Category Archives: Maintenance

Engine Misfires: The Main Causes and the Symptoms of Misfiring You Must Not Ignore

Mechanic working on an engine to cure misfiring

There are many potential causes of a misfiring engine. Some of the most well-known include issues with worn out spark plugs, a weak pressure through the fuel injectors, a vacuum leak, fatigued valve seals, or even issues with the power going to the engine coil. Whatever the reason behind a misfiring engine, you’ll want to get eyes on the problem as soon as possible, as it can rapidly get worse, causing associated systems and parts within your engine to suffer damage. What are some of the most common causes and symptoms of a misfiring engine?

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How to tell if Your Alternator Belt has Become Loose

alternator and belt on a car

The alternator generates charge from the movement of your engine. The engine turns, the alternator turns, and this in turn creates power, which is used to keep the battery fully charged.

If the alternator fails, the battery will rapidly lose charge, and be unable to keep powering your vehicle’s electrical systems, causing some of them to start failing and worse still, they could shut down completely.

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All is Not Well Under the Bonnet: 7 Engine Symptoms You Don’t Want to avoid

car engine under a bonnet

Engines are the powerful centre of your car. You put your foot down, fuel surges into the cylinder heads and away you go. However, despite its importance, it’s all too easy to overlook problems with the engine, and turn a blind eye to some of the warning signs. Left unchecked, many of these can lead to a breakdown (leaving you stranded miles from home) or worse still, to a bank-balance breaking repair bill. In the most extreme cases engine problems can leave the car beyond viable repair – which then means you’ve got to go to the trouble of spending time finding and shelling out your hard-earned cash on a new vehicle.

To avoid the hassle and expense of experiencing engine failure, watch out for these minor and major warning signs to keep the costs of repair down.

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Less Miles for More Cash? The Biggest Reasons Why Your Car could be Suffering from Poor Fuel Economy

refueling a car after poor economy

Is your car slurping up more fuel that normal? Have you noticed that you’ve had to fill up more frequently and the same routine journeys are starting to cost more in fuel? Even though this might be hurting you in the wallet, poor fuel economy is about more than just the cash. It could be a sign of deeper issues with your car.

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Disproved: Popular Car Maintenance Myths

mechanic carrying out vehicle maintenance

As car’s become more advanced, some of the older rules that were applicable to car maintenance schedules are no longer true. However, because many of these are passed around via word of mouth, they can take quite a time to disappear from common culture.

Follow the wrong advice, and there’s a real-life implication. You could find yourself stumping up cash for unnecessary costs or reducing your vehicle’s performance. Worse still you could end up doing some serious damage to car parts that leaves you requiring replacements, and a mechanic’s bill for labour.

What are some of the best-known car maintenance myths that are simply no longer true?

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Loss of Power – Is It Time You Purchased a New Car Battery?

testing a car battery

From old fashioned headlights and windscreen wipers, through to onboard computer systems and ABS braking; today’s car is packed with electrical systems. Just like mobile phone apps that put a lot of strain on your phone’s battery, these systems may cause your car battery to run out faster and stop working.

Last thing you want is for the battery to give up the ghost on a cold February morning, when you need to get to work (or somewhere worse, such as the airport on time). Thankfully, with a little vigilance, you can be aware of your battery coming to the end of its lifespan, as there are usually a few give-away signs.

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Don’t Ignore These 9 Signs that Your Car Needs a Service

Mechanic performing a service on a car

Cars are complex, technical machines that needs to be properly looked after. Part of any maintenance schedule should be regular service checks, where parts can be inspected and changed if necessary. Whilst some services, particularly for more high-end vehicles, can be expensive, they will save you money in the long run, preventing breakdowns, and increasing your chances of passing an MOT.

So, if you’re wondering about those strange noises or some weird car behaviour, then this is the list for you. And if you’re currently on a tight budget, and don’t want to drop money on a service for no reason, then use this list to check for where issues could be getting to the point where avoiding a service could potentially cost you more…

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Do The Shake: Why Your Car is Juddering…

a man checking his juddering car

A judder is a jerking motion or shaking feeling you get behind the wheel. For example, you put your foot down and expect to move forward in a continual motion, but instead you jerk and stop. This can be a frightening experience, and your passengers won’t thank you for it either. Juddering can be caused by a number of issues and in several scenarios and should never be ignored; it’s often a sign other problems could develop in your vehicle if left unchecked. What are the various symptoms and how can you complete a little amateur diagnosis yourself?

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Brake Smoke: Causes and Cures

smoke coming from car brakes

Smoke coming out of the brakes? It might be funny in cartoons, but it’s never a laughing matter when it’s your car. In fact, if you do notice a burning smell, or worse still, start seeing smoke floating around your vehicle cabin, it can be a more than unsettling experience.

Brake smoke is one of those situations where you need to act immediately. Even if you have put on new brake pads that can in rare cases smoke when you wear them in – it’s still something that you need to check. So what are the causes (and some of the fixes) of smoking brakes?

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Why Does Your Car’s Engine Stall?

man inspecting a car after a stall

Unless you are still a novice driver, you should not really be stalling your vehicle (save for the occasional moment where your motoring skills suddenly go on holiday). But if your car starts regularly stalling, then you may have an underlying problem with the air flow, fuel system or electrics.  

And when stalls happen on the open road they can be downright dangerous. What’s worse is that they’re always unexpected; stalls come with no warning signs. The check engine light doesn’t illuminate on the dash board and no signs come out of the engine. You could even be motoring on quite dandily and then bang out of nowhere, the stall happens. 

If you are experiencing stalls on a regular basis when you’re on the road, then you may want to get the car checked out.

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