YOUR MECHANIC WON'T BE HAPPY.

                                         
Hey there, having car problems?, been there, and the only thing that could compound car problems is mechanic problems, yes road side mechanics, dishonest mechanics, quack mechanics, “sebi you wan ride Benz” mechanics, and their money grabbing antics, every car owner is familiar with their ever ready catch phrases , “Oga your gasket don spoil”, “ madam this thing na piston o, na serious problem o", “boss man e good say you come sharp sharp o, carburetor for Benz na headache o", but does your car have any of these problems?.


It is said that you can tell a lot about a person from how he looks after his car, and we usually leave this jobs to mechanics, and we can't always trust mechanics to tell us the truth, but a little automobile know how could save you some coins, don't let the shock and awe of mechanical engineering lingo intimidate you as we break down and interprete what's under your hood from Greek to English.

RADIATOR;

   The radiator is the cooling unit of the car, cars burn fuel to produce the energy needed for motion and this gives off a lot of heat, the radiator is the fan looking thing behind the fan and grill in front of the car, the radiator is connected to the coolant tank, that tank where you've been dumping water every fortnight is supposed to be coolant, a fluid designed specially to absorb heat. When the car is turned on and the engine burns fuel to Move the car, the engine warms up gradually, when it reaches a set temperature the thermometer sensors let the coolant flow through the engine taking some of the heat in the engine with it all the way to the radiator.
   The radiator is winding tube usually made of copper, this design is also used in refrigerators, the design and material of the radiator allows the hot coolant to flow slowly through the tube loosing the heat on the way down as the fan pushes air over the radiator tubes, at the bottom of the radiator the coolant now cool is pumped back to the coolant tank to repeat the process. So your overheating engine is caused by a leak or clog in your radiator, or a broken tube from coolant tank to the radiator both easy fixes.  So before your  “mechanic” tries to sell you the bad gasket or piston story make you shell out cash, do a little diagnostic for yourself.

CARBURETORS;

The infamous “Carprator", is a device built for deceptively simple but important function, to pump fuel into the cylinder in a fine spray that can be ignited with ease, the carburetors design makes this possible via a narrow channel in which liquid gasoline turns to a fine spray as it flows through this narrow passage then it mixes with air and feeds the fuel-air mixture into the cylinder where it is pressurized and the spark plug ignites the mixture. An engine that turns over but doesn't start could point to a faulty carburetor, the carburetor could be feeding the wrong air to fuel mixture into the cylinders or the air intake port at the top of the carburetor may be clogged and may need a new air filter. But a car that runs well, with all cylinders producing full power doesn't have a carburetor problem, don't let anyone throw the word around scare money out of your wallet.


INJECTOR;

The injector does the same job as the carburetor only more efficiently, injectors are found on automobile models manufactured after year 2000, injectors are run by on-board computers and electrical systems, a problem with the injector not pumping fuel-air mixture into the cylinder can be diagnosed by checking error codes or checking the fuse box for a burnt fuse, either ways even a faulty or non functioning injector can be replaced, however it is important to know if you car runs an injector or a carburetor.



GASKET;

A gasket isn't a complicated contraption of mechanical engineering that only skilled experts can identify and diagnose, a gasket is a sheet of asbestos fibre, rubber or PTFE material placed between the top and bottom blocks of the engine to form a seal over the cylinders to ensure proper compression and to mitigate coolant and oil leaks. Unlike other parts already discussed, the gasket isn't placed in a position to be seen, but yet its quite easy to diagnose a compromised gasket like oil and coolant leaks under the car, milky oil on the dipstick, frothy coolant in the coolant overflow tank and white smoke in the exhaust and coolant or oil in the exhaust pipe, this is a serious issue, but easily diagnosed and easily fixed, if the car presents non of these issues it is most unlikely that you have a gasket problem.





INTAKE MANIFOLD;

The air intake manifold is a long valve running from the front of the car to the air filter which splits into multiple ports that connect to the cylinders to supply air in direct injection engines or fuel-air mixture in carburetor engines, a broken manifold simply means you're loosing air, that air is half of the air-fuel mixture that powers combustion, so engine misfire, reduction in the expected power of the engine, poor acceleration, reduction in the miles per gallon.




ALTERNATOR;

An alternator is the power plant of the car, it supplies electrical power needs of the car while running the battery only supplements when the energy demand overpowers the alternator. So what does the battery do you ask, well it takes a lot of energy to start a car, so the battery powers the crank and ignition system and this pretty much drains the battery, but once the car is running all the power needs fall on the alternator which also begins to replenish the battery. So a bad battery will ruin an alternator and a bad alternator will ruin a battery, signs of a bad alternator are a battery that refuses to start after every stop, dim lights, problems in the electrical systems.




PISTONS;

The pistons are mechanical parts that fit right into the cylinders on the engine block and are the primary moving part in the four stroke engine, intake , compression, ignition, exhaust. Pistons are generally made of aluminium, and there are two types, forged pistons and cast pistons. Forged pistons are generally more durable and will get more milage before they eventually crack but cast pistons are equally high quality and do just fine. The number of pistons depends on the number of cylinders, a V6 has 6 cylinders and a V8 has 8 cylinders, hence 6 and 8 pistons respectively, so pistons crack because they are moving parts and wear and tear can't be evaded but all pistons can't crack at once, but a cracked piston can crack the cylinder head and this is a very expensive and complicated repair that involves stripping the engine and rebuilding it most times it doesn't make any sense to attempt to repair this problem from an economic stand point and only a handful of mechanics are qualified or equipped to attempt this fix.



CRANKSHAFT;

The crankshaft is the part of the engine that converts the up and down motion of the pistons to rotational motion and moves the car forward, each piston in the cylinders is linked to the crankshaft via a connecting rod, the connecting rods connect to the crankshaft by sitting on bearing to reduce direct friction. A crankshaft is part of the engine and its made of forged metal so its hard to damage, a bad crankshaft could ground the entire car, a faulty crankshaft will cause trouble starting the car.



SERVICING.

“Servicing” your car is a very broad term that covers everything that concerns a periodic visit to your mechanic, but in reality its just an oil change and inspection of moving parts susceptible to fail from wear and tear, like brake pads, but the oil change bill is one that is unavoidable at the auto shop except you opt to go the DIY way and save yourself  some money, its easy too.
You'll need an oil filter wrench.
First warm the car for 5 minutes to get the oil warm and reduce its viscosity, then turn it off. Wedge the tyres and lift it with a jack, get an oil collection pan to catch the waste oil. get under the car, locate the oil filter, pry the oil filter loose with the oil filter wrench , the oil should come flowing out now, keep your face away from the oil its hot, catch it with the oil pan till it all flows out and slows to a trickle. Get your new oil filter, rub a little oil around its rim, remove the ring from the old one and put on the new filter, now screw it back into position with the oil filter wrench and that’s it, all done. Refill your oil tank, congratulations you've completed your first oil change.
So you're armed with knowledge that places you in the elite class of car owners and an advantage your mechanic doesn't know about.



Written by : Roman Valentine.
Graduate of biochemistry and molecular biology, Content creator, writer, scriptwriter, knower of a lot about a lot,I write about everything from farming and economics to quantum mechanics,  lover of tech and cars, CEO Spaceman Apparel.
Email: rbane18@gmail.com