Forums have long been a popular "go to" source for automotive information.  You can search a forum for a specific topic, or post your question on a forum and hope somebody can provide the information or help you are looking for.  But how accurate are posts and replies you find on a typical automotive forum?   The main advantage of forums is that ANYBODY can post content.  Although many forums are moderated to prevent people from posting spam, off-topic content or porn, many forum moderators do not edit or validate the information people are posting on their forums.  The better forums may have a competent moderator who has knowledge in a particular area and will comment on a post or a reply if they think it is needed.  But many forums make little or no effort to weed out good information from misleading or totally incorrect information.   As an automotive tech writer, editor and author, I am constantly researching topics online.  Google search results will often include snippets from various forums as well as links to forum discussions on the topic I am researching.   My experience has been that probably a third of forum posts and replies contain accurate and helpful information.  Another third are of questionable value or are just  people expressing their personal opinions or preferences which may or may not be helpful or accurate.  The final third are totally wrong, misleading or incorrect!   Back in the days when most information was published in some type of print format (magazine articles, newspaper articles and books), content provided by a writer was edited and validated by an editor or team of editors to make sure it was as accurate as possible.  Facts were checked, sources were verified (and credited), and corrections were made as needed before (and sometimes after) an article was published.  Not so today.   With many forums,  do-it-yourself websites, YouTube and Tiktok videos, Instagram posts, Facebook and other social media, ANYBODY can post ANYTHING.  There's no fact checking, no validation, no peer review, no crediting sources of information.  Some of the information is really good, helpful and created by somebody who knows what they are talking about, but a lot of it is pure BS, nonsense or even dangerous.   The quality of the finished product ranges from excellent and professionally produced to really amateurish.  Nothing is worse than watching a 20 minute how-video that could have been edited down to about 3 minutes.   My point here is that when looking for accurate automotive information on the internet, you have to be very discerning.  Consider the source.  Hagerty does an excellent job of presenting factual, accurate and entertaining content.  Many other dedicated automotive sites do as well.  Social media sites are the ones you have to watch out for, especially YouTube and now Tiktok. ... View more

On older vehicles, when you turn the ignition off there is almost no drain on the battery, except maybe an electric clock or the dome light if you open the door.  Also, the battery can be disconnected if you are storing the vehicle for a period of months to prevent it from running down.   With late model computer-equipped vehicles, it is a different story.  When you turn the ignition key off (or use the "Start" button to turn the engine off), many onboard modules continue to draw a small current from the battery to keep their learned memory settings alive.  A keyless entry system will also remain active as will the anti-theft system.  Most modules go into a "sleep" mode after a certain length of time (10 to 30 minutes) to reduce the power drain, but even so the combined current draw from these various devices can exceed 20 to 50 milliamps, and may be as high as 300 to 400 milliamps on some vehicles.    If a late model vehicle is parked and not driven for a week, the battery can be run down as much as 50%.  Let your car sit two or more weeks without being driven, and you may find the battery has fully discharged.   This is why the batteries in late model vehicles should be connected to a smart charger or trickle charger if they won't be driven for a long period of time.   Why not just disconnect the battery to prevent it from running down?   If you disconnect the battery on a late model computer-equipped vehicle, it can cause all kinds of issues.  Modules that rely on the battery to maintain learned memory settings or programmed calibrations can "forget" their settings.  This includes all radio channel presets, driver seat position presets, the operation of the climate control system, all-wheel drive control modules, body control modules, the PCM and transmission module, even steering angle sensor calibrations.    Some of these forgotten settings can be reset manually (like radio channels and driver seat adjustments), or will relearn automatically as the vehicle is driven (fuel trim, automatic transmission shift points, etc.).  But others will not reset without doing some type of special relearn procedure, and some may may require reprogramming with a scan tool!  Worse yet, some modules that have lost their power supply will never wake up, requiring a new module to fix the issue! A smart battery charger will sense the type of battery and adjust the charger as needed to maintain the battery.   So if you want to store your late model vehicle for a period of time without creating battery and module memory issues, hook the battery up to a smart charger that will automatically maintain the battery charge without overcharging it, or a smart trickle charger.  An ounce of prevention can save you a lot of trouble. ... View more