Engine makes the car move. In most of the cars it is located in the front. Most cars use gasoline and some use diesel. Tachometer shows the number of revolutions of the engine.
Engine contains moving parts which requires lubrication. The oil diminish the friction and corrosion between the moving parts. When the engine has less or no oil an oil pressure indicator light will come on the dashboard. If this light turns on, stop the engine and do not start again unless it goes away or be prepared to say goodbye to the car. It is important to change the oil and the filter from time to time.
Alternator provides electricity to the car, the engine moves a belt which is used by alternator. Some of the electricity is stored in the battery. The effect of the alternator diminishes when the belt is loose. 🤔 If the battery charge is low it shows up in the dashboard. All accessories use fuses to prevent fires or damage to the electrical system. If any electrical unit stops working, first check to see if the fuse is blown or damaged. If the bulbs stop working or if they flicker it is time to change them. If the car does not start it could be that the battery is drained or is disconnected.
- The level of battery fluid and add more if required
- The alternator belt is tight
- The battery cables are connected properly
- The charge light during driving. If it turns on or flashes, there may be a problem.
Battery acid is highly corrosive be very careful with your clothes and skin!
The fuel system is made up of a fuel tank, tubes and a pump.
Process:
- Fuel is mixed in air by carburetor or injection system
- Aspirated by the engine 🤔
In most of the engines fuel is directly injected into the intake manifold. In automotive engineering, an inlet manifold or intake manifold is the part of an engine that supplies the fuel/air mixture to the cylinders.
When the engine is cold use the choke or regulator to reduce the amount of air in the mixture so that the engine can start. Some cars use automatic regulator, some cars with injection engines, lack a choke because they are controlled by a microprocessor.
Gasoline fumes can cause cancer avoid opening fuel cap when it is not required. Do not inhale the fumes, I repeat do not inhale, those are toxic as fuck!
If you need to refuel it your self use a mask or fill the tank to full.
When refelling:
- Turn off the engine
- Avoid inhaling gasoline fumes.
- Do not light cigarettes.
- Do not use your cellular phone
Frequent braking and accelerating while driving cause high fuel consumption. If you smell gasoline odor stop the car and investigate!
The cooling system cools the engine, duh 🙄 The engine is cooled with a coolant (distilled water and antifreeze) that circulates through lines in the engine block and into the radiator.
High temperature:
- lack of liquid
- a broken or loose water pump belt
If the engine temperature rises, stop immediately and repair the issue. Most of vehicles have electric fans that activate when the temperature is high, especially when driving at low speeds. If the fan does not run at low speed it could be due to a damaged fuse or a defective connection or a broken or damaged fan belt.
In below-freezing temperature conditions 🥶, it is important that the coolant contain a sufficient proportion of antifreeze, which will keep the engine and the radiator from becoming damaged by freezing water (ice).
The car farts 💨 carbon monoxide
💀 poisonous
💀 colorless
💀 odorless
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are headache 🤕 and vomiting 🤮
Very loud noise emitting from the exhaust pipe is a signal of breakage or holes in the silencer.
Remember:
🌎 Protect the environment. 🌎
🚗 Turn off the engine when not required 🚗
🚗 Modern cars do not require engine to warm up for driving 🚗
🤕 At the first sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, exit the vehicle immediately and get fresh air. 🤮
🚗 Carbon monoxide can enter the vehicle interior if the trunk (boot) is open. 🚗
🚗 Stop the engine during long standstills (stops) 🚗
🚗 Be aware of changes in engine sounds. 🚗
The engine’s energy is transmitted to the traction wheels through the clutch. There are forward drive, rear drive vehicles four-wheel drive vehicles.
The clutch is found between the engine and the gear box. When the clutch pedal is pressed the transmission is disconnec- ted from the power of the engine to the gear box and it does not move the traction wheels.
What is traction wheels? 🤔
The gearbox increases the force of the engine. It can have 3, 5, 5 or more gears. Each gear should be used in their range of speed for saving fuel. Automatic transmission cars do not have clutch pedal.
Steering allows you to take turns by moving the front wheels to left or right, duh.🙄
Steering starts to get misaligned faster when the wheels go into potholes or the car is carrying excesive weight.
The misalignment of the wheels produces vibrations and increases wear and tear on the tires.
Indications:
- Steering is difficult
- On flat road the car tends to drift to one side
- Upon turning the wheel shakes a lot
Or the front wheel has low air pressure.
Most cars have power steering. This contains auxiliary hydraulic device which makes steering easier.
The shock and suspension systems maintain contact between the tires and the road which maintains stability and comfort to the driver.
Concequences of bad shocks:
- The vehicle can lose stability during curves, winds, or wet surfaces.
- Braking or stopping distance is increased.
- ABS system becomes uneffective.
- Frequest wear down of other parts of the car.
- Driving is uncomfortable.
Indications:
- The car moves forward and backward a lot when braking.
- On a good road the car rocks a lot.
- Leans a lot when taking a turn on the curve.
- When you apply pressure in the front part of the car the car bounses or rocks.
- Small potholes or winds are very noticeable.
- Tirees wear out unevenly.
- The light beam of the car moves up and down.
Keep in mind that traditional brakes do not work the same way as an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS).
The Anti-Lock Braking System has the advantage of preventing that the wheels from locking up and avoiding uncontrolled skidding. Unless you are driving at very hight speed.
Vehicles have two braking systems and they work independently from one another.
The brake pedal is usually hydraulic and works on all four wheels.
Old cars have hydraulic circuit braking systems and the new ones have two-circuit braking system.
In old cars if there is breakage or leak in the brake drum, all the liquid goes away and the brakes do not work anymore.
In new cars there are 2 circuits so if one stops other still works.
The hand brake or parking brake is mechinical and is applied on rear(back) wheels.
Many cars have a servo brake which increases the strength of brake but it only works when the engine is running.
- From time to time check the brake fluid level. It is not consumed by the car, low level could be a leakage or an unknown cause.
- The length of the break pedal is not too long. You should be able to brake just py pressing the pedal halfway or less.
- The pedal does not go down with light pressure, if this happens there may be a leak.
- The pedal does not feel too tight, if this happens there might be air in the system.
- The brake light are functional.
- The parking breaks are working correctly.
- The brakes are applied to all four wheels, during heavy breaking the car can drift if the brakes are not applied evenly.
In below freezing temperatures it is important to test the brakes slowly.
If you are on a flooded road or if you have recently washed the car, eliminate the humidity on the drums or pads by breaking.
- Check for cracks in the brake fluid pipes (hoses)
- Check if there are any stains on the brake fluid pipes due to leaks.
- Change all the brake liquid from time to time.
- From time to time check the state of break pedals and disk and check for sounds emitted while breaking.
ABS increases the stopping distance.
The traction of the tires provides the necessary safety under any meteorological conditions, even in difficult situations.
traction = pulling something over a surface, especially a road or track.
meteorological = weather
For the tires to break, stay on road and steer the the tire thread should be a minimum of 3mm depth.
Tire thred
If the tire thread is less that 1.6mm the friction is reduced on the wet road and the car can slip away from the road.
Also check tire pressure regularly.
Keep a vehicle’s tires at the pressure recommended by the manufacturer to avoid sliding.
Uneven wear of tires can be caused by bad tire pressure, streeing misalignment or suspension problem.
Wear down just in the center of the tire means that you are using the tire with high air pressure.
Wear down just on the edges of the tire mean that you are using the tires with low air pressure. Low air pressure in the back of the tires increase the chances of the car to drift. Low air pressure in the front tires make if difficult to steer and reduces the handling of the car. Low air pressure in one of the front tires makes the car to drift to that side.
With high air pressure the tires loose traction (ability to stay on road)
The best tire should always be placed in the back of the car.
During winter low air pressure can reduce the life of the tires.
- Check the air pressure when the tires are cold/normal and use the company recommendation.
- When the tires are warm or hot, the air pressure will be lower than recommended. Physics 🤔?
- Check the tire threads from time to time and they should not have cuts or cracks.
- Drive at moderate speed as this does not reduce the life of your tires.
- Hauling (pulling other cars) or driving on uneven roads or driving in hot weather can increase wear and tear of tires.
- If you see something abnormal about the tires or vibrations of the car then it is time to take it to repairs.
- Tires should be changed every 5 years. Even if they are used less.
- Driving on a sidewalk or over the crub can cause cuts or ruptures in tires.
- A little increase in pressure when hauling (pulling) a heavy load.
- When storing replacement tire add the highest recommended air pressure.
- Check that the tires are balanced properly.
Over the crub
Tire ruptures
If the back tire ruptures while driving turn the steering in the same direction as the back of the car is swerving (sudden movements)
If the front tire ruptures, break slowly while holding the steering wheel firmly.
Truck swerving
All cars must at least have
Front lights:
- 2 headlights with low and high beams
- 2 parking lights
- 2 turn signal lights
Rear lights:
- 2 parking lights
- 2 turn signal lights
- 2 reverse lights
- 2 stable red lights
- 1 license plate light
- 1 brake light in the center of the back
A misalignment of lights can temporarily blind other drivers and cause an accident.
To ensure that you don't blind other drivers:
- Park your car on a flat surface about 10m (30 feet) from a wall
- Turn on your low beams and make sure that the height of the beam is lower than the headlights.
Some cars have fog lights that can be helpful when there is fog or rain and it should be turned off as soon as visibility improves.
This lights should be used when:
- Car failure
- Warn other drivers of some blockage causing the traffic
- Warn others behind that there is a hazard or obstacle ahead
The majority of mirrors are convex and the images in the mirror appear closer then they are.
Dead angles or blind spots are the places behind you which cannot be seen in a mirror.
- Seatbelts/safety belts
- Windshield wipers
- Ventilation
- Windshield wiper fluid
- Tires
- Rear window defrost
- Lights
- Brakes
- Mirrors
- Doors
- Horn
- While driving you have good visibility through the front windshield, back window, and side windows. If not, turn on the ventilation system, adjust the fans and turn on the rear window defrost.
- Set the mirrors so you can see the max behind you.
- The doors are closed. If you are transporting children, be sure that they are secured safely in their seats and cannot open the doors.
- A reflective objects in case of emergency
- A replacement tire and tools
- Not carrying anything loose
- Good shoes for comfort
- Before starting your vehicle, look around and check your blind spots.
When a car is approaching a curve it tends to move in a straight line.
By turning you force the car to move from its straight path.
But if you are driving too fast you may not have enough friction to keep your car on the road.
It is important to estimate the radius of the curve and be aware of suprises like fallen leaves, fuel leaks or anything that could make the road slippery.
The magnitude of centrifugal force (or the sideways force in a curve that tends to push a vehicle off the roadway (depends directly upon the speed of the vehicle and the sharpness of the curve.
Stopping distance (S) consists of two parts:
• Reaction distance (R)
• Braking distance (B)
The reaction distance depends on the reaction time of the driver and the speed of the car.
A normal reaction time is one second. A car traveling at 36 km/h covers 10 meters in one second, 20 meters if it is traveling at 72 km/h and so on.
You can estimate the approximate reaction distance, multiplying the first digit of your speed by three.
The braking distance depends on the speed, the state of the road, the incline, the state of the brakes and the tires, and the way you brake.
The braking distance increases by the square of the increase in speed.
If you double the speed, the braking distance increases four times.
If you triple your speed, the braking distance increases by nine times and so on.
If the car doesn’t have ABS brakes and the wheels lock, you must release the brake pedal.
If you drive down a hill or an incline road it is difficult to brake.
When necessary drive in lower gears to reduse the stress on the brakes.
Remember that when you take the vehicle out of gear, you lose control of the vehicle. Not true at all, Just remember for the exams. When you use the neutral gear, the only thing is you cannot accelerate and need to use excessive breaking but if you plan it properlly you don't need to use excess of braking.
Before you drive an unknown car ask
- Does it have forward drive, rear drive, or 4-wheel-drive?
- Are the tires safe?
- Does it have replacement tire?
When does a car slip? A car slip happens when the speed of the car is more than the friction between the tires and the road mostly when turning the steering.
A car with forward engine is heavier in the front and tends to spin less.
But if you place heavy load in the back you will spin 180 and your rear will point front when spinning.
The drive or traction wheels are important to the behavior of the vehicle. What does this mean 🤔 ?
With front wheel drive the car will slip on the front wheels and cause the car not to turn when you try to take a turn. If this happens, stop accelerating and try to stay on course.
If the rear wheels lose friction continue accelerating and turn the steering wheel towards the direction of the rear of the car.
Four wheel cars ace same but have better driving conditon on difficult roads.
Inproper air pressure in the tires can also cause the car to spin.
The tires, brakes and lights, among others are elements of something known as “active safety”, since they help prevent accidents from occurring. There are also other elements, known as “passive safety”, which don’t prevent the occurrence of an accident, but they do contribute to minimizing their consequences.
Jumping from 4th floor = crashing at 50 km/h without a seatbelt
Jumping from 7th floor = crashing at 70 km/h without a seatbelt
Seatbelts:
- Reduce the possibilities of injuries in an accident.
- Provides more comfort
- Better control
- Contribute to reducing sleepiness
After an accident you must replace the seatbelts.
Make sure that the seat belts are tight. Do not wear bulky coat while driving.
Do not use towels or pillows or special cushions.
Do not recline the seat excessively
The airbag is a bag of air that inflates in just a few milliseconds after an impact, protecting the occupants of the car.
It reduce the occupants moment and and reduces injuries like head and spinal injury.
It protects the face and eyes from glass fragments or other objects that could come loose, like the windshield.
he airbag is not efficient if not used together with the seatbelt.
Upon impact, the airbag inflates at a speed of up to 300 km/h, so if the seatbelt does not restrain the driver and the airbag impacts against him before inflating fully, it can cause serious injuries due to the huge force of the impact.
It has been estimated that the use of the front airbag in together with the seatbelt can reduce the changes of fatal inhuries by 20%.
How do air bags work?
Accelerometers detect sudden rates of deceleration which suggest an impact has occurred. These systems are linked to a small explosive device, which ignites to produce a sudden release of nitrogen gas. This gas fills the airbag, rapidly inflating it to cushion the blow for the car’s occupants. This entire process takes only four hundredths of a second.
After an accident, the airbag system should be replaced even if it has not been deployed. The battery should be changed according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Never put a child in the front seat.
If the air bag light is on, the air bags should be checked.
There are different kinds of airbags: side, head and intelligent.
The headrest is used to prevent spinal injuries when your vehicle is impacted from behind.
Its position should be adjusted to each driver behind his or her head.
What is whiplash?
A neck injury that can occur when the head suddenly moves backward and then forward.
Neck sprains are often produced as a result of whiplash; these are much more dangerous and frequent than we think.
A neck sprain can affect different structures in the neck, like:
- muscles
- joints or ligaments
- muscular aches and headaches
- diminished neck mobility,
- vertigo or dizziness
If the cervical vertebrae are damaged, the driver can suffer permanent disability (e.g., quadriplegia).