Archive for the 'Keep It Going' Category

As you all know i own a vauxhall Corsa. I recently had what i thought was a vauxhall engine fault since on cold mornings it would not start. However after failing to jump start it the vauxhall engine was looking doubtfully that it was the culpret.

After taking it into a garage the mechanic replaced the starter motor, which seems to have done the trick, however he pulled me to one side and said your tyres were appalling. I said what do you mean and he replied just look. To my surprise the tyres were as bald as my father (not a single hair on his head) and he said if the police had caught me, since i had 3 bald tyres i would have lost my license.
So in this new light i thought i would mention the key checks you should on a weekly basis do keep your car legal.

First off we will start with the vuaxhall engine and under the bonnet inspections.

Firstly refill your washer bottle. It may be coming up to the summer but rainy days produce nasty sprays and without washing water you may end up driving blind. For those who have never filled on up before it is normally under the bonnet in a funnel like tube with a yellow cap on it (usually yellow). Fill this up with your 50p solution from your local petrol garage or supermarket and follow the instructions on the back.

The second check should be your vauxhall engine water (combination of water and anti freeze). This is located near the battery in my car, and you have a twist cap type lid (much like your petrol cap but smaller). Inside the water should be a green / blue color. This should be at the recommended level. If it is not then you can buy solutions from your local garage and fill it up to the full mark, you can even get car specific solution e.g. vauxhall engine.

Engine oil is a nice one (it is in my vauxhall engine anyway), there is a dipstick under the bonnet. You simply remove the dipstick and wipe it clean, then insert back into the shaft, leave for 10 seconds and pull out. The oil should cover the dipstick between the min and max marks. Remember too much oil can be as harmful and too little.

NOTE ALL UNDER THE BONNET INSPECTIONS SHOULD BE DONE WHEN THE ENGINE IS COLD AND ON A FLAT SURFACE

Now moving onto tyres. Tyres are the sneaky once. Firstly check the tyre pressures are at their recommended level, normal around 30-32 and they differ between front and back normally but you have to consult your manual or visit this http://www.thetyrepressuremonitor.com/. The second check is the tread. Normally there is a rubber stump in which the tread must never be level with. Or use a 10p and it should cover the edge (dotted dash around the edge).You should also check your basics such as brake lights, normal lights, hazard lights, fog lights, since if one of these is out then you could get pulled over and the police offer does a quick check.
For more information on checking your car visit:

http://www.2pass.co.uk/tyres.htm

http://www.samarins.com/maintenance/simple.html#inspection

WE DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR INJURY OR MISTAKES MADE BY YOURSELF DURING THE MAINTENANCE OF YOUR CAR. PLEASE DO ADEQUATE RESEARCH TO ENSURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING BEFORE UNDERGOING ANY CHECKS.

So as not to split hairs and go down two very close but parallel roads I will lump together the full and major services. By and large these two are so closely related that they may as well be the same thing just different people will use different terminologies.

From the previous article dealing with minor servicing there were several items that required checking rather than replacements i.e. spark plugs and air filter. During a major service operation  these two items tend to be replaced as a matter of course, this is purely down to the fact that vehicle parts do deteriorate over a period of time irrespective of the miles covered. However, we must not lose sight of the benefits afforded by the latest generation of long life spark plugs which incorporate the use of platinum tipped electrodes and generally have an effective service life of around 50,000 miles. Air filters on the other hand do not have the same advantages, their life is dictated by the air quality passing through the filtering elements and usually the better job they do the shorter their effective life, this is true with both Vauxhall parts as well as less commonly seen makes such as Ferrari.

On the subject of filtration there are two other UNITS which should be changed or with one in particular, inspected and changed if required. The fuel filter can have an enormous effect on the way a vehicle runs and is ignored at your peril, as with any filter device it  has a finite life and once past a certain point it simply cannot remove any more impurities from the fuel, leading directly to poor performance and rough running. Not quite so important is the cabin, or pollen filter, this device simply filters incoming air for the vehicle interior. Again, as with the air filter, its effective service life will depend on the quality of air being drawn through it. From past experience I have had vehicles come into the workshop with the owner wringing their hands in desperation convinced that the lack of ventilation will involve the removal of the entire dashboard assembly and its accompanying large labour bill, only to find that the culprit is simply a clogged cabin filter.

Moving away from the solid we now consider the liquid specifically the brake fluid and the engine coolant. After almost 30 years of vehicle engineering I can safely say that the number of requests for a brake fluid change can be counted on two hands and is easily outnumbered many many times over by the requests for coolant/antifreeze change. The main reason for changing the brake fluid every two years is that absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and once the moisture content exceeds a certain level and subjected to temperatures exceeding 100c then that moisture will boil, forming steam “pockets� in the brake system. Now go back to school science lessons and I hope you will recall that liquids are not compressable but gases are, that compression is provided by brake pedal action leaving you the driver with a pedal that goes nearly to the floor without having any braking effect! No matter how long you leave changing the engine coolant it is unlikely to cause you and your passengers any physical harm as in the ancient brake fluid scenario, however , serious damage can occur to your finances due to corrosion within the cooling system (long term) or more catastrophically, a frozen engine (short term) , draining and flushing the cooling system then refilling with a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze will help address the above and should be carried out at two year intervals.

As with all maintenance procedures the objective is to address the deterioration which occurs during use and the content of these procedures should be calculated according to that use, hence the regular oil changes, inspection of brake, steering and suspension all the way through to the bi annual changing of brake fluid and engine coolant, remember if you do forget to check and you start having problems all your parts can cheaply and easily be located including Vauxhall suspension struts.

For the most part the interim service comprises extra items on top of the engine bay service in that work involved is on the underside of the vehicle, normally brakes, steering and suspension.

The main reason for not including the above areas in the engine bay service is that these other car parts and components have, by and large, a longer effective working life and are far less susceptible to accelerated wear due to the shorter and slower school and shopping runs that the engine has to contend with.

As with any maintenance procedure the keyword is prevention, far better to strip the brakes and find a leaking brake cylinder requiring replacement than ignoring service intervals allowing the cylinder to leak brake fluid all over the brake shoes necessitating their replacement as well.

The checks on suspension would normally start with a bounce test on each corner of the vehicle ensuring that after weight is removed the vehicle rises through its normal ride height, drops back through the normal ride height and finally rises for the last time to the normal position. Should the vehicle rise and fall more than 2 or 3 times then the shock absorbers (dampers) will require further investigation. Excessive “bounce� is normally caused by a defective valve within the shock absorber allowing little or no restriction to the passing of fluid between the upper and lower chambers or failure of the top seal, allowing leakage of damper fluid to the outside. In the first scenario no external leakage can be seen but in the second fluid will be easy to see around the outside of the damper body and in extreme cases even dripping from other suspension/steering components. Replacement of the defective unit must always be done in pairs i.e. right hand front failed replace both front, the same applies to the rear, this replacement in pairs ensures that the damping effort is even on both sides preserving the handling and safety of the vehicle.

Moving on to the other main suspension components we come to the road springs or their torsion bar and fluid equivalents. In the vast majority of cases any faults here will be clearly evident as a broken part or as a fluid leak, a good powerful torch or lead light is vital as some coil springs have a tendency to snap high up in the inner wing and if only a six inch section has snapped off little difference will be made to the vehicle ride height. Fractures to a torsion bar will normally cause the vehicle to drop at one corner, not exactly difficult to spot! Much the same applies to fluid suspension in that the vehicle will lose its normal ride height at one corner, or more commonly, all of one side or all front/ all rear.

Other important suspension and steering parts are the various balljoints and linkages and a good look around will usually identify these components. The assessment of wear normally takes the form of raising each wheel and shaking it firmly with the hands placed at the top and bottom of the tyre and then at either side. Any free play may need to be identified by an assistant looking behind the wheel area. Excessive play needs to be addressed as the adverse effect on steering alignment will almost certainly affect the life of the tyres.

Whilst under the vehicle have a good look along the full length of brake and fuel pipes and hoses, any damp areas must be investigated and rectified, particularly in Vauxhall parts, check also the security of these lines ensuring that they are clipped firmly to the floor pan. On the subject of brake and fuel lines a proper inspection can only be carried out with the engine running and the brakes applied.

One final word, although this should really be the first, is that of safety. Work on the underside or indeed any procedure involving raising the vehicle should be done on a hard concrete surface using a trolley type jack operating well within its lift capacity and once raised the vehicle must be supported by correctly positioned axle stands.

Some vehicle manufacturers having spent quite some time and effort into examining the use that their products are put, this is particularly true with Vauxhalls parts, have decided that there is a case for a minimal service which is little more than an engine oil and filter change. This has come about, in many cases, by the increase in car ownership leading to one or even two of the family cars (in a three car family) being used primarily for repeated short trips, sometimes less than one mile. It is these very short journeys that accelerate the build up of contaminants within the engine oil and the increase in the amount of sticky black deposits found in the upper reaches of the engine, this substance is commonly referred to as “black death� and can usually be seen around the valve gear area of the cylinder head visible when the oil filler cap is removed. The build up of these substances is created by the engine not having reached its full working temperature for any length of time. When the engine is at normal working temperature the risk of oil condensate (black death) is virtually zero and the contamination of the oil through excess fuelling, the high incidence of cold starts, is reduced to a minimum. In severe cases the build up of sludges can start to coat the internal workings of the engine, reducing the size of oil ways obviously restricting oil flow as well as affecting the workings of the valve gear and piston rings which become “stuck� leading directly to higher oil consumption and loss of power.

With the above in mind regular engine oil and filter changes done at relatively short intervals can go a long way in reducing contaminant build up thereby prolonging engine life and, in the long term, reducing running costs.

In recent years engine oil technology has come on in leaps and bounds, although the oils acceptable 30 or more years ago are still easily available and can trap the unwary as to many people, oil is quite simply oil. As a minimum requirement choose a semi synthetic with an API rating of SG or higher. As always check the vehicle handbook for recommended oil specifications and if this is not available seek properly qualified advice.

Again with vehicle technology marching on comes increased service life for many components, this is never truer in the case of spark plugs often not requiring replacement for 20 thousand miles or more, consequently they are changed at full or major service intervals. However there is absolutely no harm in taking them out for a quick inspection and should one plug look radically different from its neighbours further investigation would be a good idea.

Modern cars tend to run much cleaner so the incidence of a sooted up or oil contaminated air filter is quite rare. Replacement intervals can be similar to that of spark plugs and again a quick inspection is all that may be required.

Aside from the other items listed in the weekly checks section that’s an engine bay service done and dusted.

Moving around the engine bay to the engine coolant level, checks here will depend on the particular cooling system layout and in most cases will comprise the radiator, which may or may not have a filler cap, and a heater tank which will have both a filler cap and some method of indicating the correct level. Firstly, and of vital importance, never ever release the filler cap when the engine is hot, removing this cap may well result in the escape of steam and/or coolant at high temperature. This mixture will be sufficient to cause serious scalding to any area of skin it comes into contact with. Suffice to say that coolant level is best checked without touching the filler cap via the “see through” header tank, if this is not possible wait at least ½ hour before slowly releasing the cap, ideally when wearing a substantial glove or a quantity of rag placed over the filler cap. The level check is simple enough but what is not quite so obvious is the strength of the antifreeze/water solution which provides not only protection against the system freezing but also a high degree of corrosion protection for the cooling channels within the engine. Again, a simple device can be purchased from most motor accessory shops for a few pounds which will give a reasonable indication of coolant strength. In most cases 50/50 mix of antifreeze/water should be used for topping up and this is best done with a pre-mixed solution and not via the method of adding neat antifreeze and then adding water as this can give rise to pockets in the header tank/radiator area that have a lower level of protection.

Now to the easiest check of all, the windscreen washers/wipers. Simply add a quantity of screenwash additive to the reservoir and then fill with water and the job is done. There is however little point in topping up the reservoir if the washer jets are blocked or mis-aligned and we have all seen cars whose washer jets are aimed better at the vehicle behind rather than the one they are attached to! For the regular four jet system aim two of the jets to hit the screen approximately 1/3 of the way up and the other two 2/3 of the way up, this will give good washer performance at all speeds. Moving the jets is usually done with a fairly robust needle and to clear them of the usual build up of wax and road grime a short length of wire carefully prodded into the jet whilst the washers are operated normally brings them back to life. Washers, of course, are of little use without an effective wiper system and here all we need do is ensure that the blades are not split, not juddering or smearing on the screen. If any of these conditions are apparent change the whole blade, replacing the rubber insert is a false economy and a fiddly job to boot! From first hand experience I recall failing a car during an MOT test for having split wiper blades, seeing this owner wrestling for ages with various tools and a pack of wiper inserts then submitting the car for re-test only to find that the inserts are doing a worse job in clearing the screen than the originals!  Do yourself a favour and swap the whole unit it may cost a little more but takes much less time and is easier on your nerves.

Judging by the number of cars on the road with one or more lights not working makes me think that drivers rely on the annual MOT test for a lights check. It can take less than five minutes for a complete lights check with the aid of an assistant, so there is no excuse for this check not to be done on a weekly basis and if you find any lights to be out they can be cheaply replaced particularly for Vauxhall owners as used Vauxhall headlamps N/S or O/S can be bought for next to nothing and work just as well as new ones. Moreover, it is so easy for some lights to be checked whilst sat in traffic looking out for reflections in shop windows and the vehicles in front and behind. Obviously from a legal point of view lights need to be effective as well as working, headlights and rear lights can be rendered next to useless when covered by a thick layer of road grime and again it takes only a few minutes with a cloth and some water to make things clear. Lastly, and an item that causes some annoyance, is the subject of headlamp aim, under normal operating circumstances, i.e. not towing a laden trailer or caravan, the headlamp height control, where fitted, should be set at zero. I have come across many people that think this control is for brightness and move it to the highest number, all they are doing is lowering the headlamp aim, effectively reducing the useful light available for driving. The other aspect of aim is of course that of being too high, this usually causes drivers of oncoming vehicles to be dazzled and flash their main beam in retaliation. Should this occur get the headlamp aim checked at an MOT testing station and adjusted where necessary.

The final section of this article is on the subject of fuel, and all that is required is to check the gauge before setting out and ask yourself the question, "do I have enough fuel to get to a filling station before/after work/shopping etc" and "do I have enough money once I get to the filling station". It is never a good idea to regularly run the fuel level so low that the warning light comes on or the gauge shows empty, doing this increases the chance of the fuel pump drawing up some of the contaminants laying around in the bottom of the tank, it is far better to run the level to around quarter full or some other convenient marker on the gauge.

Please bear in mind that the weekly checks are done to help keep your vehicle in something like a safe and roadworthy condition showing up obvious faults in their earliest stages before they create a breakdown situation, thus causing hassle and expense. Remember Vauxhall car parts and parts for other makes can be much cheaper to purchase than new car parts.

The weekly checks on the vehicle may well be the ones that are ignored but after all these are the checks that will display early signs of trouble, for example, the engine coolant level is found to be low, this leads to a quick look around the engine bay and a poor hose connection is found on the radiator, a few minutes later, aided by a screwdriver, the leak is fixed at zero cost and the possibility of a £300 plus head gasket failure has been averted even if you buy used car parts which are cheaper it is worth a few minutes work. The time taken is minimal and the savings made can be massive. Aside from the time element the weekly check procedures require little in the way of equipment, a tyre pressure gauge and a tyre depth gauge are all that is required, the cost of these items is unlikely to exceed £5 for the two.

Assuming that the owner has access to the correct materials the regular vehicle checks and top ups should take no more than 15-20 minutes to cover the following; tyres, battery, brake fluid, engine oil, engine coolant, windscreen wipers/washers, lights, fuel. These are in no particular order but obviously some of the above are located in the same general area and can be checked alongside their neighbours. Again in no particular order we can look at each in turn detailing maximums and minimums.

Tyres- if you read From The Road Up - Tyres you would know that a tyre in good condition is capable of removing 5 litres of water per second from the road contact patch, vital if grip is to be maintained on a wet road surface at 70mph. Looking at tread depth, the legal minimum is 1.6mm across the centre three quarters of the road contact area and round the tyre circumference, the tyre must be free from cuts that expose the underlying structure, bulges that betray a structural fault, any bald areas worn sufficient to expose the tyre structure and any other defect causing the tread to separate. Using the tread depth gauge always measure the tread at its minimum on the tyre contact area, it is this minimum that can earn you a fine and penalty points not the maximum. If your check reveals uneven wear get it investigated by a garage or tyre specialist as this can suggest a mechanical fault with the suspension which in turn can affect the handling of the vehicle. With the vehicle sat on the road there will be four patches that cannot be checked so don’t forget to move the vehicle backwards or forwards to allow checking of these areas. Just a brief note on the subject of tread wear indicators, these are raised bars moulded into the tread equally spaced in 5 or 6 points around the tyre, these bars will become easier to see as the tyre wears and when the tread is flush with the bars minimum tread depth has been reached. A useful addition but no substitute for an accurate depth gauge. Moving on to tyre pressure, all pneumatic tyres have a design operating pressure range and car manufacturers publish these figures in the vehicle handbook. This figure may vary depending on the use to which the vehicle is put, high speed or laden, the pressure may be 5 pounds per square inch higher than the figure for “normal� use. It is important that when the tyre pressures are checked the tyres are cold and should you need to top up always slightly over inflate and adjust down to the correct reading; this will negate any residual pressure in the gauge unit supplying the air.  Moving into the engine bay, and of vital importance, when the engine is cold, reasons for which will be made clear later.

External checks on the battery consist of making sure that it is secure and the positive and negative connections are clean and tight, by clean and tight I mean free from the build up of corrosive salts and tight, sufficient to resist a wriggle test. Without going deeper into the battery subject, there is nothing more to do within the scope of weekly checks
                             
The next port of call is the brake fluid reservoir and providing the level of fluid inside can be seen all that is required is a visual check ensuring that it sits no higher than the maximum and no lower than the minimum. The maximum and minimum marks may take several forms including lines, arrows or words and if you are in any doubt refer to the vehicles handbook or ask at a reputable garage. Most fluid reservoirs are fitted with some kind of level warning sensor which when activated should operate a dashboard warning light, this is no substitute for routine and regular physical checks it is there merely to worn the driver of a sudden loss of fluid during a journey. On the subject of level, as the brake friction material wears away during its service life the level in the reservoir will very gradually drop and providing the level does not drop suddenly, indicating a leak, topping up to the maximum is fine.

Now for the biggest lump in the engine bay, the car engine itself. For day to day running the engine requires a supply of oil and a quantity of coolant. Ensuring that the vehicle is on level ground withdraw the dipstick, wipe it and replace, take it out again and check the indicated level is between the maximum and minimum, no higher and no lower. It is important to note that when checking the level the dipstick must not be held with the marked end upper most as this will allow the oil sample to move along the stick and give the impression that the level is higher than it actually is. It  may well be that the engine in question runs well and is very reliable but has a tendency to “use�oil, providing that this usage does not exceed 800 miles per litre then engine wear can be considered to be within acceptable limits. Should topping up of the engine oil be required add a little and re-check, it is far easier to add oil than be forced into draining some out from underneath! The amount of oil required to take the level from minimum to maximum can be surprisingly small and in some cases 1/3 litre (1/2 pint) is sufficient. When some oil has been added always allow 2-3 minutes for it to reach the sump at the bottom of the engine and possibly a little longer if the engine has been left for a long period e.g. overnight.

Ever since the advent of the motor vehicle, or for that matter the advent of any mechanical device, routine maintenance has been never far from peoples minds whether they be the manufacturer or the end user. A mechanism once set in use will start to wear and should that wear get to a certain level a breakdown is almost inevitable, this event can have repercussions ranging from the inconvenient to the catastrophic. Take for example the failure to clear the filters on a tumble dryer, a clogged filter will slow the airflow through the machine and impair its performance and fraying the owners nerves when an item of clothing is needed at short notice. At the other end of this spectrum imagine a linkage operating on the control surfaces of a commercial airliner, poor maintenance has led to the joints on the linkage seizing in use resulting in loss of control and at 30,000ft and 400mph it takes little imagination to foresee the consequences.

In relation to the motor vehicle the above situations repeat themselves almost exactly, a clogged air filter will not stop the vehicle from being used but it will certainly reduce its efficiency adding to its running costs; the catastrophic scenario can involve a brake, steering or suspension component and without regular servicing when a thorough inspection should be carried out, can be missed until the component fails leading to loss of control, and at 70mph dire consequences abound.

Although component manufactures engineer their products to have a long service life no one can predict the circumstances to which those products can be subjected to; a suspension joint on one car can have half the effective life compared with another and that is not purely down to the miles covered. The four wheel drive vehicle pulling a heavy laden trailer around will be subjected to a higher wear rate than the same model used for the ½ mile school run twice a day and their service requirements are as different as chalk and cheese.

The commercially used vehicle may well spend a lot of its time with the engine at its normal temperature when the degradation of the oil is at its lowest, on the other hand the loads placed on steering suspension, brakes etc can be quite high because of its daily work load. There is a case therefore for the routine recommended servicing to be punctuated by safety inspections along the lines of an MOT test. This should identify wear in components that if ignored could lead to failure at a most inopportune moment. By following a routine such as this, repair and maintenance can be planned and alternative transport arrangements made in advance, far better than a vehicle being disabled and requiring garage attention like a bolt from the blue.

Maintenance then is a series of procedures calculated to keep the vehicle operating at its optimum, making, as far as possible, any time in the garage minimal. This maintenance does of course have a cost but in the long term will usually have a good payback factor in long service life and higher re-sale value.