#7Is Engine Oil Overfilling Bad For Your Car?

Most of us know the functions of the engine oil. In case you don’t, the engine oil lubricates the moving parts, avoids overheating, cleans the parts from soot (a thick black mixture of oil and smoke), and cushions the joints of the engine. If you know a thing or two about cars, you might also know how to check the engine oil level. To check it, pull out the dipstick (when the engine is cold), wipe it clean, insert it back again. Once again, pull out the dipstick and look at its tip. There will two markings, one above the other. If the oil stains the top marking, you are good to go. If it stains below the bottom marking, you need to fill up.
What Is the Problem?
If you add excess oil in your car, the symptoms might not show up all of a sudden. But inside the engine, the crankshaft will be submerged in excess oil. Pouring excess oil into the engine would also invite more air into the engine chamber. The air+oil mixture, along with the fast rotating crankshaft, will produce foam. Foam degrades the lubricating capacity of the engine oil at a large scale.
What are the Symptoms?

If your car emits too much white smoke (with a blue or grey tint), chances for excess engine oil are high. White smoke is produced (generally) when oil creeps into the combustion chamber and burns. The vapours produced are emitted as the smoke.
Verdict

An automobile engine works efficiently in an optimal condition. Anything above or below that optimal range would prove harmful for the engine. So, next time you fill up the engine oil, make sure you keep it at its optimal level.

#6 Know your vehicle’s Transmission

A transmission (or gearbox in lay man language) is a bridge between the engine and the drive wheels of a vehicle. It transforms torque and horsepower to various speed limits. To simply put, it sends power from the first part to the second part to help the car to move forward and backward. The automatic version of the gearbox can change gears with the movement of the vehicles, the driver does not need to do anything except for selecting the modes. Modern vehicles feature a few versions of automatic transmission types. Let’s have a look:

 

Torque converter automatic:   
This type of gearbox was the first one(obviously in automatic category) to be produced for masses.This is the standard type of automatic transmission to be found in most of the cars these days. Unlike a manual gearbox, it does not use a clutch to change gears. Instead, a hydraulic fluid coupling or a torque converter does this job.These automatics generally had a low fuel economy due to increased weight of the vehicle and was only popular among luxury cars.

Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT):

Rather than sets of gears, CVTs use a belt that runs between two variable-diameter pulleys to give a wide range of ratios and a smooth transition between them.The advantage of a CVT is that the engine can be kept at its most efficient speed while the transmission adjusts to changes in load or road speed.A limiting factor is that because CVTs rely on friction between the belt and the pulleys, they haven’t yet been designed to handle a lot of power.It is the same automatic transmission which is used in gearless scooters.

 

Automated-Manual Transmission

It has same set of gears that are used in a manual transmission a similar mechanism with the only change is a computerized gear shift.The electronic control unit helps to shift the gears up and down depending upon the load.Think of it as a third person who is pressing the clutch and shifting gears for you.However this system is a bit slow to react on immediate pedal inputs.

 

Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT)

There is no torque converter in DCT. You will use two separate shafts for gear changing, one for odd-numbered and another for even-numbered gears. Both the shafts have their own clutch.It is super fast in changing gears and is found in all high end vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#5Crash guard banned?

Govt. Of India has recently banned crash guard or bull bar that was mostly mounted to give your vehicle especially SUV a macho look. Was it is good decision by the government? Lets discuss!

Crash guard may sceem to be promising to your security from crash but they ain’t, yes you heard me right , modern cars are equipped with airbags and within some span of time airbags will be mandatory for all the 4 wheelers.During a crash , the crash sensors send signals for the deployment of airbags but when we have a crash guard install crash sensors cannot sense the crash and hence airbags don’t get deployed.

Crash guards are generally mounted on the chassis of the vehicle and hence the chassis absorbs the collision energy that can seriously injure the occupants.

Have you ever thought why all the cars ranging from 1 lakh to  10 crore INR ARE fit with plastic or fibre bumpers when metal would have been easily repairable,Some might think that it would be a cost savings technique but why would a company selling a car for 2Cr. Cut cost? Well its a simple engineering technique for the security of both occupant and even the pedestrian.In an event of a crash the plastic bumper absorbs the energy of crash by deforming or breaking that minimizes the force that reaches to the occupants through the chassis and even when plastic bumper hits a pedestrian injury to him is minimized. 

Hence it was a good move by the government.

#4 Petrol or diesel?

 The very prior question that arises in one’s mind while purchasing a car is whether one should opt for petrol or diesel engine?
Let us first gather the factors that will decide the ownership cost of your car. Generally showroom price of diesel   vehicles is 10-20% more than it’s petrol counterpart.For reference, the difference between Suzuki Swift diesel and petrol variant is roughly  INR 1.2 lacs . Diesel costs  around ₹ 10 less for a litre than petrol in almost every city. Fuel economy is the other factor, diesel being 20-30% more efficient than petrol engine.The next factor being theservice cost, most of the petrol cars have a service interval of 8-10 thousand kilometers while diesel cars have a service interval of 10-15 thousand kilometers depending upon the manufacturer and model. While the service cost of diesel is a bit more than petrol vehicle it barely adds 50 paise for a kilometer . Let us assume you drive 1500kms a month or 50kms a day. The petrol has a mileage of 12km/l and diesel about 17km/l.
Petrol daily usage: 50/12= 4.167 litres = 4.16×66= INR 275
Diesel daily usage: 50/17= 2.94 litres = 2.94×54= INR 159
Difference in daily usage of petrol and diesel= 275-159= INR 116
So, the difference in the entire year= 116 x365 = INR 42,340
So a person has to drive for atlest 3 years to cover the extra money paid and diesel vehicle will become profitable after this span of time. 
So should you buy a diesel or petrol?
Well, If you drive more than 1500 kilometers in a month then definitely diesel should be your choice but if all you do is , drive to your office whose distance can be calculated on fingers then definitely petrol should be your choice. Selecting diesel or petrol vehicle is just like selecting a shirt you can buy medium or large but it depends which fits you the best!

#3 Can I increase the efficiency of my car?

Automobiles with high mileage have always been a choice for most of the people, well It should be and I need not specify why.We all can get the best efficiency from our car with some basic but very useful methods.The mileage figures I get some times are even greater than what the company claims it to be.

The first and the foremost thing while buying a car is to select a car which has a respectable fuel efficiency because its next to impossible to ride 25km in a litre from a vehicle whose claimed efficiency is just 10kmpl.The next golden mantra is to press the accelerator pedal with a soft foot,smoother you drive more fuel you save.70-90Kmph is the best speed where distance travelled and fuel economy are proportionate. Trying to accelerate linearly can save you bucks.Judge the distance of car in front of you and take your foot off from accelerator rather than going dangerously near it and braking.Many cars come equipped with start and stop function in which the engine shuts down on signals automatically, if your car doesn’t have it you can always turn your engine off while idealing.Choose the best gear for the particular speed and avoid reving the engine hard. Taking care of the power house is the other most important thing. Cleaning your air filter and replacing it at regular intervals really helps your engine breathe.Getting engine oil changed and topping up your coolant time to time are other necessary things which should be kept in mind.Get tyres checked time to time for air and alignment.

Treating your vehicle good will not only save you fuel but also long term maintenance cost.It will definitely increase life of your engine and will rarely break down ‘on the middle of a highway’.

#2Why electric mobility is the future?

There has always been  a debate between CI and SI engines, people have been discussing about merits and demerits of the two but the truth is that they lie on same side of the coin.Some of you might think what’s on the other side, well it’s the hybrid and electric automobiles which we will all own in at least 15 years from now.Some of the countries have already decided to phase out vehicles with internal combustion engines in the near future.

So what is the need of Electric mobility?

Well, its known to us that we are going to run out of  these petroleum reserves very soon if not then the prices of these resources will shoot so high that it will be unaffordable for many of us.While the sources of producing renewable energy are getting cheaper and accessible to common man , it has become easier to produce electricity ‘at home’. Electric car can ferry a passenger in a cost as low as Re1 for a kilometer in contrast to internal combustion engines which can cost eben Rs. 10 for a high spec engine. Electric vehicles don’t even need to be serviced as often as the cars with an engine.Not only electric vehicles save you bucks “after owning” it,they also save our mother earth.

Verdict

Electric mobility can be or I should say “will be” our future in the coming years.The only challenge is to develop a “really fast ” charging process so people can take their electric cars as far as they could take a car with a combustion engine because no one wants be stuck at a  highway because his vehicle is out of charge.Well the electric car will save you bucks while driving but the inital cost of the electric car will surely dig a hole in your wallet,  Mahindra e2o might have been a successful EV if it would have not costed an arm and a leg.Providing subsided electric vehicles can be an initiative that should be taken by the government and car manufacturing companies should also try to cut the difference between cost price and selling price of the vehicle because at last our cash reserves don’t matter, all what matters is the quality of air we breathe. Electric vehicles may or may not be very successful today but in the near future I’m sure we’ll have to and we will definitely own one.