Category Archives: Maintenance

Replacing Your Car’s Grille

Car grille

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.

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Replacing a Car Fuel Tank

Fuel tank filler

A fuel tank is used for one of the most obvious purposes in your vehicle – for holding the fuel. With some forms of modern fuel, such as diesel, a hole or fracture in your tank is dangerous. However if your car runs on petrol the problem could be explosive.

The first sign that you have issues with your fuel tank will be puddles of fuel around your car after it has been parked. Alternatively you may notice that the fuel consumption on your car is higher than normal. An actual inspection of the tank should visually confirm that there is a leak or drip occurring somewhere from the part. Fortunately replacing your vehicle’s fuel tank should be a relatively easy process with very little need to perform any complex mechanical work. However as fuel is involved in this replacement you should take extra care to be as methodical as possible, working in a well ventilated area with the appropriate fire extinguisher, which would need to be a Class B extinguisher.

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Fixing a Glove Box Latch

opening a glove box latch

The glove box is one of those essential items in a car. It’s where you keep your best of Queen CD case, even though the CD has been lost a long time ago, together with random knick-knacks, tools and perhaps even your owner’s manual or log book.

Alternatively you might be the tidy type who keeps almost nothing in the compartment other than a tin of travel sweets in case one of your passengers is feeling a little peaky. However you use your glove compartment, there’s one thing that you’ll want to avoid, which is having the latch break on you leaving the compartment door flapping around as you negotiate corners. This is a fairly easy task that does not require any previous mechanical knowledge and as you won’t be working under the bonnet, you won’t need to know any of the major working parts in the engine.

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Installing a New Steering Rack

steering rack

As with all moving parts in your car, the steering rack is likely to wear down over time and experience fatigue. This will take a few years, but the tell-tale signs are in the responsiveness of the car’s steering. If turning the wheel seems to take more effort than it used to, or if the whole system seems strangely sluggish, then you know you have a problem with the steering rack.

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Replacing a Car Wing

car wing needing replacement

Your car’s wing is an integral part of its bodywork. Small accidents or collisions could cause this part to buckle or bend, becoming completely useless. In the event that your wing is either too damaged to be fixed, or not really worth the money of employing a panel beater to fix, then changing this part yourself should be simple.

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