Tag: How it Works
The importance of engine coolant
Your engine is called an ‘internal combustion engine’. This means that while running there’s a lot of, well, internal combustion occurring. Thousands of explosions a minute, these create a lot of heat. How do you stop all this heat from ruining your engine? Coolant is pumped through the cooling channels, carrying heat away from the
Is it safe to drive with a broken clutch?
We recommend you absolutely do not try to drive with a broken clutch. It isn’t a good idea, in fact, it probably won’t even work. Your clutch is what connects the engine to the transmission. Your clutch is what mates and transfers the power from the engine to the wheels. If it isn’t working then
Why do I need to replace my timing belt?
Your timing belt doesn’t run the clock in your car. It runs a way more important part – your engine. Like many other engine components, it wears out. When your car is running, it’s spinning at extremely high speeds, in a very hot place. I don’t really like running in a very mild place, imagine
What is a manual transmission and how does it work?
The manual is a sacred thing among car people. More of an annoyance to everyone else. Fair enough, anyone who’s been stuck in rush hour for an hour in a manual will also be question the reason for its existence. Connecting car and driver, in such a raw and engaged way however, is the main
What is an automatic and how does it work?
In your car you’ll either have a manual transmission, or an automatic transmission. Each of these takes the revolution per minute of the engine, and transfers it to the wheels via the drivetrain. As your engine needs different gears to move the car at different speeds, your transmission determines at what speed the engine moves
What does RPM mean?
Well to put it simply, “Revolutions Per Minute”. The follow up question you’ll have is, “what’s revolving?”. When your engine is running, the pistons travel up and down and rotate the crankshaft. The amount of full 360 degree rotations the crankshaft does in one minute. This tells you how the engine is operating at that
What brake rotors are right for my car?
There are different types of brake rotors for different requirements. If your car has disc brakes, it’s something that will need to be serviced, sometimes machined, occasionally replaced. When you do replace them it’s worth thinking about what you might want. If you need brake rotors replaced, or any other work for your car done,
Air-cooled vs water-cooled engines
Nearly all modern production cars have water cooled engines nowadays, however, there was a time when air cooled cars held their own. Cars like the VW Beetle, Porsche 911 and the Fiat 500, all used air cooled engines. There were some advantages to an air-cooled system but ultimately the efficiency and reliability of water-cooled systems
What’s the best spark plug for my car?
Your engine inhales air and fuel, at the top of the compression stroke, the spark plug ignites the mixture. The spark plug only has that job, to ignite the mixture. Yep, you’ve got a whole ignition system for the sole purpose of one spark each cylinder at the top of every combustion stroke. The spark
What is a flywheel and how does it work?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t make your car fly. It does do some really neat other stuff though. It’s actually critical to any car with a manual transmission. It’s bolted to the crankshaft and serves as the mechanical connection between the crankshaft and the transmission. It also starts the car and makes sure it’s comfortable when it
