Virtual Mechanic

From time to time it’s a good idea to perform a driveway safety check to make sure your vehicle is safe to drive.
It does not matter whether you drive a nice looking Porsche or 20 year old Holden, the standards are the same.

You might be thinking hang on that’s what I pay my mechanic or service centre to do.
STOP right there who is checking your vehicle between services ?
If you have a private servant Mechanic that performs a weekly check then you don’t really need to read on.

If you are the average person in that requires your vehicle to be operating in a safe mode then I suggest the following checks to maintain a reliable transportation for you and your family

Note the following items are all important

Tyres make sure they are all with the correct pressure including the spare, YES the spare tyre now when checking the spare make sure its free of water and rubbish where the spare wheel is stored. On some vehicles in the BMW series the dash will let you know if the tyres are low in presure

Engine oil
For some reason most people think oil will last between services, and in most cases this is true but what if it decreases in level and then the engine will develop premature wear, its not hard for most people, as you may not be aware oil at the correct level acts as a cooling effect not to mention lubrication.

Drive belts
Check that they are not cracked or loose

Lighting
Check high beam low beam, brake lights and tail lights, how you ever driven behind another vehicle without brake lights, the first thing you want to do is overtake the vehicle to prevent an accident.

Battery
The battery is the most important item when it comes to safety and reliability, you need to make sure the battery is secure and clamped down to prevent movement, the simple reason to prevent movement is to prevent a potential fire under the bonnet.
Check that the battery terminals are free from acid and that the terminals are firm on the battery poles.
If the battery is a wet cell meaning that you are able to fill the battery with water then fill only to above the cells and no higher.
Batteries don’t last very long these days due to a number of factors  

Warning lamps
If you see a warning light appear it’s a sign to DO SOMETHING NOW before you breakdown on the side of the road

More to come on this subject
Written By Darren Gow-Brown WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

The key stakeholders have invested interests on this very subject.
The main items to consider are the following
Is the car within your budget
In five years time what would be the resale value
What type of warranty is on the vehicle
Before we go to the next point go to consumer affairs and research if the manufacture is doing the right thing.
In the time that you drive the vehicle what are the costs to service the vehicle
In my opinion its not how many air bags unless you plan to crash the car or you are a poor driver.

Its resale value and the cost to maintain the vehicle

Don’t be tricked as some car makers are now extending the service intervals thus attracting fleet buyers to purchase a vehicle based on the service fixed costs but the engines may develop premature wear if not serviced according to the oil condition
Some hire car companies in the past have decided not to service the fleet of rental vehicles for 50000 kms then have the vehicle auctioned off.
Too bad if you purchase such a second hand vehicle.

For some reason imported and European cars are the most expensive to service and maintain as well as a rapid decrease in market value as soon as it leaves the showroom floor. But it comes down to your budget and preference.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Is your motor vehicle as safe as you think it is?
Do you know what your Motor Vehicle might react under emergency braking.
The most important points to driver safety are BRAKING and DRIVER BEHAVIOUR.
Some organisations are of the view that driver education is the answer
Recently an Accident  Research Centre has stated that there is no evidence to show that driver education enhanced safer driving.

Its worth noting that there seems to be a high profile to safer cars supported by a rating program.

Lets take the marketing potential out of the equation at this moment and step into the world of reality.

The safer the driver the safer the car, this is old fashion common sense, it concerns me how much advertising is pushed towards Accident Research Ratings, with must invested interest.

Driver attitudes have become complacent, not to mention pedestrian carelessness.

Let me ask the question about poor driving techniques
Do you dart in and out of lanes down the freeway
Do you overtake the vehicle in front only to move in front of the vehicle you just passed, but moving into the lane without a safe distance of clearance.
Do you tall gate when you drive where ever you drive.
Do you hog the right lane just under the speed limit

If you answer yes to any of the above then perhaps motors vehicles are required to be designed with more protection due to a small percentage of high risks drivers contributing the our road toll and or serious accidents.
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Recently I decided to get some quotes on car insurance and was quite surprised
I rang the following Insurance companies
The quotes were based on a 45-year-old male driver with no license cancellations
No insurance cancellation.
I made the point this car would be garaged during the week.
The vehicle that was quoted is the following
Holden Commodore sedan 2005 acclaim with no modifications accept a tow bar.
I must say that the call centers seem to have changed with excellent customer service.
The insurance companies were the following

AAMI  $644.00 with $550 Eccess add another $50 for Windscreen
Note AAMI other a discount if you apply online

YOUI  $660.00 with $600 Eccess add another $50 for windscreen
Note this was based with car parked at home during the week, and garaged
Special note I applied online about 3 months ago but no reply, so I called this time..

Budget Direct $381.00 with the condition no one under 40 will drive the vehicle
With an Eccess of $500.00

RACV  $787.00 agreed value of $15500 or $685 if the market value is $14100
With an Eccess of $550.00 I didn’t bother asking about the windscreen as you can see the “RACV WAS THE HIGHEST QUOTE”.

Well someone has to pay for the TV commercials, and the buildings not to mention executives fees, directives fees, must I go on……………..
Let me add, have you ever had to deal with making a claim, I have an its not so amicable. I was forced to elevate my claim to court, is was only at this level the RACV decided to resolve the issue, out of court. I encourage you to do the same.

“Who ever the company”

.SUNCORP $570.00 with $500 Eccess  as with most you may choose your own repairer but AAMI need to check who you choose just to make sure they have had no negative dealings in the past.

When it comes to insurance it really pays to shop around but the most preferred option is to avoid an accident as much as possible with the winter  coming up, and those rainy days, so do your self a favour check your tyres to prevent an accident.
Also check that both rear stop and tail lights are operating.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au, in the interests of motor vehicle safety.

Why do I need to check the spare wheel
The best way to explain the need to check your spare tyre is take you back to my days working for the RACV in roadside service, I never minded changing wheels for anyone at any time. Most females were apologetic about the fact that they called someone to change a flat tyre.
The fact is changing a wheel can be dangerous especially if performing this task on a freeway so when checking your tyres on a regular basis go the extra tyre and check the spare as it will deflate over time and there is only one time when you need it how life is so great if the spare is roadworthy and with the correct tyre pressure.

Getting back to my roadside service days, I remember I was in the city where there was absolutely parking, I found the member break-in down parking in the centre of the road with a flat tyre so he would have been waiting for about 45 minutes for me to arrive knowing that I was going to change his tyre only to find in his boot, a boot full of  books, so after taking all the books out of the boot here we find a flat tyre and I thought well some people need protection from them selves, I felt a bit under pressure at the time due to the fact I was getting paid a total of $6 per job yes that’s right a whole $6 dollars this was because I was contracting to the RACV.

Getting back to the spare wheel, it would not even hurt if you were to utilize the spare with other wheels to prevent to spare from rusting.

Now for those of you to whom are not so fortunate to find a real spare wheel, will be looking at a Orange or red skinny, I call it a funny wheel because it looks funny.
The most critical thing to understand about the funny wheel is that you have a speed limit of around 60 to 80 km limit so your home work this week is open up the boot locate the spare wheel check the type of wheel and CHECK THE PRESSURE
May I add if you are broken down on the freeway if possible get a friend to come over and to park behind you about five to ten metres   with the hazard lights on with the engine running in park, basically do what ever it takes to be safe.

For the record I hated the jobs leading me onto the freeway because it only takes a millisecond of error by an oncoming vehicle to change your life forever for this reason I made contact to Eastlink James Tonkin Manager – Strategy & Marketing, ConnectEast Group (jtonkin@connecteast.com.au ) about producing a short Video for motorist to understand freeway safety when breaking down on the freeway, the e-mail was submitted to Eastlink 30-4-10,  still awaiting a reply.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au, in the interests of motor vehicle safety

It’s very easy for me to write about checking your motor vehicles 
engine oil especially between services because I’m the mechanic that gets 
to see the effects of driving a vehicle on low or even no oil showing 
on the dip stick.
Apart from premature wear and tear on the engine, the short term damage 
is overheating due to lack of lubrication oil performs many functions including transferring heat away from the cylinders, it also washes the engine holding acids and silicon oxide in suspension offering a protection of oxidation at higher temperatures.
I think I know why most people don’t check the engine oil between 
services.
Here were some of the reasons given to me when I asked the question.
I didn’t think I needed to check it
That’s what motor mechanics are for right
It’s a new car it doesn’t use any oil
It’s too dirty I’m getting my hands dirty

If I was anything other than a mechanic I would accept most of those 
reasons but I’m not so sorry but you do need to get in the practise of 
checking your engine oil on a weekly basis whether you have new 
vehicle or not.
Of course while your there it won’t kill you to check the washer bottle.
There are many checks to be made under the including the coolant level 
or the water level but I will need explain this some detail as this 
requires special
Attention.
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, in the interest of motor vehicle safety. WWW.virtualmechanic.com.au

Are you a safe driver is your car safe or does your car make you feel safe.
As a sign of getting older I see more on the road, and the part that’s concerns me is the speedy drivers darting down the freeway from lane to lane tailgating everywhere

I can remember my first love, sorry I mean my first car at 18 years old, but I started a lot earlier at 13 years old but lets go to my first 12 months of driving.

At 18 years old I purchased a VW beetle, a red beetle running on 3 out of 4 cylinders this car had a nice smell to it, I was an apprentice motor mechanic at the time and I saw this little beauty just got traded in at the dealership where I was working.

I ask the owner of the ford dealership Mr Perter Durkin if I could buy this car and he was always a kind person and must of saw the excitement in my eye, I remember him saying in front of the service manager why would you be interested in this old bucket its runs on 3 cylinders, I said I can fix that, then Tom Geralt my boss said well its not that simple it’s a VW and what makes you so sure you can fix this problem, I remember it was a gamble, as the VW beetle did suffer from an over heating problem that can result in engine damage, but cocky little apprentice only saw the positive in this bug and took the risk. I purchased the car for $500 I remember it was a good buy at the time and Mr Durkin gave me some degree of favor, with the price.
So I got the little beauty into our workshop and adjust all the valves and then started up the engine, it run as smooth as a fine tuned engine should run. Of course Tom my service manager had to make a comment well young feller this time you were lucky.

This VW had McPherson strut front suspension this made the vehicle poor braking in the wet so anyone that drove a VW with McPherson strut suspension knew to be very careful in the wet or an accident was almost a given.

Getting back to original question about your vehicle and if it makes you feel safe because I would say many accidents occur when the car becomes unpredictable in the wet, because some drivers may not understand the concept of hydroplaning or cohesion, this bring me to my next point before you start to fall asleep.

Have you ever taken your vehicle to a defensive driving schools and therefore understood the limitations of driving in the wet or darting in and out of lanes at dangerous high speeds, don’t misunderstand me here I’m saying take a defensive course to learn how to speed quite the opposite the driving course will give you and understanding of limitations, and I haven’t even started on the tyres and the roadworthiness of the vehicle.

When you are driving your vehicle whether brand new or second hand there is a law of physics in play and as well as road surface conditions are playing a big part when or if you may find the need to brake suddenly.

So how can you understand the behavior of your motor vehicle in the wet
It’s a very quick test; we need to find a street without houses perhaps a new estate.

Travel at 20 Kms per hour in the wet and hit the brakes to understand the behavior of your car, the vehicle pulls up in a straight line this is good if it pulls to one side then we have a problem and will need to see our service centre to ascertain the cause of pulling to one side. If the vehicle will pull up straight then you may try at 40 if you feel comfortable.

At least this will give you some idea of what may occur when braking in the wet.
This has been written in the interests of driver safety
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, the Virtualmechanic.com.au

Attention if you read this first addition I have corrected the structure

This by far is the most  interesting because many people are not involved with the automotive trade and therefore lack understanding and even lack trust to some level due to the fact that not all work on motor vehicles is necessary “that’s right” not all repairs are required but this is limited to the automotive trade.
Let’s explore a small snapshot of our world, here in Australia we have three levels of government managing a total population of 22 million people, but we have approx 1 million people inter related to our Australian government system.
If I want to build a fence I need no less than 3 certificates at a cost of around $1000 now this to me is not right but that’s the system so we develop a lack of trust as we try to hold on to our money as much as possible. We buy a car but we need it serviced and maintained but we a reluctant to pay for this service its something we can’t see the real benefits, its not a nice suit, or a trip to the hair dresses, its something that prevents us from breaking down on the side of the road or even worse its something that prevents an accident due to mechanical failure.

May I add most mechanics in dealerships and service centres 
take enormous pride in there work they come to work ready for a 
challenge, what most people may not be aware of, is the constant change 
of technology and therefore to keep up to date there is a constant 
effort required for night school.
When you take your car to the workshop you are giving your trust and 
faith into the service centre but I pause here because some time ago I 
took my company vehicle into a ford dealership, and it’s wait on some 
line on the floor until the person behind the computer is ready to 
serve you.

Let me say this type of service does nothing to win my confidence 
even if the technician is great at his or her job
Let’s go further most repairs are under a warranty but try getting a 
filling from a dentist and asking for warranty.
I will add more into this subject to encourage motorist when you drop 
your car off have a little faith that mechanics love the challenge to 
keeping your car on the road.
Now if you think your getting ripped off consider another service centre there are some great workshops and sorry to say there are some poor service centres.

I remember a mechanic started his business several doors from my workshop and was very busy, every day more busy than myself but he was “charging his customers about 50 % more and getting away with it” or so he thought, however there is a thing known by all as Karma and so What ever you give out what ever you will receive.

Getting back the dentist is this workmanship covered under warranty, “No”
I need a repair on knee repair so I see an orthopaedic surgeon do you think I get any warranty “No”
The local Government demanding $1000.00 in certificates is this fare “No” but we must pay it
May I conclude And express that if you have found a good mechanic that you feel is servicing your vehicle at a fare cost then let them know your appreciation at the time opportunity perhaps Christmas with a nice bottle of wine and say thankyou for helping me with my car to which I know nothing about but I trust you and its so nice to fine a company in this day and age that keeps me on the road and that prevents me from breaking down on the side of the road.

A Motor Mechanic is an essential item we may not factor in as so important, as we cannot see what is taking place but let me ensure you there are some very fine technicians’ devoted to the automotive trade inspired to do there very best working on hot engines working under pressure working outside of normal operating hours and when they go home they sit back and think well I did my best and repaired an issue that will benefit the customer even tho the maker was not so helpful with all the required information.

This is what makes a motor mechanic come to work every day.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown, Virtualmechanic.com.au

Help my car radio doesn’t work

For some reason car makers have made it frustrating for some vehicles to keep important data like radio codes.

For this reason a new idea was born to help prevent the loss of the important radio codes and on some vehicles engine data the result being poor idle after a new battery is installed.

I cannot emphasize the priority of battery maintenance and now battery change over.
A simple step is required when changing a motor vehicle explained as follows.

To off ignition obtain 2 metres of 5 to 10 amp wire, cut into 2 lengths.
Strip atleast 30 millimeters on each end

I will make some time to produce a short video to help you understand how to keep your motor vehicle from loosing Ram data.

Written By Darren Gow-Brown, Virtualmechanic.com.au

The engine thermostat is an important component to the engines cooling system
But for some reason its removed due to over heating issues.
Engineers have proved that the humble thermostat is necessary to regulate a constant and control temperature range to protect the engine from over heating.

In this short video it demonstrates an easy way to test an engine Thermostat
Produced by Darren Gow-Brown Virtualmechanic.com.au

In a perfect environment your  vehicles engine works very hard to maintain a desired operating temperature.

When I was 18 years old still an apprentice I will never forget the time I was looking at my sisters car, it was over heating so I thought I would investigate this problem.

I was about to remove the radiator cap with full knowledge that most radiators caps have a release notch when removing the cap to prevent the pressure of the cooling system spraying hot water every where.

Well I was rotating the cap to release the pressure with the understanding that there was no pressure under the cap, next thing I was overcome by extreme hot water onto my face, this was embarrassing the next thing I remember I was on my way to the Dandenong Hospital, with burns to the face and eyes, this is why its very important to understand the dangers of opening a radiator cap when the engine is hot especially when or if the cooling system is over heating.

The only time to remove a radiator cap is when the engine is cold.

An engine thermostat should never be removed accept when replacing a faulty thermostat, for some reason many people think if they are having a problem with high engine temperature a solution is to remove the thermostat.

The misconception is by removing the thermostat the gauge may decrease from high to normal.

Allow me to explain what happens if a thermostat is removed form an engines cooling system; the water is not transferring hot water from the engine to the radiator as its designed.

The purpose of the thermostat is to hold water in the engine long enough for the molecules to expand then the thermostat will open and allow the hot water into the radiator to cool down and contract, this is in normal operating conditions.

Let me add if the cooling system requires constant topping up this means there is a leak in the cooling system and the potential of rapid cooling and rapid heating, this is where the cylinder head will be exposed to a higher heat range and thus offering the potential warping and or cracks.

The cooling system is designed to maintain a constant desired engine temperature to aid in the ultimate fuel economy as the air to fuel ratio only operates effectively when the engine is operating within this parameter.
Written by Darren Gow-Brown Virtualmechanic.com.au