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Category: Car Components

Car Components Wheels and Tyres 

Avoiding tyre and wheel damage

Car Accessories Review

Tyre penetration by a screw can cause irreparable damage. Striking a kerb could have caused this internal rupture. Kerbing will also damage and weaken the outer sidewall. Fitting too wide a tyre may cause bodywork interference. A nail or screw through a tyre not only causes gradual deflation, but the point may damage the interior wall as the tyre flexes against it, leading to eventual fracture of the carcass. A tyre with a sidewall penetration cannot be repaired satisfactorily. An internal rupture can result when a tyre hits a kerbstone…

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Car Components Suspension 

Coil springs replacement

Car Accessories Review

The suspension ready for removal of the spring. Make sure the axle stand is placed far enough back to allow removal of the spring and lower-wishbone arm. If you have to replace a coil spring on the front suspension, the replacement spring must be of the correct rating. It is also best to replace both front springs — the other one may not match exactly the rating of the new spring to be fitted. Check the rating with your local dealer. Springs are normally identified by coloured paint markings. Removing…

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Car Components Wheels and Tyres 

Checking for wheel and tyre damage

Car Accessories Review

Check the tread for abnormal wear patterns, cuts or embedded nails or stones. Check the sidewalls for cuts, cracks, abrasions or bulges. Tyres are put under tremendous strains when a car is being driven. There are only four relatively small areas of tyre tread in contact with the road. They carry the car’s total weight, and transmit to the road the power that drives and accelerates it over the many changes of surface and gradient encountered. They must also transmit the forces generated by braking and cornering. Because they are…

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Car Components Suspension 

Renewing MacPherson-strut inserts

Car Accessories Review

The unit-replacement strut has a detachable top section held by a clamp and two bolts. When the damper inside a MacPherson strut wears out, you can buy a replacement cartridge which — depending on type — may or may not include new parts for the strut itself. You will need a pair of coil-spring compressors. Hire them if necessary, do not use makeshift arrangements of clamps, wire or cord. They are unsafe. Loosen the wheel nuts and raise the car on axle stands under chassis or frame members. Remove the…

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Wheels and Tyres Car Components 

Lubricating and reassembling wheel bearings

Car Accessories Review

Use a socket and extension bar to push out the inner races. Clean the hub and races well with paraffin or white spirit. Then drive the races away from each other. The inner and outer races may be of different sizes. If so, begin with the smaller one. When the races are the same size, push out one with a punch or chisel, push out the other with a socket. Use a socket as a ‘drift’ (pusher). Choose one which fits through the larger race to rest against the smaller…

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Car Components Suspension 

Replacing lever-arm dampers

Car Accessories Review

The damper may sit upright and be bolted to the inner wing or to the front bulkhead. The arm operates through a slot in the inner wing. The damper may also be fixed under the wing, to a chassis member or subframe, and operate through a series of links. A lever-arm damper on the front often acts as part of the suspension unit. Loosen the front wheel nuts, jack up the front of the car, place axle stands under the chassis members and chock the rear wheels. Remove the front…

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Car Components Transmission 

Checking a clutch cable

Car Accessories Review

A typical cable-operated clutch on a front-engined car. Some cars have hydraulically operated clutches. The clutch cable has a steel-wire inner core sliding inside an outer sheath. It should last at least two years, but check it at every main service; if it breaks it may do so without warning. The heavy clutch-pedal pressure needed to work it may conceal any initial stiffness or stickiness in the cable itself. The exposed cable ends are the parts most likely to fray and break, especially at the gearbox end. To check or…

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Car Components Suspension 

How to replace dampers

Car Accessories Review

If dampers are worn or damaged they affect not only ride and comfort but also cornering, braking and tyre wear. The car may also fail a roadworthiness test. Modern telescopic dampers cannot be overhauled at home. The only servicing possible is to replace rubber bushes (See Checking damper units). Dampers that are leaking, damaged or worn out (See Checking damper units) should be replaced with new units. Fitting new dampers is usually straightforward, and can be done with a few medium-sized ring spanners or ratchet sockets. On combined coil-spring and…

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Car Components Transmission 

How to check and change automatic transmission fluid

Car Accessories Review

Check the sump pan to make sure that it is not heavily coated with mud or road dirt. Clean carefully. If there is a cooling grille, clean this also. Most faults arise because the level has dropped through evaporation or leakage (See Checking the gearbox oil level, draining and refilling), or because the engine tickover speed was incorrect when you checked the level. Check in the car handbook which particular fluid should be used for your car. Topping up with the wrong fluid can damage the transmission. (In some smaller…

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Car Components Transmission 

Adjusting the clutch

Car Accessories Review

On a cable-operated clutch the adjustment is made at the cable end. The clearance is usually measured either at the operating lever or at the pedal. To work efficiently, the clutch needs the right amount of play in the linkage between the foot pedal and the clutch operating lever (also known as the release arm or fork). Anything less than the correct amount o free play (or clearance) will result in clutch slip, because the pressure plate will be unable to exert its full pressure on the friction plate. Failure to…

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