The alternator is used to convert rotational energy from the car’s engine into electrical power. This recharges the battery, ensuring that there is always enough current to run your vehicle’s electric circuits. Due to the large amounts of stress and friction on this part, it can go wrong or fail every 60,000 – 100,000 miles, requiring you to either visit a repair garage or replace the part yourself. This is one of the more simple tasks you can perform easily at your own property.
The gearbox is a vital part of all car engines. It allows the driver to change the ratio by which power is applied to the car’s driving axle in its simplest form. Over time the gears and the gear trains can become worn down by repeated stress and friction causing the box to malfunction and cause problems when selecting gear. Changing a gearbox is one of the more complex tasks that you can perform in your home garage, but with a little preparation and planning it can be completed in around a working day of eight hours.
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There are many different kinds of eco-cars now available on today’s market. These include vehicles that are electrically charged and have to be plugged in at night and those that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which need to be topped up at service stations with dedicated hydrogen pumps. The problem with many of these automobiles is that they are prohibitively expensive for many motorists. Some of these green vehicles even cost more to run than their petrol and diesel driven counterparts, making them unattractive for those on a budget. Continue reading
Google unveiled their autonomous car at the Detroit Motor Show in January. They are not the only company developing their own drive-by-wire vehicles, which look set to become a definite feature of our roads in the future. Whilst there have always been those who are scared of change – from the cavemen who no doubt believed that the wheel was the work of some evil god through to the people who thought that the electric toothbrush would shake out their teeth – a little shake up of things is often for the greater good.
What are the most commonly replaced car parts? With the huge forces created in your combustion engine and by travelling at speed, it is no wonder that the components of today’s cars wear out. Certain parts wear out faster than others and there can be extenuating factors such as environmental considerations that can lead to a reduced lifespan. Our list takes a look at which parts are most prone to wear and likely to need swapping out.
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Green motoring is an increasingly hot topic for all motorists in the UK. With vehicle emissions still contributing a large percentage of all CO2 emissions, every car owner can play their part in helping to reduce the amount of pollution produced by their vehicle. Manufacturers are aware of this trend and we are now seeing a rise in the number of different green cars available, so which of these are tagged for success in 2015? Continue reading
Brake fluidis an essential part of your car’s braking system. It is used to transfer the pressure from the footbrake into movement that in turn applies your car’s calipers to the disc brake. The first sign that you might have a leak within your brake fluid system is usually therefore indicated by the responsiveness of the footbrake pedal.
The harsh winter weather puts extra demands on your motoring. Last year we took a look at the precautions you can take before setting out on the road and the differences between summer and winter tyres.
However, there are many good practices you can adopt when driving in various wintry conditions.
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When car parts get beyond circulation as second hand spares, they have to be recycled. Around 80% of a car can be turned into usable products, making car recycling big business today. There are now whole companies that exist around taking different materials from scrapped cars and turning them into reusable products. What are these materials and how are they reprocessed? Continue reading
The exhaust is a vital part of your engine’s emission system. It helps funnel away the gaseous products of the combustion process that drives your car, via a set of pipes that are connected to the top of the cylinder heads.