What You Should and Shouldn’t Do When Your Car Breaks Down
By Chantel Wakefield 04/19/2023 4:00pm
Quick Tips on Car Breakdowns
- Keep calm and avoid danger when your car breaks down on the road.
- Stay with your car while waiting for help but stand away from the roadway when you have car trouble, and don’t attempt repairs on the shoulder.
- Routine maintenance helps keep your vehicle running smoothly and can help avoid some car trouble.
No driver wants to be stranded on the side of the road with car problems. Experiencing a flat tire, major systems failure, or something as simple as running out of fuel — you know how stressful the situation can be. Depending on where your car breaks down, it can potentially become a dangerous scenario.
Every driver should know how to move forward if this happens. Continue reading for guidance on what you should and shouldn’t do when your car breaks down, with tips from our in-house maintenance expert and A.S.E. certified master technician, Gary Hardesty.
What You Should Do When Your Car Breaks Down
First, let’s explain the steps to take when you have car trouble on the road.
Stay Calm and Safely Pull Over
The first and most important thing to do when your car breaks down is to remain calm. If possible, safely pull over to the side of the road or onto the shoulder. Turn on your hazard lights to alert other drivers that your vehicle is disabled.
“Never pull to the center divider on a road, and always get to the shoulder or exit if safely possible. This also goes for minor accidents,” Hardesty explains. “If you are not hurt, try to move your vehicle out of traffic.”
Evaluate Your Surroundings
Once you’ve pulled out of the roadway, take a moment to assess your surroundings. Can you safely wait for help to arrive? Are there other hazards nearby? If you feel unsafe in any way, stay inside your car, roll up the windows, and lock the doors until help arrives. Meanwhile, get your phone.
Call For Help
Use your mobile phone to call for help, which may be emergency services or roadside assistance through your insurance company or auto club. Provide your exact location, a detailed description of the issue you have with your car, and any other relevant information.
If you don’t have a phone, the battery is dead, or you can’t get a strong enough signal, look for a roadside emergency phone. Helpful motorists with good intentions exist, but be mindful of bad actors. Always use caution when asking another driver on the road for assistance.
Assess Your Vehicle
Engine overheating is one problem you might be able to wait out. If your car is overheating on a hot day with the air conditioning running on high, here are three quick steps to try:
- Turn off the A/C.
- Turn the heater to hot.
- Switch the fan speed to high.
This helps the radiator by dissipating the excess heat your vehicle is generating.
If it’s a typical, temperate day of normal driving and the temperature gauge is rising, let the engine idle in park. Here’s Hardesty’s advice:
“If you just turn the car off when it is overheating, the car will continue to get hotter. If you can see coolant in the reservoir bottle, and there are no obvious fluid leaks, try to let the unit idle. Turn the A/C to full and the temperature to hot. This may sound the opposite of the advice above, but there are some key differences. Idling a vehicle means no extra effort is being applied to the engine like climbing a steep hill. Adding the A/C in most cars also kicks on the cooling fans that help with drawing heat from the radiator and thus may cool the vehicle.”
Additionally, if coolant is low or leaking (green, blue, red, or pink fluid colors) you should find a safe place to turn the car completely off. Loss of coolant can’t be overcome by the tips listed above.
What You Shouldn’t Do When Your Car Breaks Down
Now that you know what to do if your car breaks down, here are some things to avoid when you’re stuck on the road.
Don’t Abandon Your Vehicle
Once you’ve safely moved to the side of the road, your vehicle can provide shelter from the elements and protection from other drivers. As long as it’s safe to do so, stay inside or near the car until help arrives.
Don’t leave your vehicle unattended, as it can put you at risk of theft and vandalism. Also, authorities may tow it away, adding more expenses to an already stressful situation.
Don’t Stand in the Road
Standing in the street is always a safety hazard, especially when you’re distracted by car trouble. Being outside the vehicle on the shoulder is also dangerous. “It is extremely unsafe, and there’s a higher chance of getting hit by traffic,” Hardesty said. When calling for help or assessing your surroundings, stand as far away from the road as possible.
Don’t Try to Fix Things Yourself
Other than the simple overheating tips above, don’t attempt any roadside repairs. Save that for an experienced mechanic with the necessary equipment. You might do more harm than good, so wait for professional help to arrive and find a service center for permanent repairs.
Prevent Breakdowns and Additional Damage
Taking care of your car is a great way to prevent major mechanical failures. Stay up to date with oil changes, brake service, and other scheduled maintenance. Inspect your tires often to make sure they’re in good shape.
If a “low oil pressure” warning appears on the dashboard or the oil light comes on, don’t drive the car until you’ve added the proper amount of oil. Otherwise, you might damage the engine.
If the check engine light is on, this means your car has encountered a malfunction. Hardesty explains this will result in “increased exhaust emissions.” It’s usually fine to drive a car with an active check engine light, but make sure to get it checked out when you’re able to visit a mechanic.
On the other hand, if the check engine light is blinking, this means your engine is misfiring and may damage your catalytic converter. “If your check engine light is flashing, you need to stop driving the vehicle as soon as safely possible to avoid an expensive catalytic converter replacement along with whatever is causing the misfire,” Hardesty advises.