September 26th 2008
 
As the song goes, "The Autumn leaves drift past my window, the autumn leaves of red and gold."

What the song fails to mention, however, is that those Autumn leaves drift past your window and straight into the air intake
ventilation system on your car.

At this time of year, many strange things happen, but the most common is a huge build up of Fall debris under the hood of your
car, usually right in front of the windshield and right on top of the air intake.

Many cars now have a built in cabin filter to keep dust and pollen from entering the cabin, but autumn leaves will block that
filter really fast as soon as the fan starts and some of these filters are difficult to replace and expensive to buy.

So you really need to check for leaves and twigs and heaven knows what else under the hood of your car at least once a week.
While you're there you could, of course, also check the engine oil and all other fluid levels.

At this time of year, many people go fishing, or hunting, or just hiking to admire the fall colours.

One client of mine left his SUV for a week and when he got back, he started the air conditioner, only to be bombarded by
a hail storm of sunflower seeds. Some mice had discovered his intake system and started to store their whole winter supply
of food in there.

In another case I know of, the hikers got started back to civilization, only to have the engine almost immediately over heat and
expire in a large cloud of steam. Apparently, racoons like the taste of rubber. It seems to have a slightly salty taste, and they
had chewed through all the water hoses down at the bottom of the radiator.

If it's possible to park in a protected space while you're away enjoying natures' bounty, all well and good.

If not, a careful check of your vehicle before you drive away is a very good plan.  

In one case we encountered, a vintage BMW came to us for repair and the owner said the tech manual was in the glove
compartment. The car had been in storage in a barn over the winter. When we opened up the glove compartment, we found
a shredded tech manual, all neatly wound up into the dearest little mouse nest you ever saw.

The debris falling from trees combined with wild animals that need to store food for winter can play havoc with cars and trucks
of all kinds.

A top notch security system will not stop a squirrel for more than a few moments. If he wants in, he'll get in and he may find
your upholstery just what he needs for reinforcing his nest in the tree next door.

Keep an eye open and be aware that this is the most dangerous time for outside natural forces to interfere with your vehicles,
ability to run smoothly and reliably during the winter months.