Shopping for Car Accessories Online is the Only Way to Go

Author:

John Trodey
Because of the recent downturn in the economy, most of us are looking for ways to save a little money whenever it is possible. Almost everybody has a car today, and most of us realize that it is a very big expense. Today, thanks to the World Wide Web, it has never been easier or quicker to find discount car accessories and parts.

If you have an older model of car that has a great deal of miles on it, then you probably already know that it is not cheap keeping it on the road. One of the ways many people are trying to save money is by repairing their automobiles themselves whenever it is possible. The typical home mechanic can surely change their own oil, and do other minor repairs.

But, for the more complex ones, they usually have to take it to a repair shop, and this is where it can get quite expensive, very quickly. If your car has been in the shop recently, then more than likely you saw that the first thing the mechanic did was to hook it up to a diagnostics device, that lets them know what is wrong with the car.

Well, it is possible for you to do the same thing if you only had your very own OBD2 scanner. These home scanners are very similar to what a typical repair shop uses, and they cost much less than you could ever have imagined. Once you have yours setup and ready for action, almost anything that an expensive car repair shop can do, you can also.

Of course, you probably do not want to be changing your head gasket on your engine, but there are a ton of much smaller jobs that will not be too much trouble that can and will save you money on your next car repair.

If you are already a home mechanic and are looking for a new way to make your car look better, you might want to consider putting a set of LED car lights on it. For the most part, they are not that expensive and today then come pre-engineered for almost all makes and models of cars. If you possess just basic car repair skills, they are extremely quick and simple to install.

The best way to shop for OBD2 scanners and LED car lights, or for that matter all car accessories, is by doing it on the internet. There are a ton of websites today that cater to the car enthusiast that supply these items, as well as almost car part you could ever need. The best thing about these sites, is that you will be able to save a great deal of money with every purchase when you compare the prices to the local retail stores.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/shopping-for-car-accessories-online-is-the-only-way-to-go-5588117.html
About the Author
Make some improvements for your automobile with LED car lights and also you can save yourself some money with an OBD2 Scanner.

Petrol Engine Versus Diesel Engine

Author:

Carazoo.com
The choice between Petrol cars and Diesel cars is highly debated right from the inception of these two engine types. There have been endless discussions on this topic among car enthusiasts across the world including India. This article is dedicated to comparing these two most famous engine variations.
Differences Between Petrol and Diesel Engines
The most distinguishing feature of the diesel engine is that it uses compression ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression. In a diesel engine, fuel is injected at high pressure into the hot, compressed air in the cylinder, which causes it to burn and no spark is required for this. Thus, 'compression ignition' is done rather than 'spark ignition'. The petrol engine is known as a 'spark ignition' engine.
The Petrol engine uses the Otto cycle in which a fuel/air mixture is ignited by a spark plug. The air and fuel mixture when ignited by a spark burns and thereby expands to force the piston down. In case of a petrol engine, fuel and air are pre-mixed usually before compression. Earlier the pre-mixing used to be done in a carburetor but now (except in the smallest engines) electronically-controlled fuel injection is used for this. The pre-mixing of fuel and air makes a petrol engine to run at a much higher speed than a diesel. However, it severely limits their compression, and thus efficiency.
Diesel engines offer better fuel efficiency when compared to petrol due to the fact that they have higher compression ratio. Another advantage is that, a diesel engine can be more easily turbocharged than a petrol engine because of the fact that if the compression ratio and the pressure in the cylinder are high during the inlet stroke, the mixture starts to burn to soon, while the piston is on its way up. The diesel engine has no fuel in the cylinder and thus allows the turbocharger to suck as much air as it can without creating any problem.
The higher compression ratio is helpful in raising fuel efficiency. Diesel engines are much more efficient than petrol engines when at low power and at engine idle. Diesel engines, unlike the petrol engine, lack a butterfly valve (throttle) in the inlet system, which closes at idle. This creates parasitic loss and destruction of availability of the incoming air, reducing the efficiency of petrol/gasoline engines at idle. This mechanism makes the diesel engine an attractive choice for many. Diesel engines are left idle for many hours or sometimes days in many applications, such as marine, agriculture, and railways. The engines are more efficient when compared to petrol engines of the same power. They consume significantly lower fuel and offer better mileage.
A diesel engine can relatively last longer, due to the fact that petrol destroys lubrication and diesel doesn\'t. While all the above support diesel engines, a major advantage of petrol engines is that they are relatively lighter than diesel engines. Engine weight is an important factor which affects speed and performance of a car. This is one of the reasons why some of the fastest cars in the world run on petrol. It should be noted that even though diesel engines are heavier and make the automobile heavy, they have more torque.
Engines and Emissions
Diesel engines consume around 30less fuel than petrol engines and this results in much lesser carbon dioxide emissions. The diesel engines produce virtually no carbon monoxide and are much safer than petrol engines. Tests done on car emissions reveal that while Nitrogen Oxides are higher in a new diesel engine when compared to a new petrol engine. But by the time they cover 50,000 miles or so, they are the same and after that the petrol engine produces more Oxides than the diesel engine. Hydrocarbon emissions contained in petrol engine emissions are considerably more than that in diesel engine emissions. However, diesel is certainly more dangerous from the point of view of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM). SPM refers to solid particles suspended in open air, such as soot generated by combustion of various fuels. They might cause respiratory problems because of their tendency to deposit themselves in the lungs. Though much has been done to improve the fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from the petrol engine, still more needs to be done.
In India, diesel is much cheaper than petrol. Ironically, diesel cars are more expensive than petrol cars.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/petrol-engine-versus-diesel-engine-755760.html
About the Author
Carazoo.com is India’s first car portal that provides 360 exterior and interior car animations of Cars in India and Used Cars or Second Hand Cars for all car models available in India.

Know the Signs of a Transmission Going Bad, Before it is Too Late

Author:

Juble.com
Replacing an automatic transmission, can be more expensive than replacing the entire car. However, long before the transmission problems have reached the point of no return, it will show you signs that it is in trouble. If you are aware of what these signs are, and what they could signify, then you have a chance at catching the transmission problems before it is too late to do anything except replace the transmission, or the car. Repairing potential issues, is much less inexpensive then replacing because of the issues.

Pay Attention to the Hints from Your Car.

When people get sick, we understand that our bodies are trying to tell us that something is wrong. And so we either go to the doctor, or to the drug store to get medicine for ourselves. If our noses start running, or we start coughing or sneezing, if we start to feel sluggish, or run down, we know that we are sick. By the time we start running a fever, we realize that we really need to see a doctor. The same thought process could and should be applied to our cars. The examples listed below, are the hints that we are given by our car when it is trying to tell us that it needs to see a car doctor, the mechanic.

Tell Tale Hints Of Transmission Trouble.

Take a look underneath your car, if you see any wet spots or stains on the ground, then something is leaking. Any sort of leak is a sign that something not good is going on, but if the stain is red in color, then the leak is most likely coming from your transmission. If it is only a few drops, then you have some time before you should have it checked, it is not urgent right now, but it could become a major problem.

Even if you have not noticed a leak under the car, if you do notice that your fluid levels have dropped, then by all means, check them. The transmission fluid should be a translucent red color, if it has a cloudy or muddy color, or has a burnt smell to it, that means that the fluid needs to be changed.

If you feel vibrations when you are shifting gears, or if the car seems to stutter and drag through a gear shift, this is a clear sign of trouble. The problem could be something minor, like you are low on fluid, or it could be more serious, like damaged transmission cables.

Your transmission should be able to run smoothly and in relative silence. Any sort of whiny or grinding noise that seems to be coming from under the floorboards, is a severe cause for concern. This could indicate that there is a problem with the gears, or with the valves.

An overheating transmission is the worst hint that you can encounter, because at this point, it means that your car has already shown you all the other hints, and you either missed them completely, or did not know what they meant. Overheating is a clear sign of quite a few potential problems. From a solenoid that is damaged, to a restriction in the oil cooler. The only option left to you by the time this occurs, is to take your car in to be serviced.
http://www.juble.com/articles/a298-know-the-signs-of-a-transmission-going-bad-before-it-is-too-late.html
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/know-the-signs-of-a-transmission-going-bad-before-it-is-too-late-530320.html
About the Author
Welcome to Juble.com, where you make friends, share ideas, get a FREE website, Promote yourself or your business, gain knowledge, make money, and so on....