Category Archives: Maintenance

Should you replace or clean your fuel injectors? Here’s how to know

Fuel injector

Rough idling, engine misfires, performance issues, or check engine light flashing? You could have a clogged or failing fuel injector. A dirty fuel injector can affect your car’s performance, but it doesn’t always need to be replaced. Sometimes a good cleaning can solve any issues, at least temporarily.

We’ll take you through the warning signs of a dirty fuel injector, help you to work out whether you need to clean or replace yours, and give you an idea of how much it costs to replace a fuel injector.

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Is your flywheel failing? Here are 7 signs you’ve got a problem

Car flywheel

Your motor’s flywheel ensures that power from your motor is transferred smoothly, particularly during engine starting, idling and gear changes.

Bolted to the crankshaft at the rear of the engine, the flywheel stores intermittent rotational energy to boost power as needed. It also absorbs excess power, neutralises vibrations from the crankshaft and balances any fluctuations in your engine speed. The flywheel is what keeps your engine running when you take your foot off the accelerator, for example. 

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Nine signs and symptoms of a bad brake caliper and how to fix it

Disc brake

Brake calipers are an essential component of your vehicle’s braking system, alongside brake pads and brake discs. When you push down on your brake pedal, a master cylinder in the engine compartment pressurises the brake fluid within it to activate a piston. This piston pushes against the brake caliper, which acts as a clamp that squeezes the brake pads against the rotating brake discs.

This pressure produces friction which slows the wheels’ rotations in order for them to slow down or stop altogether. 

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Nine signs and symptoms of a failing front or rear differential

Differential

The differential transfers power to your vehicle’s wheel from the engine, allowing them to operate individually from each other. While this may sound odd, your car’s wheels rotate at different speeds when you turn or corner, with the outer wheel rotating faster to cover the longer distance around the bend, so they need to rotate independently of each other. It’s a vital component that most of us don’t tend to worry about until it starts to fail. 

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Is your driveshaft failing? Here are the signs and symptoms of a bad driveshaft

Close up of driveshaft

A driveshaft delivers the power, or torque, to the wheels of your vehicle. If you have a four-wheel drive, it also transmits power from the transmission to the rear axle.  In fact, it’s one of the most important components that ensures your car moves. Unfortunately, if your driveshaft is failing or broken, it won’t be able to handle all that torque, which over time, can cause damage.

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Is There A Problem with My Oxygen Sensor?

oxygen sensor in the exhaust

Oxygen sensors are a crucial part of your vehicle’s engine. Each one checks and monitors the flow of air through the system, measuring the amount of oxygen coming into the engine and then leaving the engine by the exhaust. This data then goes on to regulate important fuel monitoring and delivery systems, MPG and timing functions and emissions release.

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These are the Signs of a Faulty EGR Valve That Should Cause You to Worry

EGR Valve on a car

There are many points of failure on a modern car. From those that can slow it down, to those that can wreck it completely. In recent years, one of the faults that has become more common is a bad EGR valve. And whilst this part has numerous environmental and performance benefits, it is well known for clogging and causing issues within the engine.

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Ignore These 5 Symptoms of Brake Master Cylinder Failure at Your Peril

brake master cylinder on a car

Brakes slow your car by applying pressure through the callipers and discs (or a similar system). The force behind the pressure is generated by the brake master cylinder when you depress the brake pedal. As one of the main components in the braking system, if the cylinder develops a fault or stops working, then this could have some severe and potentially dangerous consequences.

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