Learning a little more about how to better care for your vehicles is a good idea for any number of reasons. It allows you to know if an unscrupulous mechanic is attempting to gouge you on your repairs – and that will save you money. It can prevent you from making unnecessary repairs – and that will save you money. It can help you locate a problem and fix it early, thus saving more money – sometimes a whole lot of money. It allows you to be more independent in an era where people are entirely too dependent on others to survive.

We need to get started now, so that we have time to cover everything…

Some people are incredibly sensitive to the sounds their vehicles make. This is especially true of motorcyclists, those who refurbish vintage automobiles, and experienced mechanics. It’s a very worthwhile skill to develop. There are mechanics who can listen to a running car engine and tell if the timing is slightly off, or the injectors are not operating properly. While this is a very neat thing to be able to do, you do not have to elevate your listening skills to that lofty place in order to get benefits from listening to your vehicle.

Listen To the Engine (This is best done in relatively quiet surroundings until you get really good at it.) Open up the hood of your vehicle’s engine compartment. If necessary on your model, be sure to use the metal rod to lock the hood in the upright/open position. Now, start your engine. Allow the engine to run for 30-60 seconds before you start listening too hard. Also, there are many moving parts inside of engine compartments, don’t wear loose clothing, and mind all your fingers and hair! Safety first.

A brief word about engine sounds… All engines make sounds. Some sound like jets, and other have constant clicking noises, or humming, or clattering. Which sounds are consistently made, and are okay, are unique to your specific vehicle’s engine. The point being, don’t be alarmed the first time you really take a good listen to your engine. You’ll quickly learn the sounds that are okay, and the ones that are not.

You’re going to listen to your engine from three different positions: 1) Directly in front of the car. 2) On the left (driver’s side) side of the engine compartment. 3) On the right (passenger’s side) side of the engine compartment. I like to start I like to start on the left – right in front of the driver’s door.

Lean over the engine compartment (again – be careful with clothing, hair, and appendages) and listen carefully. Try closing your eyes to heighten your hearing. Listen for things that don’t sound ‘right.’ Such things might include: clattering, metal rubbing metal, clanging, and squeaks. If you hear such a thing, open your eyes and try to focus in on it – moving the position of your head and ears as your track the sound to its source. Repeat this process at all three positions previously described.

This method of checking your engine can reveal loose caps, loose fan belts, loose fans, missing bolts, nuts, and many other things. Correct what you are able to, and have anything else dealt with by a service technician. Don’t put your hands into your engine compartment to tighten something or check something while it is running. If you notice that the stays on the overflow tube are loose and rattling, turn off the engine before tightening.

Driving your car for a short distance over a good road with the radio and air conditioning off and the windows down is a good way to hear some other sounds. Clattering might mean you have a lug nut that came off, and it’s stuck inside the hubcap. A metal-rubbing-metal sound may be a stuck brake.

The last listening project/technique is the best – or at least so people tell me. This one requires a willing and able assistant. The two of you climb into the vehicle together – you drive, the assistant rides shotgun. The assistant will require four things: some WD-40, a notepad, a small can of 3-in-1 oil, and a good rag. Head for a road that isn’t so smooth, and simply drive along. The assistant listens for those irritating squeaks, squeals, and rattles.

The assistant should move around inside the vehicle, focusing on the sounds to locate their sources. One of the two lubricants will fix almost any squeaking – and the rag ensures a nice, tidy application of the chosen lubricant. Some things, such as loose or missing screws or bolts, should be recorded on the notepad for maintenance or repair later, when you get back home to the tools. You won’t believe how quiet your cockpit becomes after you perform this process once or twice.

Okay, you’ve completed another step in becoming a full-fledged automotive diagnostician – or something like that, anyway. You’ve definitely gotten your vehicle in much better condition, and you should have learned a thing or two. Check out Part I – See No Evil, and Part III – Smell No Evil.

Car safety is a critical component in the design of any new car nowadays, and no manufacturer will have a license to build and sell cars, if they don’t comply with all the car safety aspects. With the increase in technology and the resultant conveniences in our lives, the aspect of safety too has come to the fore. This is especially true in the case of automobiles.

Car safety takes on several forms in this technological era. While the person driving the car is still responsible for adhering to driving safety regulations, increasingly, small computers and micro processors are taking on the role of the car safety keepers. All cars nowadays come with a certain degree of automation, and when it concerns car safety, these aspects are mandatory.

Gone are the days when the safety of the car depended on the individual driving it. That was probably restricted to them old vintage cars, when moving along was the critical component. But with the ever increasing number of cars on our roads and the heightened speed limits at which they drive along, car safety is no longer an option. It has become a critical aspect of the car manufacturing process itself. Not only that, it has become compulsory by law as well!

The auto pilot function for instance is one such example. By enabling the car to drive itself on open stretches, it ensures that drivers don’t feel the need to take their eyes off the road. Rather, they enable the driver to rest, thereby making for an enhanced driving experience, by taking on some of the monotonous aspects of driving on themselves.

Seat belts and crash balloons have almost become a permanent fixture inside all cars, even in lesser developed countries. Most countries nowadays have specific regulations pertaining to the useof car safety features like the seat belt and the crash balloon. In fact, some countries often issue hefty fines to drivers and passengers who drive without latching themselves in.

But car safety is often more than cosmetic. Manufacturers of cars nowadays have to test the car in a variety of possible scenarios in order to ensure that factors like crash zone, damage control and the like are minimized. This has resulted not only in a better build structure of cars, but has also ensured that the entire driving experience is made better, made safer and made absolutely secure.