Category Archives: Maintenance

Pooch Proof the Peugeot – Ensuring Your Dog doesn’t Wreck your Car

Man’s best friend. Dogs equal great walks in the countryside. And they can travel in the back of the car. Of course, if you’re a long time follower of our blog, you’ll know we love our animals and have given you advice in the past about protecting both you and your hound in transit. But with muddy feet, smelly dogs and even water finding their way into your car, after a good romp out down a National trust park or at the beach – how can you better protect the other essential best friend in your life – your vehicle?

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Look after the motor – storing your car over the winter months

The winter is hard on all of us. Reduced energy. Less happiness. And of course you may find you’re using your car less frequently than in the warm months. If you’re considering putting it into storage, then you’ll need to do it properly to avoid issues with fuel, batteries and even paintwork, and this is especially true in winter when snow can damage the car.

So whether your ride is a convenient car or a collectable classic, use the following tips to keep it fresh over the colder months, when it’s not being used…

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Keep Your Car Looking Good – Inside and Out with these Fast and Simple Cleaning Hacks

You can spend a lot of time in your car. Long road trips, mornings in heavy traffic and taking the kids to school. Don’t you deserve to sit in a decent motor that feels good? Remember how nice it is to get into a freshly made bed? Well, doesn’t it feel every bit as relaxing to lean back in a similarly nicely cleaned car cabin?

And we’re not talking about picking up the crisp packets and chocolate wrappers hiding in the footwells. We’re talking the kind of beauty that’s more than skin deep. If you want the kind of car that doesn’t just look, but feels and smells good as you travel round, then you need to think about the outside too. All that you need next then, are the tips to make that cleaning job fast and simple:

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Why Won’t My Car Start?

There is nothing worse than getting in the driver’s seat, sticking the key in the ignition, only to find your car won’t start. There are lots of reasons why this can happen, and unfortunately it’s a very common occurrence, happening to hundreds, if not thousands of motorists on a daily basis. From simple issues like forgetting to put fuel in the car, to more complex electrical faults – our quick guide should help you contend with some of the causes…

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Don’t Ignore these Six Signs of Radiator Cap Issues

You car’s radiator cap. A small piece of the overall mechanical setup, which can cause a lot of problems if it goes wrong. At worst, you could even be left sitting by the side of the road, waiting for a recovery vehicle. Fortunately however, as with most problems, there are some early warning signs that will give you an inkling that all is not well with this part. Use a little observation and vigilance and you could swerve any issues (and the costs associated with them) before they occur.

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Are You Suffering from Spark Plug Failure?

Spark plugs are an integral part of the engine. Each one sends a little high voltage spark between the terminals, which is used to ignite fuel in the engine. When spark plugs fail, this means that your engine will stop running efficiently.

Over time spark plugs can become dirty, picking up a residue from the burned fuel, coating the electrodes with carbon. Additionally, repeated sparking of the metal components can simply wear them down, increasing the distance the spark has to jump between electrodes, requiring additional charge from the battery which is not always available. In short, spark plugs will wear out.

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Car Losing Power: Possible Causes and Culprits

Over the years, sitting behind the wheel of your car, you become accustomed to the way it works and its capabilities. It’s no surprise therefore, that you’ll quickly notice when your vehicle lacks the same oomph as you usually experience. A loss of power is most apparent when you’re accelerating, and can be due to a number of reasons including air flow into the engine, fuel flow and even faults with the exhaust system. So, if your vehicle is consistently putting in a sub-par performance, these could be some of the reasons why…

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Why is my car making a rattling noise?

We’ve all been there. You’re driving down the road and there’s something not quite right with your vehicle. What’s that sound? Rattling noises are not only annoying, but they could be a little early warning sign that something else is up with your car. What are the most common causes of the rattle, and what does each one mean?

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Signs of a Dirty or Faulty Fuel Filter

The fuel filter is often a forgotten feature of your vehicle. Like all filtration systems, it will fail over time as it becomes increasingly clogged with all the particles it’s blocking. You might think of fuel as fairly clean, but even at the pump, fuel can contain many impurities such as dirt, rust from the storage tanks or even chips of paint.

The filter prevents contaminants from reaching the engine, which could impact its performance and shorten its lifespan. How can you ensure your filter is working properly at all times – and also tell when it’s on its way out?

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Looking After Your Gearbox and Transmission 101

It’s important to extend the lifespan of all your car’s parts. However, as your gearbox can often be in constant use on those shorter urban journeys, it needs a little bit more TLC than other parts in the engine. And it’s worth bearing in mind that transmission problems are also painful and expensive. The last thing you want is gearbox failure, when you’re out on a larger road.

Stop the potential hurt with a little bit of vigilance, good driving and simple mechanical checks and procedures, to get a long and healthy lifespan out of your transmission:

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