Author Archives: freestyle

Cars have many lights and symbols on them now, but can you identify some that might light up on your car when you have a problem? There are 8 Lights displayed below so just for fun, take a look and see how many you get right. 1.  2.  3.   4.   5.   6.   7.   8.   How many did you get right? Answers: (1.Oil Pressure Warning Light, 2. Battery Warning Light, 3.Brake System Warning Light, 4. Diesel Particulated Filter, 5. Engine Warning Light, 6.ABS Warning Light, 7.Brakes & ABS Warning Light, 8.Fuel Filter Water Trap (Diesel Engines).

Spark Plugs – Why they vary in price so much! Each car has a specific Spark Plug designed for it, depending on the manufacturers service schedule. They come in several different sizes so getting the correct size is important. The main difference between Spark Plug types is their construction material, which can be one of 3 things.  Copper, Iridium and Platinum are the 3 materials you will find Spark Plugs made of. Copper Spark plugs are generally considered to have the best performance, it is the best conductor of them all, but has poor longevity and needs changing approx every 20,000 miles. Copper Spark plugs are the cheapest available, so making them an affordable option. Iridium Spark plugs and Platinum Spark Plugs perform at a lower level than copper spark plugs, because they are less conductive and they tend to … Continue reading →

Is your Car Service on your New Years To Do List? Car Service means a set of maintenance procedures carried out after a vehicle has traveled for a certain distance or over a length of time. Today most vehicles are equipped with a service due indicator that automatically shows when the next service is due, this will illuminate a light on your dash. Although some older vehicles don’t have this, so it is down to the owner to schedule these at regular intervals. Typically when routine car servicing is completed your mechanic will record it in the service history for your vehicle. There are a number of maintenance tasks that are carried out during a car service, such as changing the engine oil, air and fuel filters and replacing the spark plugs, just to name a few.  Brake fluid and … Continue reading →

You will find lots of numbers on the sides of your tyres, if these are too worn out to read then I would be concerned as to whether your treads are road worthing and within legal limits! But thats a whole new topic we will cover another day! So the Numbers and Letters on the Side of your Tyre, are often refered to as your Tyre Size but in actual fact give you a lot more information. You will find these numbers/letters on the sidewall of your current tyre.  The most common tyre size in the UK is 205/55R16 but there are many variations, so its very important to check your existing tyre or check your vehicle handbook to ensure the right tyre size has been installed. Tyre Width:  The 1st three digits are the tyres width so in our … Continue reading →

It depends on the type of engine you have as to whether you have one or both of these. Typically a Naturally aspirated engine configuration employs one or the other where as a Forced induced engine typically uses both a MAF sensor on the intake tract pre turbo and a MAP sensor on the charge pipe leading to the throttle body. A “MAF” is a Mass Airflow Sensor, it is one of the components in a cars electronic fuel injection system.  A Mass Airflow Sensor is installed between the air filter & the intake manifold of the engine. The main job of the MAF sensor is to measure the amount of air entering the engine or air flow. If the MAF becomes faulty then the ECU isn’t able to gather the correct air mass information to balance & deliver the … Continue reading →

Some people break out into a cold sweat when their mechanic asks them when they last had x y or z changed, but in most cases they are actually trying to save them money in the long run and keep they car on the road for them longer. Cambelts or Timing Belts as they are also known remain a mystery to many motorists. So we thought we would take the time to explain what they do and why its so important to get them replaced at the manufacturers recommended intervals, which believe it or not is different for most vehicles on the market, as is the time and cost related to replacing them. The simplest explanation is that Cambelts maintain the timing of the pistons and the valves so they dont hit each other. Over time the Cambelt degrades and … Continue reading →

Its nice to get a more accurate diagnosis, for a first time fix.

Traced fault to inlet manifold gasket with our New Smoke Machine. Fault found in record time, due to this piece of equipment.

This Article about AMC Car Repairs, was in the last edition of The Herald!!