Sending Our Vehicle For Service Once In Every Few Months

Shell service station or sometimes we mention Mobil service station. What does the word “service” means?

“Service”, which is more of a colloquial language means expert advice or help given by certain concerns to vehicle owners.

Periodically, I used to hear my father who is a lorry driver, sending his lorry for service at certain renowned petrol stations in town. Some readers may wish to know what does this word “service” means.

When a vehicle has traveled a certain mileage, there certainly will be wear and tear taking place. As such, it’s only natural for vehicle owners to send their vehicles to expert service centres all across towns for maintenance.

Besides petrol service stations, both local and foreign car manufacturers also have their own service centres all across the country to cater for their own cars.

I will concentrate on a few things which service centres will be expected to provide to vehicle owners.

1) Changing of engine oil and oil filters.

Service stations, like Shell or Mobil can provide services such as changing engine oil and filters. While changing the above items, some drivers would like to insert well known additives into their engine oils.

I am very fond of using 2 well known additions. They are Slick 50 and X1R, both well known engine oil lubrications. Although Slick 50 is indeed expensive, coming in at more than RM130 for a 900ml bottle, permit me to divulge to you it’s worthy of all the money you pay for. Use it yourself and you’ll know what I mean.

The same also goes for engine oil X1R, which is selling for RM35 – RM45 per bottle. As I said earlier, the power it provides to older engine is simply just too difficult to perceive.

After using the above 2 mentioned black oils, proceed to other aspects which might also require our attention.

At what kilometer range does one change his engine oil?

Engine oils are renewed at 5000km intervals. There are some who recommend that engine oils be changed at 10,000km intervals. Local mechanics can also provide you with this service and advice that you may need.

2) Changing of spark plugs.

Some car owners would like to change their spark plugs when they carry out servicing as well. Spark plugs cost RM5 per piece. Remember though, when changing this item, change all 4 at one go.

After all, mechanics prefer changing all 4 spark plugs rather than one only. They can then charge you service charge of RM5 to RM10. New spark plugs give you better acceleration and are said to enhance fuel efficiency. These are 2 very important aspects of a car which drivers look for these days.

3) Washing of the engine compartment.

The engine compartment can become rather dusty and soiled as well. During servicing, workers cover up the ignition systems so that it will not become wet when sprayed with water.

Dampness can hinder the car from starting easily. At times, it can even cause the car to jerk or vibrate violently.

4) Spraying the under carriage of a vehicle.

The main purpose of servicing a vehicle is actually to spray the under carriage of a vehicle. Mud collects and sticks the under portion of a car.

By spraying the under carriage of a vehicle with powerful jets of water, it will get rid of dirt, grime and bitumen. In doing this, it is believed it will go a long way towards preventing rust from developing easily. In short, the life span of your vehicle will last longer eventually.

5) Cleaning the interior portions of the vehicle.

The other purpose of servicing a vehicle is actually also to clean the interior of a vehicle. Believe it or not, a lot of dust can collect on the interior of a vehicle. On the dashboard, on the meter panels, on the console box and the radio itself.

As most car owners are rather busy people, the task of taking a damp cloth to clean up the dust in the car is quite a difficult duty to perform. The task of vacuuming the carpets, the floor boards, the seats and cushions is best left to professional people who have the necessary equipment to perform the duties required. All in all, it’s a daunting task indeed.

6) Cleaning up the booth.

In most cars, owners tend to store a lot of things in the booth. In this compartment, do not be surprised a lot of cleaning and vacuuming needs to be done.

Therefore, the duty of cleaning up the booth is best left to professionals. It’s their duty anyway. Leave it to them and rest assured they will do a good job.

7) Changing air filters and fuel filters.

Most vehicles have both the fuel and oil filters as well. You’ll be surprised, these two items especially the fuel filter easily either clogged with particles which can hamper the performance of a car. It can even cause a vehicle to stall in serious cases.

As for air filters, air in our environment in fact is rather dirty. Untidy air which enters the carburetor system will cause the engine to idle badly, which eventually will cause the engine to stall very frequently.

8) Polishing the car.

One other function also done by the service centres is the job of polishing the car. But remember, the duty of polishing can take a rather long time. You are advised to make prior arrangements with the service centres at which you are currently having your car or vehicle serviced.

9) Having the brakes checked or rid of dust.

The duty of having the brakes checked as well to get rid of dust from the brakes pads is yet another duty of a service station. Brakes can even be adjusted in most cases.

At times, the brakes are rather low or worn out. Replacing the brakes systems with new discs or pads can take quite a bit of time though. Adjusting a hand-brake should also be one duty a mechanic can offer to a car owner when the car is sent for servicing.

10) Filling in of battery water and brake fluid.

The duty of filling in battery solutions into an ordinary battery and the checking of brake fluid in a car is also one of the duties that can be expected from a mechanic out to perform a servicing job.

That’s all that can be expected from mechanics whether it’s from a petrol station or a car representative for a certain brand of cars.

If you feel you are not getting the proper treatment you should have been accorded, you are bound to feel dissatisfied. Look around for a good mechanic or even an agent for a particular brand of car to provide you the service that you require.

There are still many more items that have not been mentioned in this article as yet. For example, tyre balancing, tyre alignment and so forth have yet to be touched upon. Attempts will be made to concentrate on them in the next forth coming article.

Until then, drive carefully and take care.

RegGenie Review – Reviewing the Reg Genie registry scanning software to speed up your computer.

Without a battery, a car just cannot start. An automatic car, a mechanic friend told me, cannot start if its battery is weak. So all auto car owners, make sure your battery is in good condition.

Bosch, National, Yokohama and G.P, these are brands of famous batteries in the market today.

Batteries are quite costly items of a car these days. An ordinary car battery, which needs to be filled with battery water is around RM130 – RM140. You can however sell back the old battery to the battery shop man for RM10.

The old battery can be re-conditioned to make a new battery by some factories. However, there is yet another type of battery which is known as waterless battery.

Such a battery need not be filled with water. It is thus service free. This type of battery is good for people who are busy and have no time to meddle with batteries. In short, they are suitable for people who are in fact lazy.

For those batteries that need to be filled with liquid or solutions, some readers asked me what are suitable to be used for filling up batteries?

Well, you can use battery water. Battery water is cheap and can be purchased at spare parts shops in town. A bottle cost only RM1.50 to RM2. It can last several months. You can also use sulfuric acid.

As regards to waterless batteries, you actually need not to do anything. But remember though, this type of battery costs more. Such battery costs anything from RM160 to RM170 per piece.

New batteries are guaranteed for one year. Upon purchase of a new battery, the shop keeper will supply you with a guarantee form or card. Keep this card well. If anything should happen to your new battery within a year, you can make a claim to the company.

Can any other form of solution other than mentioned earlier be used in batteries?

The answer to the above question is Yes. You could use rain water.

Rain water that fall directly from the sky would be most ideal. Water collected from roofs will tend to be less pure. Rain water from roofs, fall into gutters which are made of iron or zinc. Such metal materials are bad for battery. They are said to destroy parts of battery.

Batteries have 2 poles, red is positive while the black pole is negative. The red pole is connected to the dynamo in older cars. In new cars, it is connected to the alternator. The alternator or dynamo is responsible for charging of the battery.

At times, poles of the battery become covered with oxide which is white in colour. These white coloured powder form substance can be easily be got rid by hot or warm water being thrown onto these poles. Or you could put some grease on them. That would immediately solve your problem.

At times, a new battery can sometimes become weak. Send your battery to the battery shop for it to be charged. To charge the battery, which takes anything from 2 to 5 hours need some RM5.

When attempting to replace the battery in your car, make sure the poles are attached properly. If you are uncertain or not sure, get a mechanic’s help. Fixing a battery wrongly can cause short circuit to your car.

After fixing a new car battery to your car, you are ideally advised to send your car to the battery shop, where the mechanic can carry out tests to determine if enough charge is being supplied to your new battery.

When a driver forgets to switch the main lights off or when he forgets to close the booth door tight enough or even of he forgets to switch of his radio, this will drain the battery after a few hours.

The results it, you car battery becomes void of power or weak. As a result, normally the alarm system of your vehicle becomes weak and the alarm system then will sound or wail loudly.

This is clear indication that there something wrong with your battery system. Seek a battery mechanic’s assistance as soon as possible.

Should you wish to jump start a vehicle, make sure you possess a pair of jump cables. Jump cables are easily available for RM40 – RM60 at supermarkets or spare parts shops around. Leaning to use jump cable will be a boon to all drivers.

If you should have no jump cables around to assist you to start your car with a weak battery, the other alternative is to push start your car.

But please remember, push starting your vehicle can turn out to be extremely dangerous. Do not do it if you are not experienced enough.

Just recently, a few youths in Kelantan were attempting to push start their car, and they landed up pushing the car into a supermarket wall, down an escalator, thereby killing a customer who was at the time doing her shopping chores in the supermarket.

It is hoped that this short but important article has given readers who do not know much about batteries some valuable advice and thus help to avoid some uncalled for mishap from taking place.

Finally, take care of your car battery and you can rest assured it will provide good service and prevent your vehicle from breaking down.

As I have inadvertently forgotten to tell readers that batteries in the market today come in 9 plates or 13 plates. The choice is yours as to which size you may wish to obtain when the need arises to purchase a new battery.

If you do not know anything about this subject, it’s best you ask your battery shop of advice.

The Ways & Means To Look After Your Vehicle’s Gear Well

Unlike the engine oil or lubrication oil, the gear box oil or some call it the transmission oil is the most neglected item of a car. This is extremely surprising.

Do you know that next to the engine, the following most important part of the vehicle is the gear box itself.

A 2nd hand engine for a popular model like Proton Waja can cost RM1500 – RM1800. Whereas, a gear box needs some RM800 – RM1200 for it.

But while we service our engine oil at 5000 km intervals, changing oil filters and expensive lubricating oil, we do not accord such services for our gear boxes. It’s a little bit unfair.

As mentioned earlier, the gear box is second only to the engine itself. Looking after it well should be a must.

Basically, there are 3 schools of thought most mechanics and drivers seem to provide to gear box attention.

One, seems to feel that we should change our gear box lubrication oil the same time as our engine oil.

The second seems to be of the opinion that nothing needs to be done at all for gear boxes. They feel gear box does not require much attention. And that gear box oil seldom run low. All you need is to top it up occasionally. That’s all there is to it.

The third school of thought with regards to the gear box oil, advocates this important oil be changed periodically for maximum performance.

As a driver of quite some years of experience, I feel that this third school, appears to be the best alternative to adopt.

So ideally have the gear box oil of your vehicle serviced or changed at least once a year. If you can, you are advised to add to it a bottle of additives to make it perform better, smoother and provide maximum performance. Slick 50 transmission oil is this highly recommended.

Next, we arrive at the topic of how an ordinary gear box can get spoilt. In other words, how does a driver take good care of it.

Number one is obviously changing the gear oil periodically. Next is to ensure the gear box oil is checked from time to time, making sure there is no shortage occurring. And number three is to add in additives for better performance.

Besides this, there are a few steps and measures advocated by mechanics which are to be followed. Amongst them are:

i) Do not pull or drag the vehicle in any gear too long a distance. This is believed to be able to spoil or damage gear system.
ii) Avoid reversing or going backwards with the reverse gear too for a distance also. Doing this will lead to the gear box resulting in its gear oil dripping from the transmission box. Coupled with it, the gear box may even result in becoming coarse or to whine.

iii) The third manner in which gear boxes usually get spoilt is when during gear exchanges conducted by drivers in which the clutch is not depressed fully. This results in the gears getting chipped, thus sustaining damage.

Eventually, the gears will result in whining. Besides this problem, the gears may even wind up jumping out from its intended position the moment you begin to accelerate. If this should happen, there’s nothing you can do except to be advised to replace it with a 2nd hand unit.

Can anything be done if a gear box has sustained whining symptoms?

There is no guarantee. But drivers whose gear boxes suffer from this problem, could try adding in a good additive to the system. This additive mentioned is easily available at most spare parts shops and super markets.

When a gear system begins to whine, it is not that the system cannot be used any further. The whining sound is very irritating to hear. Most drivers elect to replace it with a new unit as soon as possible.

A 2nd hand unit will also suffice. You can obtain such a unit at many of the scrap yards all across the nation for a reasonable price. It even comes with a guarantee. Ask your neighborhood foreman about it. I’m sure he will be able to provide you the assistance that you require.

Today’s article has gone a long way to explain to you the ways and means to look after your car gear box well. Follow the methods and ways to look after your vehicle’s gear box unit well. I’m confident you will have no necessity to replace your gear box unit at all.

In the attempt to explain the procedures, the gear oil has inevidently been forgotten. Gear oil should ideally be between 90W and 140W.

In Malaysia, Castrol appears to be the best oil recommended. As a last word, W denotes viscosity. Viscosity means how slippery the oil is. The higher the viscosity, the better protection it provides to your car. New oil, it is believed possess higher or better viscosity.