The famous dictum “If you look after your car, your car will look after you” is certainly true in many respects. Sadly, though, few motorists are knowledgeably caring for, or fully understand, the way their vehicles work. Some functional knowledge will keep your relationship with your automobile running smoothly! Many drivers are actually unknowingly damaging their vehicles or, at the very least, making themselves quite vulnerable to some mischievous roadside mechanics. The following are the 10 of the most common mistakes motorists make every day while completely oblivious of the damaging consequences. Most of these points will, at the very least, hit us in our pockets in the near future. How many, if you can eat the humble-pie, are you guilty of? 1.Oil changes and servicing: Engine oil is a vital component in your car. Some people will wrongly assume that if the car takes five litres of oil and they have topped up this year by five litres, then there is no point in changing the oil. Oil degrades, and the reduction in oil level is due to the thinner high-quality oil getting burned or just seeping out of the engine; the sludge, grime and metal particles build up in the residue. So topping up is not the same as changing the oil. The oil level is dangerously low in over 70 per cent of cars – check your oil levels today. 2. Incorrect tyre pressures: This (overinflation, in particular, which is very common in Nigeria due to the ignorance of roadside “vulcanisers”) causes additional heat to build up in the tyres due to extra-flexing. The car has to work harder, reducing fuel economy. With under-inflated tyres, the handling becomes unpredictable at best because the tyre naturally goes bouncy. Braking is also significantly reduced. 3. Not allowing turbo to cool down: How many people with turbo-driven engine drive it hard and then fail to allow the turbo to cool down properly? In Europe, increasingly production cars have turbos to meet emissions and power requirements. The turbo is spinning at between 100,000 rpm and 200,000 rpm and gets very hot. The moment the engine is turned off, you starve it of fresh oil, unless your automobile’s oil pump keeps running. The oil in the turbo gets fried and essentially leaves your turbo spinning with no lubrication! Your turbo will soon need replacing if this is your driving style. 4. Driving hard on a cold engine: Don’t use higher engine rpm’s (like revving or over-revving the engine) when it’s cold (especially early in the morning), until an engine is warm; it will run rich—i.e. dumps fuel into the combustion chamber. Your engine is most at risk from damage when cold, so putting undue stress on it by high revving will exponentially increase the damage done. The combustion process does not become efficient until the engine reaches its operating temperature. An inefficient burn leaves acids and other toxins that eat your engine. The oil also takes a short while to flow properly at start up; so, ideally, you should let the engine tick over for three to ten seconds, then drive off at a steady pace keeping under 23,000 rpm. Do not use the top half of the rev range until the engine reaches operating temperature. This applies as much to modern engines with catalytic converters as it does to older engines. Don’t leave the engine idling to warm it up, just drive it (after giving it 30 seconds for the oil pressure to come up and get the oil to fully circulate). 5. Short journeys: Just as driving off too quickly damages an engine, so will doing short journeys. The problem with a short journey is that the engine never reaches its operating temperature. So, for the reasons detailed in the ‘driving off too quickly’, do not drive many short distances regularly. Use the under-one-mile walk philosophy!) While cold, the catalyst is unable to operate at peak efficiency, thus, reducing the life of your expensive catalyst. 6. Revving too high: The red line indicates the maximum permissible engine speed. At this point, the engine is under enormous stress and the components are moving at their fastest speed. Slight imbalances in the engine are emphasised at high rpm and if you prolong the high rpm for a period of time, you will more than likely throw a connecting rod through the sump (or worse). The older an engine is, the lower the red line should be. As an engine starts to produce most of its power across the middle third of its rev band, there is little point exceeding this. 7. Hand on gear stick: So many people do this but it can actually cause premature gear wear, especially if you wiggle the stick around. The stick is connected directly to the gearbox (in many cars), so the slightest pressure is transmitted to the gear selector. This is enough to cause wear and eventually your gearbox will start to grind and crunch as you change gear. 8. Riding the clutch in a manual transmission: Again, keeping a foot on the clutch is enough to prevent it from fully engaging. The clutch plate will tend towards slip and will prematurely wear. Keeping the clutch depressed in traffic or at traffic lights is also a bad idea. Just put the car in neutral when you are stationary. When the clutch is depressed you’re forcing the clutch against the release bearing. Eventually, the release bearing will just give up, having done 60,000 miles worth of pressure in just 10,000. 9. Also in manual, wrong gear selection: Nothing puts a strain on the engine like forcing it to pull the car in the wrong gear. Too high a gear strains the bottom end of the engine around the crank and con rods. Too low a gear will mean you are revving more than you need to, so the top end of the engine around the valves, cams and lifters are working too hard. 10. Driving a dirty car: This one is a little contentious but corrosion takes effect more easily on a car which is covered with a layer of dirt. A thorough clean each month and a coat of good quality wax (not polish) will do much to enhance the cars defence against corrosion. N.B: Protect your car against the rain this season: The rains are here now and the electrical architecture with, particularly, the electronic controllers cum components of an average vehicle are the most susceptible to getting easily damaged (as a result of any vehicle getting flooded!) There’s a nano- technology product that has just come into the Nigerian market, which can be effectively used to coat or protect these vital but fragile components of an over- computerised average vehicle, even including smart phones and household electrical/electronic appliances from being damaged by water or flood. I have tested it and it works perfectly, but I’ll not mention its name here because they’ve not paid me for endorsement. However, I believe they’ll soon be advertising the product here because I’ve told them that this page is one of the most far-reaching platforms where automotive maintenance/repair products and/or services can be advertised in Nigeria. May be the preponderance of readers’ enquiries that this note will precipitate will make them start the advert from next Sunday.

What is this?

Tundex. Try edit ur post. Hard to read

2undexy:
The famous dictum “If you look
after your car, your car will look
after you” is certainly true in many
respects. Sadly, though, few
motorists are knowledgeably caring
for, or fully understand, the way
their vehicles work. Some
functional knowledge will keep your
relationship with your automobile
running smoothly!
Many drivers are actually
unknowingly damaging their
vehicles or, at the very least,
making themselves quite
vulnerable to some mischievous
roadside mechanics. The following
are the 10 of the most common
mistakes motorists make every day
while completely oblivious of the
damaging consequences.
Most of these points will, at the
very least, hit us in our pockets in
the near future. How many, if you
can eat the humble-pie, are you
guilty of?

1.Oil changes and servicing: Engine
oil is a vital component in your car.
Some people will wrongly assume
that if the car takes five litres of oil
and they have topped up this year
by five litres, then there is no point
in changing the oil. Oil degrades,
and the reduction in oil level is due
to the thinner high-quality oil
getting burned or just seeping out
of the engine; the sludge, grime
and metal particles build up in the
residue. So topping up is not the
same as changing the oil. The oil
level is dangerously low in over 70
per cent of cars – check your oil
levels today.

2. Incorrect tyre pressures: This
(overinflation, in particular, which is
very common in Nigeria due to the
ignorance of roadside
“vulcanisers”) causes additional
heat to build up in the tyres due to
extra-flexing. The car has to work
harder, reducing fuel economy.
With under-inflated tyres, the
handling becomes unpredictable at
best because the tyre naturally
goes bouncy. Braking is also
significantly reduced.

3. Not allowing turbo to cool down:
How many people with turbo-driven
engine drive it hard and then fail to
allow the turbo to cool down
properly? In Europe, increasingly
production cars have turbos to
meet emissions and power
requirements. The turbo is spinning
at between 100,000 rpm and
200,000 rpm and gets very hot.
The moment the engine is turned
off, you starve it of fresh oil,
unless your automobile’s oil pump
keeps running. The oil in the turbo
gets fried and essentially leaves
your turbo spinning with no
lubrication! Your turbo will soon
need replacing if this is your driving
style.

4. Driving hard on a cold engine:
Don’t use higher engine rpm’s (like
revving or over-revving the engine)
when it’s cold (especially early in
the morning), until an engine is
warm; it will run rich—i.e. dumps
fuel into the combustion chamber.
Your engine is most at risk from
damage when cold, so putting
undue stress on it by high revving
will exponentially increase the
damage done. The combustion
process does not become efficient
until the engine reaches its
operating temperature. An
inefficient burn leaves acids and
other toxins that eat your engine.
The oil also takes a short while to
flow properly at start up; so, ideally,
you should let the engine tick over
for three to ten seconds, then drive
off at a steady pace keeping under
23,000 rpm. Do not use the top
half of the rev range until the
engine reaches operating
temperature. This applies as much
to modern engines with catalytic
converters as it does to older
engines. Don’t leave the engine
idling to warm it up, just drive it
(after giving it 30 seconds for the
oil pressure to come up and get the
oil to fully circulate).

5. Short journeys: Just as driving
off too quickly damages an engine,
so will doing short journeys. The
problem with a short journey is that
the engine never reaches its
operating temperature. So, for the
reasons detailed in the ‘driving off
too quickly’, do not drive many
short distances regularly.
Use the under-one-mile walk
philosophy!) While cold, the catalyst
is unable to operate at peak
efficiency, thus, reducing the life
of your expensive catalyst.

6. Revving too high: The red line
indicates the maximum permissible
engine speed. At this point, the
engine is under enormous stress
and the components are moving at
their fastest speed. Slight
imbalances in the engine are
emphasised at high rpm and if you
prolong the high rpm for a period
of time, you will more than likely
throw a connecting rod through the
sump (or worse). The older an
engine is, the lower the red line
should be. As an engine starts to
produce most of its power across
the middle third of its rev band,
there is little point exceeding this.

7. Hand on gear stick: So many
people do this but it can actually
cause premature gear wear,
especially if you wiggle the stick
around. The stick is connected
directly to the gearbox (in many
cars), so the slightest pressure is
transmitted to the gear selector.
This is enough to cause wear and
eventually your gearbox will start to
grind and crunch as you change
gear.

8. Riding the clutch in a manual
transmission: Again, keeping a foot
on the clutch is enough to prevent
it from fully engaging. The clutch
plate will tend towards slip and will
prematurely wear. Keeping the
clutch depressed in traffic or at
traffic lights is also a bad idea. Just
put the car in neutral when you are
stationary. When the clutch is
depressed you’re forcing the clutch
against the release bearing.
Eventually, the release bearing will
just give up, having done 60,000
miles worth of pressure in just
10,000.

9. Also in manual, wrong gear
selection: Nothing puts a strain on
the engine like forcing it to pull the
car in the wrong gear. Too high a
gear strains the bottom end of the
engine around the crank and con
rods. Too low a gear will mean you
are revving more than you need to,
so the top end of the engine
around the valves, cams and lifters
are working too hard.

10. Driving a dirty car: This one is a
little contentious but corrosion
takes effect more easily on a car
which is covered with a layer of dirt.
A thorough clean each month and a
coat of good quality wax (not polish)
will do much to enhance the cars
defence against corrosion.

N.B: Protect your car against the
rain this season: The rains are here
now and the electrical architecture
with, particularly, the electronic
controllers cum components of an
average vehicle are the most
susceptible to getting easily
damaged (as a result of any vehicle
getting flooded!) There’s a nano-
technology product that has just
come into the Nigerian market,
which can be effectively used to
coat or protect these vital but
fragile components of an over-
computerised average vehicle,
even including smart phones and
household electrical/electronic
appliances from being damaged by
water or flood. I have tested it and
it works perfectly, but I’ll not
mention its name here because
they’ve not paid me for
endorsement.

However, I believe
they’ll soon be advertising the
product here because I’ve told
them that this page is one of the
most far-reaching platforms where
automotive maintenance/repair
products and/or services can be
advertised in Nigeria. May be the
preponderance of readers’
enquiries that this note will
precipitate will make them start the
advert from next Sunday.

difficult to read