Friday, June 29, 2012

Best Selling Car Accessories

One website from where car enthusiasts can buy the best interior accessories like consoles, cargo liners, floor mats and dash covers is Saxo China. A long list of interior car accessories like floor mats/carpets, mirrors, steering wheels, seat covers and floor liners are grouped under wholesale car accessories. Car owners, nowadays pay more attention to the exterior of their car than the interiors of their car. But equal importance should be given to the interiors of the car as it displays your style of living and your sense of liking.

Comfort, safety, handiness, enhancement can be added to the looks and durability of the car by exterior car accessories. When you go for sporting, simple driving, romantic country drive or cruising, you'll want your vehicle to look the finest. This can be done with a wide range of car accessories. According to the make or model, the car accessories could be modifies to fit them.

Car audio systems are a crucial and essential part of an automobile to make it live. A term used mostly in mobile entertainment, it is becoming very popular these days among youngsters. The radio/CD player/stereo are the most common and familiar types of car audio systems which are referred to as the Head unit. A stereo or a CD player is always found in a car. Nowadays, speakers in a sedan are found either at the bottom of the door or in the rear parcel shelves. The most common place for keeping the speaker, before stereo system was introduced, was in the centre of the dashboard positioned towards the front window. Power needed for playing music is provided by the Amplifiers. To deliver appropriate current or voltage to more power consuming amplifiers, a large gauge cable is used. It is also an essential part of a music system. You should take great care connecting a single amplifier with too many speakers when using cheap car equipment. High-power car audio systems consume more electricity. To resolve these problems, alternators can be upgraded to enhance the current capacity of the car. When you want to provide substantial power to the audio system of the car; capacitors are the best option.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Benefits Derivable From Choosing Auto Salvage

The automobile industry is the largest in the world and also generates the most waste. The nature of the waste generated by the industry is such that there is bound to be some sort of environmental disaster if landfills were to be created to get rid of them. Auto salvage helps to avoid such unpleasant issues as it makes it possible to retrieve reusable automotive parts from junk vehicles while non-reusable parts are well disposed with the environment put in focus. This ensures that wastage is kept at the minimum.

Auto salvage gives you a great way to get rid of your end-of-life vehicle (ELV) without any stress and in a cost-effective manner. As a matter of fact, it is better to go for this than allow a junk vehicle to create a nuisance on your property or for the environment.

When thinking of going for this option, it is important to use a reliable car salvage yard that has vast experience when it comes to dealing with junk vehicles. Professional mechanics will examine the state of a junk vehicle once it has been received to see if it can be repaired and sold. Otherwise, the service will then go ahead to salvage some parts that are still useful. But, if the junk car is found to be totally useless, it is shredded for its different metals.

It is important to know at least a little about the auto salvage industry. The rising scrap value has made the auto salvage market very competitive. It is not uncommon to see adverts of scrap car disposal services, which are looking for customers with scrap cars, when flipping through the sections for classifieds in newspapers and magazines. Some of the companies offer to collect scrap vehicles for free while some others are willing to pay for them. Whatever service you decide to for, ensure that you verify its genuineness online and it abides by government regulations with regards to auto salvage yards dealing with ELVs.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Brakes on Used Cars

When purchasing a used car it is important to make sure everything is up to date, safe, and running correctly. One area in particular where cars can see a lot of wear and tear in is the brakes. Having a mechanic professionally examine the brakes before purchasing the automobile would be ideal, but not everyone buying a used car will have that kind of money or an opportunity to do so. That is why it is important to understand the basics of the braking system and to be able to do some on site troubleshooting on your own. First, let's examine how a braking system works.

The foot pedal uses two different kinds of forces, those of leverage and hydraulics. The leverage force is simple; the side of the lever that we push our foot down on is twice as long as the other side, therefore, the force that transfers to the hydraulics system in twice that force we applied, or 2F. That force applies the brake fluid into two cylinders which uses a hydraulic system to convert and multiple the forces to the master cylinder. The master cylinder is designed to deal with the majority of the problems that the braking system may face. This is why a leak is especially dangerous, because if the force isn't properly transferred the whole system can malfunction.

Now that the technical stuff is out of the way, here are some simple steps you can take in examining the brakes of the used car you wish to purchase:

Press down on the pedal
Spongy brakes are a strong indicator that there is air in the brake lines, so see how they feel against your foot. How do they sound? A squeak is a bad noise and a grinding sound is even worse. Both indicate the brake linings are very worn and will need replaced. How far before hitting the ground do the brakes stop? If the car has power brakes it should not require excessive force and the pedal should stop a few inches before hitting the floor.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

7 Tips On Saving Fuel

Oil price is soaring and it certainly looks like it will not be staying at a constant price for long. I remembered last year around June, the price per litre of Shell 98 was around $1.70 SGD and just recently when I was refilling fuel. It costs about $2.12 SGD per litre; an increase of almost $0.40 SGD per litre. Not to mention that the price is still rising. There are a few alternatives that we can do.

1. To stop driving - for those who have been driving, you will be saying it's crazy! Cars are just like your legs; they carries you around places. However, what we can do is to try walking, cycling or hopping on a bus for short trips.

2. To change to hybrid car - this is one viable option where you can adopt and yet some were saying that it takes much more fuel to produce a hybrid car.

3. To change the way we drive - this is possibly the immediate option that we can adopt. By changing your driving habits you can improve fuel economy and there are many tips which you can use to start saving dollars and not pennies. Changing your habits and you'll see a substantial savings at the pump - without the need for a new car.

Let us look at ways on how we can change our driving habits as well as tips on how we can save fuel. These tips not only help you to save fuel, but also help you to contribute your bit towards saving our planet.

Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated

Keeping the tires at the right pressure not only increase your safety while driving, it also promotes fuel efficiency. The PSI number at the side of your tires shows the maximum pressure of the tire and is not the proper inflation level for your car. Your vehicle manufacturer will list the recommended tire pressure in your owner's manual or a sticker on the doorjamb of the driver-side door. You will notice that if your tires are underinflated, you will experience the extra drag on your car and this translates to more fuel usage.

Follow the Recommended Maintenance

It is important to follow your car manufacturer's servicing recommendations. A vehicle that is well maintained means it will operate with greater efficiency. This not only improves your overall vehicle performance, but it will improve your fuel economy as well. Proper maintenance also means using the right octane gas and the recommended grade of motor oil. A fuel with a higher and inappropriate octane rating does not translate to more power. Using the recommended types for your vehicle will give you optimum fuel economy - and can translate to more saving for you.

Avoid carrying excess weight

Heavier vehicles require more energy to move, so carrying around excess weight will also affect your mileage. Keeping your boot or back seat clear of unnecessary items can reduce weight to your vehicle and increase fuel efficiency.

Drive smoothly

Aggressive driving can use as much as a third more fuel, so avoid accelerating or braking too hard and keep steering smoothly. The fewer heavy brakings and flooring of the accelerator, the more fuel you save. It is important to plan your trip and to avoid the rush when driving. Always give yourself extra time to get to your destination and drive in a "steady and smooth" manner. This not only gets you safely to your destination, it also helps you to save fuel.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Motor Oil Testing, Tips for Car Engine Care

By carrying our regular motor oil testing you can make a big contribution to extending the life of your car engine and help boost performance. Tests on engine oil for vehicles can be simple, and carried out at home or a more involved oil analysis done using a kit or in a laboratory.

One of the often repeated sayings about good engine care is to carry out a regular oil change, say between 3-5,000 miles, whether you are running a family car or a fleet of vehicles for a company.

Oil can only hold so much dirt, and whether you do a lot of short trips around town or longer distance runs, eventually the accumulated dirt will lead to increased friction. This will eventually result in wear and tear on the moving parts and can be very costly if major repairs are needed.

So setting up a regular motor oil testing programme for your vehicle is a good way to go and will help avoid more serious maintenance problems later down the line, particularly if it results in damage to the car engine. A regular test will allow you to work out the normal pattern for your style of driving in your car.

One way of testing your engine oil is to take small samples and placing a drop of the oil in the centre of a sheet of white blotting paper, and this can give you an indication of when you may need to do an oil change. When you have put new oil in the engine, take a sample and use this as a reference for future samples.

Relatively new, clean oil will most likely show up as a yellow to light orange spot on the blotting paper, while engine oil which is due for a change will be a darker colour, closer to light brown and there will probably be a more defined dark, sooty ring.

Over time you by carrying out these simple motor oil tests you will get a feel for when it's time to do a motor oil change for your vehicle. If you are buying a second hand car you may want to be confident about the state of the engine. Again you can take a drop of oil from the engine and place it onto blotting paper. A lighter grey ring around a darker ring may indicate some water in the engine.

If you are looking for a more sophisticated and sensitive motor oil testing approach then you can go for an analysis which passes light of varying frequencies through an oil sample. The chemical components of the oil sample can be analysed under ultra violet and infra red light, and it will be a better predictor of potential future problems for your car engine.

As an example, this motor oil test will show up dirt in the engine when it reveals traces of aluminium contamination in the sample. Over time this dirt will accumulate and cause damage to moving parts such as piston heads. A timely oil analysis can save you from problems in the future and let you know when to carry out an oil change.