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July 30, 2010 at 11:19 am
The Wankle Rotary Engine was invented by a German engineer of the same name, Felix Wankel. It uses the same fuels as a conventional combustion engine but, the design of the engine is a little different: It is a rotor. Instead of the usual reciprocating pistons. It has a four stroke cycle which takes place as the Reuleax triangle shaped rotor turns. This design leads to a smoother high rpm power and it is quite small.
An animation of how the Wankle Engine Works.
Owing to its small size and high power output, the Wankle engine has been used on small aircraft, boats, go-karts and chainsaws. Its most common use in the automotive industry is in motorsport and Mazda have produced a number of cars with rotary engines.
Mazda have been pioneering the use of the Mazda Wankle Rotary Engine in cars since the 1960s. Mazda’s current flagship Wankle Rotary powered car is the RX-8.
If your looking for Mazda engine parts for your Wankle Rotary Engine, finding them can be as simple as filling out a form online in a mater of minutes with a find-a-part or used replacement engine locator service such as CarEngineFinder.
The cylinder head of a vehicle is the part which sits above the cylinders and pistons on top of the cylinder block. Often, but not always, the cylinder head contains and is the platform for the poppet valves and sparkplugs. The cylinder head may also contain the cooling system for the vehicle’s engine.
A Toyota Cylinder Head
The Cylinder Head Gasket:
The cylinder head is connected and sealed to the cylinder block though a cylinder head gasket. The gasket is simply installed for ease of manufacturing. The gasket can sometimes fail and as a result may let water from the engines cooling system enter the combustion chamber. How to test for a failed head gasket online articles can help consumers who first have cylinder head and gasket replacement issues.
There are a few different types of Cylinder head gasket and alternative manufacturing techniques. Most modern engines have gaskets that are made of MLS (Multiple Layer Steel). There other other types such as solid copper and composite.
Although cylinder head failure is becoming more rare and it is much more likely that a gasket will fail. You can find good used replacement gasket parts as well as used replacement cylinder head parts quite easily these days, thanks to leading UK Car and Van Part locators such as CarPartBuyer, 4x4SpareFinder and others. It is as simple as filling in a form, waiting for the people with your parts to contact you and offer you a quote.
July 26, 2010 at 12:06 pm
German F1 win marred by controversy after team orders team mate to let other past.
Ferrari were reprimanded for breaching sporting regulations after it appeared that the Ferrari team ordered Felipe Massa to let his team mate Fernando Alonso past into pole position.
The team insisted that it was a driver decision. Although it appears that the orders were given by a coded message. Massa was told by his race engineer over the radio:
“Fernando is faster than you, can you confirm you understand?”
Massa let his teammate Fernando past a few turns later.
The Ferrari team received a $100,000 fine for breaching FIA Rule 39.1:” Team orders which interfere with race results are prohibited.”
The controversy overshadowed what was effectively a Ferrari dominated event. Their closest rival were no where to be seen. Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel was the third person on the podium and was a full 5.1 seconds slower than his Ferrari competitors. Languishing in forth place was current drivers standings leader, Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren.
The German Grand Prix was held at Hockenhiem ring
circuit.
All UK road cars, be it top of the range Ferraris or Mercedes, as well as the more mass produced Italian, German and Japanese road cars such as VW, Audi, Fiat, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi etc all need repalcement parts from time to time. It may not be a formular 1 car, or competing in a Grand Prix but it is important to you. To help vehicle part consumers save time and money in record speed online find-a-part locator services offer used car part finder services like CarPartBuyer, 4x4sparefinder and one of the best used and widely known CarSpareFinder.
July 23, 2010 at 10:05 am
Sometimes as a Do It Yourself Mechanic you can find a right mess under your bonnet but things could always be worse. Whilst the Vehicle Part News team were doing some research on van and car bonnets today, we came across this story. What ever the problems underneath your van bonnet or difficulty finding replacement van bonnet parts, it can’t be this bad:
Mechanic is scared out of his skin by finding giant snake in the engine of a van
The 28 year old mechanic was performing an MOT on a Transit van when he came across the 6ft reptile. Prem Gharu, who works at a test centre in Feltham south England said:
“At first I thought it was fake snake, I thought someone was trying to play a trick on me. I said to my assistant,’look at that, someone has put a that there to play a trick on me’. Then it started to move and I got a bit of a shock”.
Snake; In transit
The man was shocked and immediately called his boss and they sent for an exotic animal handler to remove the massive slimy serpent for quarantine. Mr Gharu continued:
“I called the boys over and said ‘Quick, there’s a snake under the bonnet’. He came running over and so did all the boys”.
As far the report goes, the owner of the van knew nothing about the snake, or snakes in general. An animal expert consulted advised Mr Gharu that the snake came from North America and reassured him that it was harmless, which came as some relief, but what a great story for the rest of us looking for a used Ford Bonnet, be it for a Transit, Ranger, S-Max, Focus, Fiesta or whatever. A quick online search using one of the find-a-part locators available 247 spares finder services like CarPartBuyer or 4x4sparefinder saves consumers time, money and anxiety for that repalcement van or car bonnet. Give it a try next time and give yourself a nice surprise and a helping hand.
Source: Hounslow and Brentford Times
July 22, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Volvo Chief calls for greater openness and honesty in regards to harmful emissions from cars.
The same could be said for the genuineness of used vehicle manufacturer parts, and would a replacement exhaust system help reduce emissions?
The Swedish Automotive producers Managing Director has asked that more information is given to customers about what their car emits.
Parts consumers buying replacement vehicle spares also need better information about the make of replacement spares.
At the moment, regarding vehicle emissions consumers are only informed about how much carbon dioxide is emitted.
Regarding replacement car spares often there is insufficient information about the manfacturer of vehicle part. It is well know in the automotive industry that vehicle part consumers prefer to buy used genuine vehicle manufacturer parts rather than aftermarket. Availability 247 spares online such as CarPartBuyer and CarGearboxFinder are internet find-a-part locators to help.
Smoggy: We know about Co2 but what else is your car emitting?
Peter Rask said in an interview that buyers should be made aware of what level of other toxic gases come from a vehicles exhaust including the levels nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons vehicles. He said:
“This is about weighing up the all the elements.”
Much has been made of the levels of Co2 a car produces but some cars may emit high levels of other hydrocarbons. CO2 affects us and the environment in the future whilst the “other emissions affect us today”
“It’s about air quality, so it’s more tangible”
“We think it is time to give consumers information about all emissions. We would like to see a new environmental label that would highlight this in a simple way.”
The advice comes around after government figures shown that around 50,000 premature deaths are caused by poor air quality.
Replacement exhaust systems may help towards a reduction in emissions, and we know that the annual MOT certificates now include emissions analysis.
Emissions News Source: BBC
Ever been in a situation where your car or van clutch has burnt out? The engine still revs but you cannot seem to go anywhere. It can be extremely frustrating.
Corvette: Instead of burning out the Tyres, they burn out the clutch.
The Chevrolet Corvette above suffers a car clutch burnout as the driver keeps revving the engine and not fully letting the clutch come up. As a result the car clutch plate is quickly warn away.
What precisely is a Car Clutch?
The car clutch is used to disengage the engine from the transmission. This needs to be done in order to change gear and prevent the car from stalling when at a stand still. Essentially put in real simple terms the car clutch is made of two plates that come together to join the car engine to the car transmission.
Car Clutch burn out occurs when there’s too much friction being applied to the car clutch. When the plates meet they have to match a similar speed. Each time this happens, a slight wear and tear occurs and eventually the car clutch will need replacing. A car clutch burnout occurs when the car clutch wears down in a very short period of time. Car Clutches have been known to last the life of a car if used correctly. However if yours has worn out then you can get replacement clutch cylinder parts or complete clutch system quite easily these days, thanks to leading UK vehicle ‘part gateways’ such as CarPartBuyer, CarGearBoxFinder and 4x4sparefinder 247spares services.
July 20, 2010 at 10:52 am
Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota, is recalling 270,00 cars because of an engine fault. The cars are from around the world including the UK and over 138,000 vehicles in the US.
According to Toyota the problem affects seven Lexus models and the increasingly popular Toyota Crown.
The latest safety problem comes after concerns earlier this year regarding 8m vehicles which had a problem of a sticking accelerator pedal. The company was fined $16m (over £10m) by the United States for a slow response to dealing with the problem and faces over 200 claims in regards to accidents.
The fault lies with valve spring in their vehicles engine, which may cause the engine to stall whilst running. A statement by Toyota said:
“Due to slight variations during the manufacturing process, some foreign material may have contaminated a small number of valve springs. If a vehicle is affected, there is a remote possibility that abnormal engine noise or idling may occur. In extremely rare instances, the engine may stop while the vehicle is in operation.”
According to a Toyota spokeswoman, there should be around 3,200 Lexus vehicles affected in the UK, but no Toyotas. Any one with concerns should contact their local dealer.
The defect is present in the Lexus 4.6-litre V* and 3.5-litre V6 engines that was installed in 8 top models and some hybrids. These engines are Lexus engines, and do not appear to have been used in Toyota brand models. This affects only recent Lexus models and are covered by warranty. For those Toyota vehicle consumers looking for replacement Lexus engines or used Toyota car and van engines it is recommended to use an online find-a-part service to get the best selection of reconditioned and replacement engines today.
Partly Sourced From: BBC
The C Class Mercedes is not known particularly for being a super sport or car road racer but it does have some sporting credentials.
The C Class is a compact executive Car which came into production as long ago as 1993. It was the replacement model for the popular low end market Mercedes 190 range and on its release gained the nickname “Baby Benz” due to it then being the smallest car in the Mercedes line up.
In Motor sport the car has been used in a few high profile racing series. The most famous of which is the FIA Formula One World Championship. There are 3 C class vehicles placed around the circuit to act as response vehicles in the event of an accident. This is in addition to the modified Mercedes SLS AMG safety and pace car
According to statistics provided by Mercedes, the AMG C Class Mercedes is the most successful car in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen-Masters). With 152 wins out of 321 races means that the car has won 41% of races. This has more to do with the AMG credentials than the standard C Class series.
This C Class does have some race pedigree for its executive status. Better still, like the VW Audi group which operates a comparable design philosophy, because it has been in production for nearly two decades, used Mercedes C Class engine and vehicle parts are becoming easier to find. Mercedes C Class parts do not quite come in the kit form in the manner we see in the above Mercedes parts image. So whatever Mercedes you own, and whatever repleacement part you need from an AMG engine to a Mercedes C Class Replacement Bonnet body part
A failure in your transmission system can lead to complete immobility of your vehicle. In some cases it can be even worse. A catastrophic failure of a Helicopters gear box was blamed for sending it in to the sea. Although failure of your vehicle’s gearbox should not lead to you plummeting from the sky, it may well leave you in a tricky situation, unable to get to work, use for the family or worse be stranded in a remote location.
Often when referring to a car gearbox, people are actually referring to their vehicle’s transmission system. The car or van gearbox is actually in the strictest sense of the word, the housing of the transmission
What is a car transmission?
Essentially, the car transmission provides conversion of speed and torque from a rotating power source to another device, using gear ratios. Your car gears enable you to change the speed of the wheels relative to the speed of the engine. This allows your vehicle to travel slower or faster, or apply more or less torque.
Short video explaining what happens inside the car gearbox.
Finding affordable used car spares for your car gearbox or even the entire transmission unit isn’t difficult. It need not cost an extravagant amount either. Despite the fact that main vehicle manufacturer dealers charge you substantially more, possibly a market-up rate, for any vehicle parts you need, as a vehicle part consumer there are other options available to you. You can look through newspapaers, or trade journals. You can spend a great deal of time visiting local car breaker yards in the hope that you might just find the part you need at the price you want to pay. In fact research shopws that the only way a local breaker is cheaper is where you have to take off the part from the vehicle yourself. Otherwsie it is usually mopre expensive.
Alternatively, as wise consumers have found, one can use a find-a-part service, such as CarPartBuyer, 4x4sparefinder, or CarGearBoxFinder, which delivers your free online request to a large selection of approved and accredited car breakers who will first, check to see if the used car or van part you are looking for is in stock, and second, offer you a good value quote. Online services are 247spares locators, available anytime, which is a proven way to save you time, save you money money and reduce stress. Is it time you started using these free services, esecpailly when you need a used van gearbox or replacement car gearbox?
Car maintenance can be difficult for the un-initiated. For those that have neither the time, enthusiasm or the inclination they will probably just leave the job to a qualified garage mechanic or reputable local garage. For those of you willing (or maybe even un-willing) amateur do it yourself vehicle mechanics here is a brief demonstration on how to change a fuel filter.
A fuel filter is a filter in the fuel line that sifts out dirt and rust particles from the fuel. Regular maintenance of your vehicle’s fuel filter is strongly recommended to avoid a blocked filter. Blocked filters cause loss in performance due to a restriction in fuel flow. Some fuel filters, though not all, have a bowl-like design which collects water in the bottom.
Replacing a fuel filter varies in time, difficulty and method depending on the car. Some filters need replacing once every so often, whilst other fuel filters are able to be washed out and used many times. Fuel filter locations vary by vehicle manufacturer. Some fuel filters are be easily accessible, whilst others require other components to be dismantled first.
Fuel pumps are equally important to vehicle performance. Despite volumes of aftermarket fuel pumps, mostly manufactrued in the Far East, UK consumers show a strong prefernce for genuine vehicle manufactured replacement parts creating strong demand for used vehicle parts, as in this case, replacement fuel injection pumps.
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