Car Parts and Accessories

Sad to say, the world is not full of people as nice as you and me. Although we have worked hard to buy and maintain our cars, there are malcontents out there who want the same thing for nothing.

Thieves come in three types: joyriders (usually young people who ‘take the car for a burn’), pilferers (who steal luggage or dash-board stereos, often without moving the car) and professionals. None of them are particularly nice but at least with the first and second type you have a chance of getting most of your car back. (more…)

A car failing to travel around a corner correctly may leave the road and end up in a pond or river. This is the fear of many drivers, in spite of the rarity with which it occurs. (more…)

Mercedes-Benz is introducing a revolution in clean diesel technology. The World’s Cleanest Diesel Technology: the cleanest and most efficient diesel engines ever built - with the power to turn exhaust into water. A diesel UV can be clean, fuel-efficient, and powerful. Mercedes-Benz revolution technology features an innovative modularly designed exhaust gas treatment system.

The BuleTEC diesel technology not only complies with the very grim reduced exhaust emission regulations of the future, but also offers amazing fuel-efficeint engines and a revolutionary exhaust system that emits 80% fewer smog-causing emissions. (more…)

What causes rust?

Moisture, dirt, industrial fallout, salt air, grit, cement dust, crop sprays and manures all help to speed corrosion.

Rust, an all-year-round menace in coastal areas, gains a foothold in any moisture or rust traps that feature in the design of modern car bodies. Door panels—particularly those of the driver’s door—are the most vulnerable components of a car. (more…)

A history of heart disease is in itself no barrier to driving. As a general rule, heart attacks give sufficient warning for the driver to pull up at the side of the road. No one should drive within three months of having suffered from an attack of coronary thrombosis.

Diabetes

In a mild case of diabetes, controlled by diet alone, there is no risk to driving. In more serious cases, however, the driver must ensure that his condition is well controlled, that he can recognise the symptoms of hypoglycaemia, and that he always carries emergency supplies of sugar or glucose in the car. (more…)

Road safety and health

Driving a car can make certain physical and mental demands on the driver. The motorist must, for his own and other road-users’ safety, make sure that he is fit to drive.

Happily, no one needs to have the physique of an athlete to handle a family car efficiently; but a minimum standard of well-being in mind and body is essential. Few motorists would be at ease taking an ailing car on a 200 kilometre journey. Many, however, think nothing of driving the same distance when in less than peak physical condition themselves. (more…)

Additives raise the octane number

Petrol has to contain a combination of properties to be suitable for use in a car engine. It has to be volatile (that is, it must vaporise easily) to give trouble-free starting in cold weather and quick warm- up with little use of the choke. But it must not be so volatile that it vaporises too readily, causing a condition known as vapour lock, or is uneconomical to use. (more…)

The fixed-jet (or fixed-choke) carburettor incorporates various jets and an accelerator pump to alter the mixture’s strength according to engine needs.

As the airstream through a carburettor’s venturi speeds up, the air becomes ‘thinner’ and without some compensating device the mixture would become progressively richer until it was too rich to burn.

The fixed-jet carburettor solves this problem by air correction—mixing some air with petrol before the petrol is drawn into the venturi. On most carburettors, air correction is by means of a perforated tube which emulsifies the mixture. (more…)

Most modern turbocharged cars and many naturally aspirated cars have petrol injection instead of carburettors.

With a carburettor system, the petrol is mixed with the air as it passes through the carburettor and is then distributed to the cylinders; but with an injection system, the petrol is squirted under pressure through small injector nozzles where it is atomised and vaporised.

Generally injectors are located in the intake passages near the inlet valves. The quantity of fuel injected and the correct timing of the injection varies with the type of system used and the conditions prevailing in the engine at the time. (more…)

What the Auto Clutch has to do

A motor vehicle’s clutch takes the load off the gears when they have to be changed, by disconnecting the driveline between the engine and the driving wheels. The clutch also permits the engine to be revved up to develop sufficient power to move the vehicle before the drive is engaged.

Disengaging the clutch separates three parts of the clutch assembly the flywheel, the driven plate (also known as the centre plate or clutch plate) and the pressure plate. The flywheel is bolted to the end of the crankshaft and rotates with it; the driven plate is splined to the gearbox input shaft so that they rotate together; and the pressure plate clamps the driven plate to the flywheel. (more…)

Operation of Drum and Disc Auto brakes

An auto brake works by causing friction between a non-rotating part of the car and a disc or drum which turns with a road wheel. Friction produces the force needed to slow the car, and converts the energy of the moving vehicle into heat which disperses into the air around the auto brakes.

For many years, auto brakes had either an external band that contracted around the drum, or internal ’shoes’ that expanded against the drum’s inner surface, each with heat-resistant linings. Today, the braking material has been placed on the outside of the auto brake, but now pads are forced under hydraulic pressure onto the sides of a smooth rotating metal disc. (more…)

Getting the right grip for safety and economy

Treads are designed to help tyres grip the road and to enable the car to move with maximum comfort, speed, safety and economy in any kind of weather.

Tyre treads are made of natural or synthetic rubber bonded directly on to the casing, or on to the breaker strip (the belt of cords running around the circumference of radial tyres to stiffen them). (more…)

When the front and rear suspension units are inter-connected, the result is known as a linked suspension system.

The primary advantage of connecting front and rear springing in this way is that it greatly reduces any tendency of the car to pitching (rocking in a fore-and-aft direction); this gives the occupants a more nearly level ride. Outstanding examples of linked suspension on cars of recent times are the Moulton Hydrolastic and Hydragas suspensions used by Austin- Morris and the spring-linkage system used by Citroën on their smaller models. (more…)

Step 4-14. Removing the Car or Auto fuel filter on a General Motors car.

First remove the air cleaner assembly. The fuel filter is located inside the carburetor behind a large fuel inlet nut. Place a rag below the nut to catch any spilled gas. Hold the larger inlet nut with one wrench. Turn the smaller nut on the fuel line counterclockwise with another wrench to disconnect the fuel line. Remove the larger nut and gasket. A spring behind the filter will push the filter out.

Step 4-15. Installing the new Car or Auto fuel filter on a GM car.

Install the new filter and new gasket and thread the larger nut on by hand, then tighten it with the wrench. Now reconnect the fuel line by hand. Hold the larger nut with one wrench and tighten the smaller nut with the other wrench. Remove the rag and start the engine to check for leaks. If the fitting leaks, turn off the engine and tighten the connections. (more…)

• Battery hydrometer
• Coolant hydrometer
• Drain basin
• Droplight

• Emery cloth
• Fine sandpaper

• Fire extinguisher
• Funnel
• Fuse puller
• Jack
• Jack stands

• Jumper cables
• Lug wrench

• Needle-nose pliers
• Oil filter (strap) wrench
• Putty knife

• Rubber mallet
• Screwdrivers(Phillips and standard)
• Socket wrench
• Spark plug socket
• Terminal puller

• Tire pressure gauge
• Wheel blocks

• Wire battery brush
• Wire brush
• Wire feeler gauge
• Wrench (open-ended)

Step 7-3. Checking the air pressure.

Check the air pressure before you start out, when the tires are cool. Never exceed the maximum inflation pressure printed on the side of the tire. The tire pressure recommended for your car is usually found in the glove box or in the owner’s manual. Buy a pencil-type pressure gauge and leave it in the glove box. To check the pressure, unscrew the valve cap, fit the end of the gauge over the threaded end of the valve stem, and press in. If you hear any hissing, you don’t have a good seal and the reading will not be accurate. When the air enters the gauge, a marked scale pops out of the gauge, displaying the pressure. If the pressure is too high, use the small stud on the gauge to press in the pin in the center of the valve stem. Bleed off a little air and check the pressure again. If the pressure is too low, drive to the nearest gas station and add air. (more…)