Author Archives: Justin Smith

There is nothing more frustrating than when a car door handle breaks. It is an obvious problem to diagnose, as you will not be able to get in your vehicle. Even though you can probably find a temporary work around that involves a little acrobatics, you’ll want to change the handle pretty quickly.

Your car’s spoiler is designed to create drag and push the rear wheels of the car into the road. This improves traction and helps your vehicle hug the tarmac as you move up to higher speeds on the dual carriageway or motorway.

If you’re a fan of taking a car round a test track to see how fast you can go – then a spoiler is an essential piece of kit. However, at the limited speeds on UK roads this part is more about decoration than function.

It is all too easy for your boot lid to become dented. From an accidental shunt or prang on the road through to an overzealous piece of reversing near a wall, there are plenty of opportunities for it to become damaged both on the road and when parked. Over time rust will eat away at the edges, the seals will go and wires and locks can become damaged. Often a simple visual inspect will confirm whether or not it needs changing.
Purchasing a good replacement boot lid should be no problem. However lids vary across models and makes and some have lights and wiring built into their construction, whilst others are simple covers for the rear of your car. Most have hydraulic systems that can be dealt with by even a novice mechanic, however due to the weight of the part it is always good to have an assistant.

Everyone knows there’s only limited space in your car’s boot. You can only fit so much on the back seat. So when the car is completely stacked and there’s not an inch of room for packing, or alternatively for those large items like surfboards you’ll need a roof rack. In order to fit a roof rack you’ll need roof rails – but what to do if these are cracked or broken?

It’s a great idea to fit a towbar to your car. You know whether you need one or not with a simple question. Are you looking to tow a trailer or a caravan? The tow bar gives the back of your vehicle the strength and support to handle towing an object behind it, and the electrics to support essential systems including the brake lights and indicators.

So how do you go about fitting a tow bar to your car? Is this an easy job? Well in our experience you will need to set aside roughly 4 hours of your time to complete this task and it’s a little too difficult for the amateur mechanic. So we would only recommend going ahead with this job if you have a considerable level of mechanical skill and you know your way around your toolbox.

The ABS pump is responsible for pressurising the ABS system, ensuring that your vehicle is able to decrease and increase speed as needed. It is a vital part of the whole ABS system, which works to remove the possibility of your brakes locking and taking your car into a skid, particularly under emergency braking conditions.

What are the signs that your ABS pump could be faulty? The first and most obvious is when the dashboard light shows a failure in your car’s ABS system. Following this it may be necessary to examine the engine’s error codes, which should indicate which part of the ABS system is causing you problems and needs changing.

The heater matrix is a component within the heater unit and a smaller version of your car’s radiator, which has the engine’s coolant running through it. It uses the coolant to transfer heat into air, blown through it from the heater motor, which then comes out of the vents in the car.

Fluctuations in the temperature in your car is often one of the first signs your heater matrix may be experiencing problems. This could be coupled with another indicator of trouble such as your car fogging up suddenly for no reason.More definite signs of failure are the sickly sweet smell of coolant cooking emanating throughout your car and liquid in your car’s foot well, both of which could mean that this part has stopped functioning correctly.

The grille can be found at the front of your car covering the radiator and air intake. Sometimes amateur car lovers can even confuse it with the radiator, but actually it only protects this part from taking in foreign bodies. However, its position does make it fairly prone to damage, especially if you drive on many country roads where you could hit small animals or debris could fly up into the part.A simple visual inspection will inform you as to the current state of your grille, and problems or damage will be obvious. Holes or breakages in the grille should be attended to immediately as they could lead to other parts incurring damage due to debris and particles blowing into your engine bay.