Archive for the 'how to check car parts' Category

People assume buying a used car is simple, you simply pay the money and take the car. As anyone who has bought one will know it can be a stressful time and many things need to be sorted such as v5 documents and you need to make sure your not getting robbed or any used car parts or new car parts are broken.
Here is several pieces of advice when buying a used car which is based on my own experiences:

Firstly, do your research on the car, this means do a HPI check, they cost around £4 and check to see if your car has been in a accident or stolen, well worth it since if you fork over £4, 000 for a car and the police find it is stolen then its tough, you lose the car. The HPI checker wont provide information on any changes to the original or used car parts such as any repairs or modifications, however always ask for the documents on the car since they should be recorded here and if the HPI says it has been in a accident then repairs will have been made.

Another good research tip is customer reviews are essential. Any hired professionals can say this car is amazing but its the drivers who will know, however use them as a guideline and don’t let one bad review put you off. Its like anything, somewhere down the line one vehicle is going to go wrong.

Secondly check your getting a good deal. What Car Review website tells you roughly how much you should expect to pay for the car, how much its worth trade in and reviews and is a good place to start your research. Take the information with a pinch of salt since its not always correct and you should not storm into a garage and demand the trade in value mentioned, but use it as a guideline, for example a Renault Cleo dynamic 2004 1.2 16v with under 20000 miles should go for around £4500 if sold privately, so any less and its a good deal, but 5000, and it needs something else such as air conditioning before its worth the extra payout.

Thirdly if it looks too good to be true, it probably is so take care as the price might be masking larger damage to the used car parts, or it could be vehicle salvage (HPI checker provides this information).

Finally test drive it and analyze the the car and the used car parts. Check the car engine sounds good, the car parts are in good condition, the car drives well and does not make funny noises. I took one of the guys from work since they know what to listen for and its a good tip to ensure the car and its used car parts are in good working order.

Finally use your nugget (head) for common sense issues, if the seller is pushy it probably has something wrong with it, if
they wont let you test drive the car ask why not. Another tip is always make sure there is at least 6 months MOT left and some tax since this is one more thing to show you the car is in good working order.

Hi this post is more of a get your readers involved post. I have this problem with my vauxhall engine on my vauxhall corsa (1995) 1 litre petrol manual 3dr hatchback.

Now i could ask the people at work and find the answer, or visit my garage, but i thought i would asks the readers if they knew or could share similar problems with there vehicles.

Right now for the problem. My vauxhall engine at first thought seems to be flat, however i managed to start the vauxhall engine and drove it for 20 miles (recommended miles to recharge your battery) and left it overnight to find the battery flat again.

I then try to jump start the engine at several points in the day, firstly when its cold in the mornings around 8am, secondly in the afternoon when its warmer and finally at night around 10pm when its cold again. To my surprise the car engine only starts in the afternoons when its warm and not cold and i can drive it as normal once started, however if i leave it overnight it becomes flat again.

It is as if something is constantly draining the battery, however no lights are on, no switches left on or items plugged in (e.g. cigaret lighter).

So i assume it is not the vauxhall engine but in fact something else such as the starter motor or the manual immobilizer.

So readers, what do you think?

Secondly its only worth around 300 i reckon, so is it worth fixing and putting MOT and TAX on it, or should i get a new vauxhall with a fully working car engine?

I read this blog the other day on how to change the car oil and i thought its a simple enough procedure in which many people don’t know how to do and end up paying a lot for it to be done, so i decided to summarize the blog here for the benefit of our readers in the ‘how to check car parts’ section

Firstly the original post was from Tashi khoo’s personal blog, along with a nice video and thus i thank him for it

Right firstly to do this yourself you will need several items of equipment:

standard equipment

• jack and jack stands
• 2 wedges
• funnel
• chain wrench
• combination or multi spanner
• large container or several small ones and one seal able container
• plastic bag or seal-able zip bag
• protection e.g. newspapers, gloves, rags, old clothes

Specialist items and car parts

• new engine oil
• new oil filter
• new drain sealing washer

Ok to start you need to heat the oil up to make it thinner and less viscous, thus will flow better out of the engine. to do this simply drive your car around for around 5 minutes until the car engine indicator comes on. NOTE too long and you risk skin burns!

Safety is a major issue as always, so ensure you environment is safe. park your vehicle on a flat surface, turn ignition off and put into correct gear (first for manuals and parking position for automatics) and open the bonnet. Now block the tyres to stop them rolling. Right safe environment done.

You will need to get under the car for a oil change so jack the car up and make sure it is safe (Warning ensure jack is properly on to avoid the car collapsing on top of you) and use several jack stands to ensure the car is safe (don’t just use one jack as safety)

Note oil is messy so lay protection on yourself and the floor. Next locate your drain plug on the lowest part of the car engine with a nut and washer underneath. DO NOT mistake it for the transmission drain plug!). Once located unplug it by loosening the drain plug nut (do not fully remove). Place the waste oil container underneath then remove the nut entirely. NOTE the oil will be hot so get away from it and slide out from underneath the car.

Leave for around a hour for best result .

Now, after the hour, we need access to the car engine from the bonnet to vent the oil system. Now remove the oil filter cap and remove the oil dipstick and clean. We also need to find the oil filter to change it, this can be found by looking for a big cylindrical metal cartridge. (NOTE the oil filter will contain hot oil so take car to avoid burns). Now get your new filter, coat the gasket at the bottom with oil by getting the old filters oily gasket and rub against the new filters dry gasket and this aids connection with the engine block. Now clean the area with a rag where the filter will go and place the new filter into place and screw it in manually. use the chain wrench to tighten until securely connected

Right now take the new sealing washer and place over the drain nut. You now need to thread the nut and washer back into the plug hole (you will need to get under your car again). Now tighten the drain plug and let out a sigh of relief since your done under the car.

Right you now have a car with no oil, so it needs to be replaced using the funnel in the oil filter hole and putting in the new oil. Put the cap on when your done and check the oil level using the cleaned dipstick (between min and max marks). Right now you have to tidy up your mess before your other half returns to see the mess you have made, but will forgive all if you have done it right since you’ve said some cash.

Some tips on cleaning

• get seal able container and place funnel in, this will get rid of excess oil
• Now get all waste oil and funnel into seal able container
• put the container in a plastic bag or zipped bag and seal (along with extra car parts used)
• take oil to a recycling place and dispose safely
• Start car engine and leave for 3 minutes and check for oil leaks and loose drain plug
• dispose of oil filter and sealed waste to a garage or petrol station for recycling

Note you may want to read the full blog article from Tashi khoo’s since this is a summarized version from his article and that concludes this part of the ‘how to check car parts’ entry.

NOTE - if you are unsure of any of these procedures then get it done professionally and CarSpareFinder takes no responsibility for you or your vehicle when performing the procedure.

I currently travel on a morning down the a19 from Durham to the offices near Middlesbrough. I would consider this road a dangerous road, there is always a turned over lorry, a 3 car pile up etc at least once a week and this is in the summer.

Now its winter and its getting freezing out there, there has been one episode of snow and the amount of accidents will triple. but there are things you can do for the winter driving.

there are 2 types of prevention here. one involves car parts. for example putting chains round you tires so they become snow car parts, using de-icer on car parts such as head lamps or windscreen and the other is driving sensibly (i call it winter driving).

you should now be checking your water levels on the car engine, your oil and top up your windscreen solution every week and use the recommended winter guidelines on the back of the box

Another simple one is don’t be a a*** on the road, you see cars doing 70MPH on a motorway and theres a constant movement. Then a guy in a powerful car doing 90, goes to within a inch of the guys bonnet and the first car cannot move over till he is passed the lorry but the guy wont budge. This apart from being annoying is dangerous. we should be leaving at least 3 to 4 seconds between the car in front because if the first guy brakes the second car would go strait into him and i would be late for work again and someone would need a new car bumper.

Have an emergency kit. i don’t mean car parts such as 4 spare wheels or a snow plough, but a blanket, and stuff to change a flat tyre, some band aids etc. you never know what will happen

One dangerous car part is a car windscreen. If you get a small chip then get it fixed, it costs nothing. It will develop into a crack which will cost you and in the winder cold it will crack sooner, so be careful

upgrade some car parts such as tyres mentioned earlier and get winder wiper blades. they all come in useful.

Also never let you petrol tank be less than half full. not many people know this but your gauge line can actually freeze thus not telling you a real representation of your petrol level and you might run out of petrol.

As for winter driving leave plenty of space, set off 10 minutes earlier on a morning, be more patient, if other people are being stupid it does not mean you have to etc.

There are many things you can do from modifying existing car parts, to driving sensible. the two combined should ensure safe journeys all winter. however if you do run into problems and need some car parts then use CarSpareFinder to get your parts, its free and easy and you should be back on the road in no time.

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

ever wondered how to check certain car parts when buying a car, well here is our new section and its all about how to check car parts so you know your getting your moneys worth.

Our first post is on checking a car engine. This is a much needed post because a salesman can make up a nice looking car, but you don’t know whats underneath the hood.

Firstly you could get the car engine and the entire car checked by a specialist. but if not then here are a few simple rules.

Firstly check the car engine levels e.g. oil, and water. The oil should be dark black for a diesel and a yellow/orange color for petrol. If the oil level is low then you can suspect lack of maintenance and possible damage in the future. It may also represent a leak so check for those.

Try as much as you can to look at the internal car engine parts. These hidden parts can give allot away. What you should look for in the car engine parts is sludge from the oil. If there is a buildup of oil sludge it suggests that the oil has not been changed in a while and bad maintenance has occurred.

If you can check the oil pressure then do so because low oil pressure means the engine is on the way out. Other checks should be on any repairs made to the vehicle. are they hiding bad parts?

Many people check the car engine oil levels and water levels of their washer but never the engine water which contains water and antifreeze. If this is low or you find oil in it it may suggest a engine radiator problem. It should be clean and transparent and within the min and max levels, else you don’t buy the vehicle or get it fixed immediately.

One obvious test is to drive it. From this you can tell some errors such as lights coming on and increased emissions (e.g. smoke) from the exhaust. Note there should be no smoke at all. You can also listen to the car engine, does it sound normal? does it feel right?

Finally a often forgotten rule, check the millage and if it has loads of millage (over 100 000 miles) then think about what your going to use the car for, if its anything major then get a lower millage vehicle.

Remember if the car engine is damaged the car wont last long and you will have have thrown your money away