The Engine Explained Written by Kevin Schappell Continued from page 1 Valve train: Remember oil smoke problem mentioned above in piston sections. If your car only smokes grayish/white smoke at start-up you may have leaking valve seals. Valve seals keep oil from above valve from leaking into combustion chamber. When they wear, they can allow oil to seep into combustion chamber and collect there until your start engine again. You generally do not get oil leaking past valve seals while engine is running since seals expand with heat of engine and plug leak. Another common problem is timing chain or belt will slip or even break causing cam shaft to stop rotating. Remember camshaft tells valves when to open and if it stops spinning then valves stop opening and closing. No valve moving, no engine running :-) A term you will here when talking about timing chains and belts is "interference engine". When an engine is an "interference engine" pistons and valves are so close together that if valves were to stop moving (broken belt or chain) and crankshaft kept spinning they would crash into piston. (that's interference) This crash tends to do bad things to an engine, breaking valve, bending pushrods, and even cracking pistons. This is why most manufacturers recommend changing timing chain or belt every 60,000 miles. Timing belts dry out, stretch and deteriorate over time so even if you do not have 60,000 miles on car think about changing belt after it's 6 years old. Preventive Maintenance: ·Change your oil regularly. ·Give your engine a chance to warm up before driving if possible. Let oil get into all parts of engine before driving. This is even more critical in cooler temperatures when oil is cold and sluggish. ·Change your timing belt or chain at your manufacturer's recommended interval. ·void "snake oil" additives advertised on late night TV. Regular oil changes and good maintenance habits will keep your engine running it's best. ·If you have a turbo charged engine, give engine a minute or two cool down before turning it off. This cool down period allows oil to circulate and cool down bearings. If you shut off engine immediately after hard driving, oil can gum up around hot bearings and create problems down road. What to discuss with your mechanic: ·If you have to replace your engine, discuss benefits of buying used versus new. If you plan on keeping your car for some time, a new engine might be best bet. Sometimes new engines are not much more expensive than rebuilt ones, and offer best solution. ·When trying to diagnose engine noises, be as descriptive as possible. Take note to when noise occurs; at what throttle position, and when noise started occurring. Sometimes changing weight of oil being used can cause a new noise to crop up. Make sure you mechanic knows if you changed oil brands or weight recently. Kevin Schappell maintains http://www.carbuyersclub.com where he gives advice on buying, selling, insurance, and financing. A mechanical engineer and car guy, Kevin has decided to spend his online time helping others learn about automobiles. To learn more about how your car works, Kevin has createdhttp://www.mycarwizard.com How to Change A Tire Written by Kevin Schappell Continued from page 1 Step 7: Now it's time to jack up car. Make sure you know where manufacturer has placed jacking points by reading owners manual or instructions near or on jack. Most cars will have a reinforced lip where jack can be placed. If you can not locate this, look for a solid portion of frame to jack on. Make sure jack is on firm level ground and start jacking. Take it slowly and only go as far as you need to get wheel off. Step 8: The wheel is off ground and it's time to remove lug nuts. Use wrench or your fingers to remove nuts. Slowly take wheel off and set it to side. Step 9: Get new wheel and put it on car. Tighten lug nuts as tight as you can without wheel spinning. Don't worry about getting nuts super tight, as you will do final tightening when car is off of jack. Step 10: Let car down off of jack and get your lug wrench. Tighten lug nuts in a star pattern if there are five nuts. Start with one lug nut and skip next one until they are all tight. If you have 4 nuts, just tighten opposite nut from where you started and then remaining two in any order. Step 11: Replace your wheel cover or hubcap and clean up jack, lug wrench and blown tire. If your spare tire had air in it, you should be able to continue your journey. Finally: Remember if you have a temporary spare tire (AKA doughnut) you can only drive a few miles to a service station and usually not over 50 MPH. Kevin Schappell maintains http://www.carbuyersclub.com where he gives advice on buying, selling, insurance, and financing. A mechanical engineer and car guy, Kevin has decided to spend his online time helping others learn about automobiles. To learn more about how your car works, Kevin has createdhttp://www.mycarwizard.com     <Back to Page 1   ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005 Terms of Use