Over the last few days, people
have been seen queuing up at the petrol stations desperate to get fuel. Over
the last week or so there have been rumours that fuel supplies will run out at
the forecourt due to a shortage of HGV drivers.
The petrol and diesel cannot get
to the pumps to top up the supply and a handful of garages have already closed.
Often like anything with this, the most hype has been drummed up by the media
and cause a country wide panic. People have rush to the forecourts to top up
their ranks as much as possible.
Many are hoping that the
government step up and sort the issue out before someone ends up getting hurt.
If you need you vehicle for work
the you may find yourself in a sticky situation. You won’t want to add to the
chaos by going to fill your tank but on the same subject you don’t want to run
out of fuel and find that you can’t get any.
The shortage of drives has been an
issue for some time now and it is a real shame that they government have again
left it too late to try and sort it out properly.
So many people worry about taking
a car in to a garage to have an MOT, have repairs done or a service. Unless you
understand mechanics and know a lot about your specific make and model of
vehicle, you may be a little bit in the dark as to what work may need doing on
your vehicle and how much it is likely to cost.
If you have to take your vehicle
in for a problem that needs investigating, you may worry that you are going to
get ripped off and told you need more work doing to the vehicle than you
actually do.
The only way to do this is to try
and find a reputable garage. If you can find a garage that you can trust then
it is worth sticking with them and also recommending them to others. A garage
that values its customer’s opinions and is trustworthy will not want to
jeopardise their reputation to make a few extra quid.
If you have not found a good
garage yet then why not ask around your family and friends, also take advantage
of social media platforms such as Facebook and ask for recommendations on
there. You can often also read reviews on the social media sites about a garage
before you make the decision to use them.
Diesel Particulate Filters or
DPF’s for short were introduced in 2009 for Diesel cars only. They are designed
to prevent soot, or particulate matter from entering the atmosphere therefore
being kinder to the environment. Although they can help to do this and therefor
lower emissions, they are often a bit of a nightmare for many diesel owners,
especially ones that do not do many long journeys. The way a DPF filter works
is that it it collects this very fine soot that is produced by the engine.
Every so often the soot is burnt off at extremely high temperatures, which
leaves a tiny ash residue. This ash residue will overtime build up and will
need specialist cleaning, but often this doesn’t need to be done until around a
hundred thousand miles.
In order for the DPF to regenerate
(burn the soot to ash) it needs to reach a certain temperature. The best way to
do this is to drive the car at high revs for about 20-25 minutes. If you often
do very short journeys and at low speeds then your car may struggle to clear
the DPF. Often you will get a warning light on the car saying that it needs to
regenerate. At this point you should take it on a good run on a motor way or
road you can drive at about 50-60 mph for a period of time. If you do not do
this it can become blocked and require professional cleaning.
An oil leak is a common issue on a
car and it can happen at any time. There are a number of place sin which oil
can leak out from and it can be hard to diagnose sometimes. Often the only way
you know you have an oil leak is when the move the car and find a patch of oil
underneath it, or when you check the dip stick and the level is really low.
Ideally the car needs to go up on
a ramp for a mechanic to be able to check where the oil is leaking from.
Sometimes it is obvious to them and other times it may need more investigation
work. It is important not no drive the car too much when you have an oil leak
and to ensure that you regularly top it up if you are having to drive it to a
garage.
If you have recently had the car
serviced then you may find that they have not replaced the sump washer or that
they have not fitted it back in correctly. This can cause the new oil to leak
out quite rapidly. If this is the case then the garage that did the service
should replace the part and the oil free of charge. If your low oil light comes
on when you are driving, be sure to stop immediately as driving with no oil
will ruin the engine of the car.
If you are looking to buy a new or
used car from a garage then they may give you the option to part exchange yours
in. Park exchanging is when you hand over your old car to the garage and they
use the money they give you as a part payment towards a new car. You can
sometimes even part exchange your car when it has outstanding finance on it as
they will obtain a settlement fee from the finance company and include this in
the price.
There are many advantages to part
exchanging your car such as cutting out all the hassle of having to try an sell
it privately, not having to spend ages cleaning it and getting ready for sale and
not having to worry about letting people test drive it etc. The one downside to
part exchanging your vehicle is that you usually do not get as much money for
it as you would if you sold it privately. Depending on the make and model and
also the age and mileage, this could range from a few hundred pounds to a couple
of thousand pounds difference in price. Some people don’t mind getting a little
less for it in in part exchange to cut out on all the hassle.
You will often find taper roller bearings used in the wheels of cars and other vehicles, and they can cope with horizontal and vertical forces at the same time. They might also be found in gearboxes and engine motors, as well as being used in other industries.
Taper roller bearings will consist of inner and outer rings, with tapered rollers to allow the surface of the raceways, and the roller axles, to meet on the axis. The cones’ motion is coaxial and there is no sliding motion to worry about. Always use the right taper roller bearings for your application, and achieve perfect operation.