LIFETIPS - Cars

• To remove a car tyre, loosen each nut on the wheel first before you jack the car up.

• When removing the battery, remove the live terminal first and then the earth. Connect the earth first when reconnecting.

• When you buy a new car radio, you can use the bettery to test it just like you would with any other battery. Fix the earth lead from your radio to the earth terminal of the battery and hold the live wire onto the live terminal with your finger - you won't get a shock! The radio should work 100% in this condition. If you are unsure of you live and earth wires in the car, attach any old length of wire to an unpainted patch of the cars bodywork and hold the live wire onto the batteries live. If the radio works you know the earth wire works and you can use this as your final earth connection if you wish. Now disconnect the radio from this earth wire and touch the end of any wires you see under the dash with it. If you touch a live wire a small spark will be made - and to test the live you can connect it to the live on your radio. If the radio still works you now have a built in live and a temporary earth. If you wish to find the earth wire under the dash, use the live wire you have just found to touch the end of every other wire under the dash. If a small spark is made again the live is touching an earth so you can now use these two tires to finally install your radio.

• Incar speakers sound better if you screw them down tightly. Bass will sound better if the speakers are aimed into a wide enclosed space such as the car doors or the boot (trunk). It is also possible to use hi-fi speakers in a car especially on the back seat but be aware of possible theft.

• The ideal car toolkit should consist of: a foot pump, a battery charger, jump leads, oil, 2l of water, antifreeze, de-icer, an ice scraper, a jack, a wheel nut remover, a small adjustable wrench, emergengy spare change, a photocopy of your insurance policy and a flash light. You may also wish to carry a manual, a local and national map, an old beach towel, a spanner set and a socket set and all these should remain in the car at all times. A change of clothing may be a good idea in the summertime and the towel will come in handy if you want to lie somewhere or need to dry off. Emergency food such as a chocolate bar, an old scarf and a pair of gloves come in handy in the winter.

• Put oil into your door locks or on your door key to stop the locks freezing in cold weather.

• If your door sticks in cold weather, use the passenger side door instead or you may damage the door seals.

• If your wiper blades stick in cold weather you must carefully remove them by hand before you activate the wipers. Otherwise the ice could rip the the wiper rubbers off.

• All cars benefit from letting the engine warm over for a minute before you set off. Also try to wait until the temperature gauge reads near normal before you push the car into hard accelerations.

• The heavier a car is the more fuel it will consume.

• Never leave bags or boxes in a car as it will give a thief a further excuse to break in. Also make sure the front face is removed from the radio before you leave it so a thief can see it is protected. You don't need to worry about where you put the radio face too much, you can even leave it in the glovebox if you wish. If a theif breaks in a steals the radio knowing the face is removed then the theif would have broke in and removed the radio no matter where you had put the face. If this happens you may end up with a radio face and no radio to go with it so at least if you leave it in the car the theif may find it and take the face as well. The point is, if the face is not visible a theif has no extra reason to break in.

• Don't put you favourite cassettes in a car radio as some radios can easily get worn and damage the cassette tape. Make backup copies first and use these instead.

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