to start the engine.
Car hack to open or close a car window
If your power window won’t go up or down, it could just be a worn spot on the electric motor armature. But you don’t have to disassemble the door right now. 
Try this car hack first: turn the key to the ON or RUN position. Then open the door and push or pull the window switch while you slam the door HARD. If the window moves, that’s an indication of a bad power window motor, so you’ll have to replace it. It’s actually cheaper to replace the entire window regulator. If that car hack doesn’t work, you’ll have to remove the door trim panel and conduct some tests. Read this post on how to do that.
Car hack to defrost your rear window when your defogger isn’t working
Roll down a rear window about 2-in. Then crank up the blower motor full blast with the heat on HIGH. Then drive. The vehicle movement will suck air out of the rear window and circulate the hot air towards the rear window, causing it to defrost.
Car hack to get better traction
You’re stuck, and your wheels are spinning. It’s hard to 
gain traction on fresh snow or ice when your traction control is cutting engine power to the spinning wheel or applying the brakes. Some vehicles allow you to temporarily shut off the traction control system by pressing the traction button once. If it turns back on too soon, pull over in a safe place and press the button until the traction off light appears on your dash.
Car hack to avoid a spin-out on icy roads
Get more control on icy roads. Most cars with automatic transmissions shift into overdrive at speeds above 40 MPH. That’s great for saving gas, but you lose the engine braking feature when you’re in overdrive, and that can cause loss of control in curves. Turn off overdrive to get a better feel for the road in icy conditions. To do that, click the overdrive button, shift the car into regular “D” instead of the “D” surrounded by a circle, shift into mud/snow or sport mode, or shift into 3rd gear.
Car hack to get unstuck from a rut
First, turn off your traction control and try again. If that doesn’t work, avoid this common mistake: trying to rock your car out of a rut by shifting between drive and reverse. That’s a great way to destroy your automatic transmission. Here’s how to get unstuck without damaging your transmission. Move the shifter to the lowest gear. Then gently apply power to move the car forward slightly without spinning your wheels (that only digs you in deeper), then back off the power and let the car roll backward. Immediately apply power to move it forward again. Repeat this power/no power cycle until you gain enough momentum to get you out of the rut.
Car hack to find the gas filler door on a rental car
Driving a rental car and don’t know which side the gas filler door is on? 
Find the gas pump icon on the instrument cluster; it’s pointing the way to the gas filler door.
Car hack to check your alignment yourself
Check your alignment with a tire tread depth gauge. Buy a tire tread depth gauge at any auto parts store. Then check the 
tread depth in three places on each tire: inner, middle and outer tread. All three measurements should be within 1/32-in. of each other. If they’re not, you’ve got an alignment problem.
Car hack when remote keyless entry range is low
Remote keyless entry not working from a distance and you’ve already replaced the battery? Unplug your GPS and cell phone charger and try again. 
Those items can interfere with the radio signal from your remote.
Car hack to protect yourself from extra rental car charges
Renting a car? Shoot pictures all around the car before you drive it off the rental lot. Include the date/time stamp and GPS in the image. That way, you can prove that the damage or paint scrapes were there before you rented it.
Car hack to prevent frozen doors
To prevent your car doors from freezing shut, coat the weather 
stripping and door mating surfaces with spray silicone.
Car hack to prevent spin-outs in winter
Turn off cruise control when traveling at high speeds in icy conditions. Bridge overpasses freeze over before roadways. If you’re driving with the cruise control on, your wheels can spin on the bridge deck and cause you to lose control.
©, 2016 Rick Muscoplat
Posted on by Rick Muscoplat