| By Chilton Staff |
You’ve got everyone loaded in the new car, baby, dog, spouse, and … it won’t start. Thoughts of potentially ruined plans run through your head. You quickly open ChiltonLibrary on your phone, enter your vehicle year, make, and model, and then tap the Bulletins/Recalls tab.
You type the word “start” in the Quick Search. There’s a bulletin stating that electrical interference can keep your year, make, and model vehicle from starting. Having another key fob in the car, using the USB charger, or even having the smart key in a backpack or bag where the signal can be obstructed are some potential culprits.
You remove the key from your backpack, try again, and … it starts! You are on your way.
Sometimes you get lucky that way.
Nissan Intelligent Key technical service bulletin, page 1 (via ChiltonLibrary)
Tip: Checking recall and technical bulletins is something every mechanic knows about, but you don’t have to be a mechanic or a gearhead to gain valuable information from automaker bulletins.
Bulletins provide timely information about issues affecting specific year, make, and model vehicles. They are designed to speed dealership repairs and can help car owners, too.
Known Issues
With a medical concern, a doctor first rules out common issues based on their knowledge, testing, and research. With a vehicle concern, it makes sense to first rule out common issues, too. The bulletins in ChiltonLibrary list known issues that the automaker has found.
There can be many recall and technical bulletins for a particular vehicle. Chilton’s search tools let you zero in on bulletins that might be related to your issue. Quickly filter by the vehicle system, symptoms, or trouble codes, or search by keyword or bulletin number. You can select to view only recalls and also sort the column headings: Action, Technical Service Bulletin (TSB), TSB#, Issue Date, and Type.
Tip: Check the bulletins when researching a vehicle before purchasing.
ChiltonLibrary’s bulletins can help patrons pinpoint and rule out reasons for car concerns. If your library doesn’t currently subscribe, request to take Chilton for a test drive here, or connect with your Gale representative.
