Car Games For Every Road Trip

As a driver, it’s no secret that you’ll eventually run into issues with your vehicle that requires service. Whether it’s big or small, it’s important to service your vehicle regularly to help minimize your chances of a breakdown! However, an issue that owners of older vehicles might run into is your battery dying. But, how can you tell if your vehicle’s battery is running on its last leg? Are your headlights dimming? Are you regularly in need of a jump-start? Is your battery more than three years old? If you’re saying yes to all of these things then it might be a good idea to get a battery test. With the winter months creeping up on us, it is especially important that you get your vehicle’s battery replaced before you find yourself broken down in the cold! Fortunately, replacing your battery is so simple that you can do it yourself! Of course, if you don’t have the time or tools to replace it yourself, don’t sweat it, just head over to our site and schedule a service appointment today! But if you love DIY, be sure to check out our how-to below! Younger Nissan’s Guide To Changing Your Battery: With your vehicle parked on a flat surface, parking brake engaged, and your vehicle’s engine turned off, pop open the hood and locate the battery. Be sure to give your vehicle enough time to cool down before working on anything under the hood (about 30 minutes). Then, detach the negative cable (black) from the battery. Loosen the nut with a wrench, twist the end of the cable with your hand and pull the cable away from the battery terminal. Repeat with the positive cable (red). Now that both cables are detached from the terminals, you want to unclamp the battery hold-down clamp from the battery. You may need to use a wrench or a socket and ratchet. Once the clamp is off, remove the battery from the holding tray. Be alert, batteries are heavy. Use a battery cleaning solution to clean the holding tray, cables, and nuts/ bolts. You want to use an anti-corrosive cleaning solution and you want to pay extra attention to any spots with corrosion. Once your parts are clean, give them enough time to completely dry before inserting the new battery. Once the parts are dry, insert the new battery and secure the battery with the hold-down clamp. Apply an anti-corrosive solution to both terminal ends. Once this is completed, attach the positive battery cable first and repeat it with the negative cable. Make sure you tighten both terminals to ensure you have a tight and secure connection. Check the security of the battery, your battery should not be able to wiggle or move once inside the holding tray. If your battery is able to move, tighten the clamp and be sure the cables are tight and secure, as well. Before closing up, try starting your vehicle to ensure that everything is working properly.

Just because it’s summer now doesn’t mean that you can take a vacation from caring for your windshield wipers. The sun’s UV rays can actually cause your wipers to deteriorate pretty quickly, so it’s important to keep an eye out for damaged blades. If you ignore them, you can experience permanent windshield damage that will cost a ton to fix. It’s always a good idea to make sure that your wipers are well-maintained all year round, so check out our list of ways to care for your wipers and then make sure you stay on top of this task! A good idea is to check your wipers and clean them off every time you get gas. Just sayin’. You should take a look at your wipers at least every time you get gas. When you’re inspecting your wiper blades, look for the following: Broken frame, which is detachment of frame arms at joints or connection points. Metal corrosion, especially at joints and claws. Visible cracks, tears, and missing pieces in the rubber squeegee’s edge. Flex the rubber squeegee back and forth to see if it is still flexible. Aged squeegees will have difficulty conforming to the shape of your windshield and create streaks. Check the squeegee wiping edge for rounded edges which can prevent the wiper blade from making strong contact with the windshield and reduces wipe quality. Tug to ensure that the wiper blade has been securely installed on the wiper arm. Check to make sure that the squeegee is secure in the wiper frame. As we (should) know, the materials that your windshield wipers are made of are not ones that will last until the end of time. There are a lot of ways that the world around you can degrade your wipers: Sun: Ultraviolet light and ozone deterioration Oil: Car waxes and exhaust hold rubber-deteriorating oil Airborne debris: Sand, mud, and dust carried in the wind Moisture: Acid rain and salt water (in moist air both near the shore and inland) Now to the signs that your wipers need a change. There are a few to look out for, and if you experience multiple items on this list at once then it’s definitely time to head over to the auto store to buy new wipers. Streaking: occurs when the rubber squeegee dries, hardens and cracks. It can also be caused by tree sap, road tar and other foreign substances collected on either the glass or the blade. Skipping: occurs when the blade develops a curvature from lack of use (e.g. left in the ‘parked position’ for an extended length of time). Wearing: occurs with extensive use and is when the rubber edges are rounded instead of squared. Splitting: caused when the sun’s ultraviolet rays penetrate the rubber squeegee, causing it to break down and separate from the frame. Bent refill vertebra and bent frames: cause inconsistent contact with the glass surface, creating streaking or skipping. If you’re wondering how to take care of your wipers throughout their life - i.e. before it’s time to replace them - here’s how you can do that! Clean your windshield every time you fill your gas tank. Gently wipe the rubber squeegee with a damp paper towel to remove any loose dirt or oil. Never use your windshield wipers to de-ice your windshield. Instead, either use an ice scraper or use your defroster to melt snow and ice. Pull your wiper blades away from the windshield during winter months to prevent ice build up on the rubber squeegee and to prevent them from sticking to the windshield. Our Service Department Has You Covered

Well, winter’s long gone by now and so we’re out of the danger zone of your battery dying on you - batteries hate the cold! However, it’s still very important to know how to change your vehicle’s battery. Just because summer is so close doesn’t mean that your battery is just going to keep on truckin’, especially if it’s at the end of its natural life. So, take a look at our guide to changing your battery, and then give us a call if you want to know what to do with that old battery brick! We can also provide recommendations on replacement batteries that’ll work best with your vehicle. Something that you should know about your car’s battery is that the power that’s housed inside of it is an absolutely finite resource. One day, your battery will die. Of course, if you take good care of it and drive carefully, that day should be several years after you buy the battery, but eventually, it will perish and you’ll be powerless (get it) to stop it. That’s why you should know now how to change your battery so that in the event that you need to do so, you can. First of all, the location of your battery is going to be in your owner’s manual. If you drive anything other than a regular old gasoline vehicle (i.e. a hybrid) you should 100% be checking your owner’s manual for instructions on how to change the battery. When you’ve located the battery, make sure you know which post is the positive one and which is the negative, and which color the cables are that are attached to them. The positive post will probably have a red plastic cover, a red cable, and a plus sign (+) stamped on the battery next to the positive post. If the cables are not color coded, put some tape on them and label the cables. With a wrench, loosen the nut or bolt that keeps the negative terminal and cable attached to the battery. Remove them from the battery, and then move on to the positive terminal. ALWAYS DO NEGATIVE FIRST! Check your battery to see if it is being held down by clamps or tie-downs or similar and remove them if they are there. Set all of your loose parts aside where they will not be misplaced while you switch out the battery. Now, lift out the battery without jostling it or tipping it. It is heavy, so be careful! Next, it’s time to install the new battery! Place it in the same spot the old battery was in and make sure it is oriented the same exact way the old one was. Take the plastic caps off of the battery posts, and if there are anti-corrosion washers included then slide those on. A good idea is to smear a thin layer of Vaseline onto the posts before attaching the terminals to the battery to prevent corrosion and make sure your vehicle is always getting as much power as it needs. Attach the terminals back on, positive first, and fasten it back down with the clamps/tie-downs that you removed before. Give the battery a little wiggle and make sure it doesn’t move. If it does, tighten the clamps holding it down. And you’re done! Great job! Make sure you recycle your old battery - a quick Google search will let you know the best place to do that. Check Out Our Battery Replacement Page!