Changing Your Exhaust

exhaust back box on a car

All combustion engines, no matter whether they are diesel, petrol, alcohol or bio-fuel driven, produce emissions. These often dangerous gasses are ejected from the vehicle via the exhaust system. This is connected directly up to the engine head via the manifold, and used to funnel all the waste fumes out of the pistons chambers. The exhaust has many parts – these include:

Continue reading

Checking your Engine’s Coolant

All engines require coolant to stop them from overheating. This is especially true of the summer months when the bonnet of the car is already hot due to the ambient temperature, but due to the combustion process the engine is also likely to get hot even during the coldest period of the year. To make sure there is sufficient coolant in your engine you should check your levels regularly – as a rule of thumb you should check it at least every 3,000 miles, although you should check your owner’s manual, which should advise on the frequency of your checks. Continue reading

How to check and replace your car’s air filter

inspecting an air filter

Even at low speeds, your engine sucks in a huge amount of air necessary for the process of internal combustion that drives the car. This air has to be clean and free from particles such as dust and dirt, or these could clog up the engine over time causing it to lose efficiency or even break down. As a result most engines use special air filters to clean the air that they take in, trapping all the dirt and dust that could cause damage. This part has a limited lifespan before it becomes completely clogged, impeding the flow of air to the engine, and needs to be changed.

Continue reading

Tyres – Maintaining Your Tyres

Maintaining Your Tyres


Your car tyres should always be well maintained. As these are the shoes of the car, giving you good traction on the road surface, it is essential to make sure that they are always working at an optimal pressure and that their tread is in good condition. If you do notice that the tread has degraded badly, then you should replace your tyres, taking care not to mix types across the car, as this can cause a loss of grip.

Continue reading

Car Safety Tips for Children

Baby On Board

It is an accepted fact that cars are extremely dangerous places for both drivers and passengers. Over the years there have been a number of campaigns to get drivers and passengers to take more responsibility for their safety, including government drives to get people wearing their seat belts. However, most of the safety systems in cars are designed with adult users in mind, even though a large percentage of car owners also drive their children around. What can we do to make our vehicles safer for the younger generations?

Continue reading

The New Mercedes GLA

Mercedes GLA

According to the Motoring press, Mercedes are ready to set the car world alight once again with their new GLA, which is being touted as a serious SUV styled for the younger generations. Some may claim that this is so called “lite” version of the famous Mercedes GL class SUV transport – a vehicle that’s been a favourite with the market and the critics for a number of years. With its formal release not planned until the Frankfurt Motor Show in mid September, the motoring media are a-buzz with their previews of the car. Some of the bigger magazines and newspapers have already put their opinions on paper and the web, and we’ve picked out enough of the vital stats to give you our own brief look at this much awaited car.

Continue reading

Personalised Number Plates – “A nice little earner”

Personalised Reg Plate

Last week I was driving on the M6, when a black Bentley swept by majestically and I noticed its rear number plate, T123.  I said to myself “nice car, but those number plates must have cost a packet.”.

As I drove along, I started thinking about personalised number plates and the first time I’d ever seen one of these unique vehicle registrations.  My mind was cast back to the time when I was a student in the 1970s, visiting my wife’s uncle.  Parking my Continue reading

Checking and Refilling Your Oil

Oil Cap

Keeping your engine’s oil at the correct level is one of the most important things that you need to do in order to ensure that your engine doesn’t suffer from premature part failures. You should look up how regularly your oil needs to be checked in your car’s service manual, although as a rough guide we’d suggest that you change it every 3,000 miles. Do not wait until you see the red oil check light on your dashboard, as by this time

Continue reading

Replacing Headlights and Rear Lights

car Headlight

Possibly the most common type of repair that you may be required to perform on your lights is the replacement of a headlight. Often the bulb will burn out, or you may experience a crack in the part caused by loose shingle that has kicked up and hit the lens, causing cracking and reducing the effectiveness of your headlight. In these cases you’ll need to check with your owners manual to find out what kind of headlights feature on your car – these can be one of three types – sealed beam, sealed halogen or composite, and replace it in accordance with our instructions.

Continue reading

Five of the UK’s Best Green Cars

Green car among other vehicles

Go back two decades and green cars were blue-sky thinking. Whilst scientists pushed the technology of the time to its limits to see if they could make solar-powered cars that could travel vast distances in desert climes, such innovations seemed a lifetime away from the UK’s roads, especially when electric cars only ever seemed to promise a fraction of the power of their petrol-driven cousins. However, in the last five years this situation has changed considerably, and the demand for a cleaner, greener generation of vehicles has shaped the industry, with many of the top manufacturers now offering some serious environmentally friendly cars.

Continue reading