My regular mechanic advised me not to change the engine oil myself, explaining that the job requires a professional as the engine could easily be damaged. This is true?
Changing engine oil is one of the most basic service routines and requires no specialized knowledge or skills. But you have to do it right. And often it is not, even for “professional” workshops. The irony is that many hobbyists do the job with enough competence and more diligence. And yes, doing it wrong can cause engine damage, ranging from barely perceptible to severe depending on what mistake is made. Here’s a guide to the possibilities. The oil should be drained when the engine is warm, when all particles in the oil and crankcase are agitated and suspended in the fluid. This way, when the drain plug is removed, the oil will be hot and liquid and will flow out faster, taking more debris with it. To maximize the flushing power of the outlet, the fill cap should be opened before removing the drain cap, while the cap should be left open to the last drop.
Old oil must be captured for ecological reuse or safe disposal. When the engine is cold, the oil thickens and some particles will settle in the crankcase. The flushing speed will be slower, leaving particles behind, even more so if the filler cap is still on.
The right tools, the right torque
The drain plug must be removed with the proper tool, preferably not a hammer and chisel. Your brass washer should be checked for integrity, and the thread and plug tip should be carefully cleaned (it’s magnetic, to “catch” steel particles blown off by the motor). The two parts must be placed on a clean surface, not on a dusty/sandy floor, while the plug must be pressed (using the appropriate tool) with the correct torque and quite high. Too little could allow it to escape or run loose over time; too much could damage the washer and threads on both the plug and tank adapter and require a hammer and chisel on the next change and eventually disassembly.
Removing the old oil filter will require a specialized tool or a homemade strap or rope…or very strong wrists. It is often located in a place that is difficult to access. The new filter should be an “original” part or the highest quality alternative you can find or afford. Before installing, it should be filled halfway with the new engine oil you intend to use to ensure that the oil circulates immediately when the engine is restarted. The rubber seal and thread must be cleaned with the new oil for a smooth assembly. The new filter should be refitted straight and with the correct torque (less than the drain plug but enough to prevent any leakage or loosening in use). Clean the outer area of the filter and clean the cap.
The new oil must be of the correct grade and weight, with a sealed cap and in the correct quantity. The oil capacity will be marked in the vehicle manual, otherwise the amount of oil drained can be measured as a guide. In most cars, it will be between four and six liters.
The filler cap should be securely back in place and the engine started and idled for a minute or so and then moderately accelerated. Listen for any unusual sounds. Turn off the engine and wait a couple of minutes before checking the oil level on the dipstick; in the meantime, check under the car for signs of leaks from the previously cleaned filter or drain plug.
His team, your diligence
Knowing yourself and your garage, which one of you is more likely to get it right or get it wrong? There is a third option though, save yourself the trouble and hassle of using a mechanic at a garage or gas station grease hole – one will charge you for lube and labor with an overhead/business margin, the ‘other will only charge you for lubricants (which have a built-in margin). Insist on watching the process yourself. Another advantage of this option is that an oil change is usually combined with greasing, and the professionals are more likely to have a high-pressure grease gun than you. Here, the correct procedure is not just to add new grease, but to remove the old grease.
In the pit (not in your Sunday best) you can personally confirm it’s done. Two birds with one stone, no sweat and peace of mind that your car has been properly repaired. Spending a few minutes in a pit also gives you a rare opportunity to check the condition of other components under the floor, including the inner walls of your tires. Mechanics should do this automatically and thoroughly. do they
Salespeople are often bad advisors, they pay more attention to the competitor
Is leasing the best way to buy a car?
There are five ways to get the things you want. Make them, steal them, redeem them, pay cash or get credit. These are the deals of life. There are no others. There is always a price to pay, the only choice is how (and when) you choose to pay it.
This has been the case since Adam took the woman out of a rib (do it), since the club-wielding caveman invented marriage with violence (steal it), since JJ Hughes traded Model T Fords for wheat crops in Uasin Gishu (exchange). , from the jingle of the first cowrie shell in Gedi (cash), and since Dr. Faust went to get Old Nick (credit).
“Of course, lawyers, accountants, and marketers have invented hundreds of different words to describe each of these processes in an attempt to confuse, mislead, and ultimately mislead and convince the ignorant public to think of them as beneficial and thereby to ensure the party of the second. one party must pay to the party of the first party so great a part of his last party that he has nothing left to part with or party. The business of usury, so famously advocated by the merchant of ‘extraction of Shakespear’s eastern Mediterranean in an Italian city with wet streets, has been euphemized, bastardized, legalized and disguised by all manner of pecuniary poetry.
Call it what you want. Credit is credit. A get-now-pay-later system. And paying later must, by definition, mean paying more to finance the cost and benefits of a line of credit. There are dozens of “new” schemes in the Kenyan market. None of them reinvent the wheel of credit, but they all spin it in different ways. While the options proliferate and evolve, I offer no criteria, but here are some principles to go by.
One: You’re out there to buy a car, not a fancy financing plan or bonus extras. So, above all, select the vehicle first, based on the merits of the vehicle.
Two: Once you’ve chosen the right vehicle for your purposes, only then look at the different options to pay for it. Salespeople are often bad advisors: competitors make better research assistants.
Three: Whatever the so-called sales pitch, if you don’t pay in full and up front, you’re in a credit scheme. So you’re not just buying the car, you’re also buying the money to pay for it. Evaluate both purchases, separately, with equal care.
Four: There are some really good deals out there, but any deal that sounds too good to be true probably is. Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware) is not just a legal principle. That’s good advice. Finally, if it has anything to do with motoring (or any commercial transaction for that matter) be wary of the word “Free”.
Trucks have much heavier flywheels that store more energy, so low idle speeds are enough for the next “ignition”.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Why the strange engine rhythm when the trucks are idling?
Why do truck engines have a rhythmic sound when idling (instead of a steady note) as if someone is pressing the accelerator gently after every second?
To my limited knowledge, this is known as a “hit and miss cycle”. Idle speeds must be high enough so that the energy stored in the flywheel is sufficient to compress the fuel to “ignite” the next cycle. In small cars with light flywheels, this requires about 700-900 revolutions. Trucks have much heavier flywheels that store more energy, so low idle speeds are enough for the next “ignition”, even two more, so when the revs are too low, the engine fires (crash) and when the revolutions are enough for the next cycle, it is lost. Brrm, hush, brrum, hush, brrm, hush… in alternating seconds. Or something like that.
Getting more power from smaller engines
When it comes to automobiles, what does the maxim “there is no substitute for travel” mean? Is it a useful principle we should try to understand?
Not anymore. It belongs in the same bin as the saying “a photograph never lies”, which has long since been eclipsed by computer technology such as Photoshop and CGI. “Displacement” is the technical term for what we all know as the “cubic capacity” (cc) of an engine; its “size”, the volume of air-fuel mixture that each cylinder can suck in on its induction stroke, multiplied by the number of cylinders. Obviously, all things being equal, the more air-fuel the engine can draw in, compress and ignite, the more power the engine can produce. So if you need more power, you want a bigger engine. But all other things are not equal. Advances in design technology and materials and especially in rev limits mean that today’s “standard” 2-litre engines are easier to rev than a 5-litre V8 when that maximum was significant. The relationship between cc and power depends on all sorts of design elements other than total displacement, including bore and stroke ratios, piston numbers and weights, rev limits, combustion chamber shapes, port accuracy, induction forced, ignition systems, number of valves, the degree of lift of the camshaft, the number of cylinders, the crossing points and peaks of the curves of torque and horsepower, computerized engine management, flywheel weights and balances… What the big straight sixes and V8s still have more of is torque… revs and offers potentially longer life. Also, power (and economy) aren’t the only attributes engine designers and users look for. The smoothness, lazy grace and even the sound they make are sought-after characteristics, especially in large countries like the US, with many very long, straight roads with almost no traffic. Smaller motors could maintain speed, but work harder (and noisier) to do so. Huge engines just tease and are less tiring to live with.
