What is a Crank Position Sensor

Modern engines run by using a number of specialized sensors such as Air Fuel Ratio Sensor or O2 Sensor units. While the air flow in an engine is extremely important there are other factors that need to be measured such as the position of all the parts of the motor at any given time.

The way this info is calculated is through sensors such as the crank angle sensor and the cam angle sensor. These units measure where the rotation angle of the crank and the cam shafts respectively. The cams and the crank must be kept in specific positions to each other since if they are not the valves will be smashed by the pistons.

The ECM controls the engine and if it detects that the cams and the crank are not in the specific location it will retard the timing or kill the engine all together. The ECM will do this to protect the motor from damage, if the timing gets too far off it can potentially damage the engine internally.

Timing also dictates how much horsepower the engine makes and how the fuel is burned. If these sensors fail the combustion of the engine can get all out of whack which is potentially dangerous. Besides the fact that the pistons can impact the valves there is the factor of detonation. This occurs when the fuel mixture is wrong and the explosion in the cylinder is not in the correct location and it takes place faster than it should. There are some instances where the combustion of the fuel takes place to quickly and in a specific location on the cylinder wall which will cause damage to the block itself. This detonation can even cause holes in the block or melting of the pistons. For all modern cars it is a good idea to check all these sensors when the car is in for service. They do play a pretty major factor in the life of a vehicles motor. 

What Can Debris Do to Your Car

Each one of use knows that when it comes to cars we all know that debris on the road can be dangerous to our ride.  A shredded semi tire can hurt the body of a car as much as a collision with a pole and sometimes it can be worse. The other day a couch fell off the truck in front of me but these are all obstacles that can be avoided if the driver is paying attention. Making sure your steering rack and pinion or steering gearbox is in good shape is a great way to be sure you can maneuver out of the way of these road hazards.

Road debris is for sure a hazard but what about engine debris? The kind you cannot see, the kind that floats around the engine causing issues from spot to spot. Debris can be thought of as any particles in the motors systems that are not supposed to be there. In other words a metal flake in the ac system, dirt particles in the intake or even rust in the fuel tank. It is all debris that can cost a driver hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Debris in the AC system is a time bomb just waiting to go off, The reason being is the whole system is under a great deal of pressure and even the smallest metal shard can shred a seal and make the whole system leak. Not only could debris cause leaking but it can lodge at places in the compressor that will cause it to seize up. But debris in something like the fuel system can cut off the flow of fuel to the engine then the car cannot even run. Debris in the steering system can cause the steering pump to fail or lock in a single direction which can cause an accident.

While debris in the system may not be as immediate as hitting a couch in the middle of the road or running into a pole parking your car, it is an issue. A lot of these issues are unavoidable due to the nature of the issue debris usually enters these systems while work is being done. To be sure that this does not happen to your car make sure that the mechanic doing work on sensitive areas of your car knows what he is doing.

Drunk Driving is Never OK

Every day the evidence of what can happen if someone drives under the influence can be seen. The damage from this kind of action can be more than just spilling your drink on your car radio or car navigation system, it can be horrible. Alcohol impairs the ability of a person to control their motor skills and not to mention their reasoning “insert college movie scene here” but what does it do behind the wheel.

When a person gets behind the wheel it means that they have agreed to take responsibility of the 3000 lbs piece of metal and its actions. This is a fact that many people don’t realize, a car is basically the largest most dangerous device you will ever own. None of us would consider grabbing a gun and going out for some target practice while under the influence…or would they. There is no difference in drunk driving or waving a loaded gun at people, no matter what someone life is in the balance.

In 2006 17,941 people were killed in alcohol related accidents and over a million arrests are made each year for DUI. Many people will dismiss a few drinks as ok to drive but studies show that even after just one drink your reaction time is affected. In other words driving should be avoided if you have had any drinks and in times like these using a cab will spur the economy and a $30 cab ride is always cheaper than the average $15,000 a DUI costs the driver. In other words a person could take a cab home 500 times before they reach the cost of a DUI not to mention it may just save a life or 5. If more inspiration to avoid drunk driving is needed, just Google drunk driving accident and click images...it will take your breath away and make you think twice. 

How to Choose the Proper Tire Size

Tires like people come in all shapes and sizes, from monster trucks to lawn mowers they all take some sort of tire. There can be so many choices when buying tires it can be confusing. Tires are not like a wheel hub assembly or wheel bearing assembly there are tons that can fit on the same car. Some tires are able to fit under a car but are too large to allow the car to turn and others are too small making all the gauges in the car inaccurate. Not to mention tires that are too small will lower the performance of the car.

There are numbers that are listed on the side of a tire that will indicate the diameter and thickness. These numbers are listed in a very specific order which as an example would be something like a 205/40/85R. This code can be broken down by section the 205 is the width of the tire. The 40 refers to the height of the sidewall and the 85R will refer to the compound of the tire and the speed rating.

The width of the tire will decide the contact patch on the road, this is the area where the tire is actually resting on the road. This is also the only area where the horsepower of the car is actually transferred to the pavement. The height of the sidewall will dictated the comfort of the ride since the sidewall is the area that absorbs the small bumps in the road. The sidewall also protects the rims from dents due to large impacts. The speed rating literally dictates the speed at which the tires will begin to fall apart. Exceeding the speed rating of any tire is dangerous and potentially fatal due to the chance of failure and the resulting accident. The compound rating will tell the stickiness of the rubber used, while a stickier tire will give more grip it will wear out much faster than other tires.

Selecting the correct tire is essential to the ride and handling quality of the car and is best left to the professionals. If you are going to buy your own tired be sure to study up on the suggested tires for your individual ride. 

Is That Smoke Coming From My Tailpipe

It can be a scary experience…not to mention nerve racking. Making that daily commute to work and BOOM a huge cloud of smoke starts to for behind your car. The mind starts to race with all the problems that could be causing this situation is my motor dead, has my turbo gone bad and if so how will it cost to fix my turbocharger. Or the even worse situation, I just replaced the turbo…please not again! The worst part is the install cost like $1000+ and your car will be down again for who knows how long.

When this happens there is always a silver lining to this cloud of smoke, smoke is not always associated with a thousand dollar repair, it can be something much easier. The first step to understanding the issue is to look at the color of the smoke itself. When the smoke is black it is fuel not being burnt correctly, white means that the coolant is burning off and blue means oil is burning.

Now that the color of the smoke can be understood it can be worked out and fixed. When it comes to a newly installed turbo it may be residual oil left from the old turbo’s failure. Oil from a bad turbo will build up in the lowest point in the system and in a turbo intake system that is the intercooler. The intercooler is the unit at the front area of the car where the air travels across to disperse the heat created by the turbocharging process.  When the old oil has pooled in the intercooler the extremely high pressure air can push it into the intake of the car and it will burn off in the engine. Oil smoke is very potent and just one drop can fill up a room with enough smoke to choke someone. It is easy to imagine that a quart of oil would take a long time to burn and will also coat oxygen sensors and valves cause in future issues. The main thing to remember when there is an issue with your car is to take a breath and remember that it is not the end of the world. Even though it may feel that way, if you step back and think it may be something as easy as a coolant hose that has a crack. 

Get Rid of that Squeal from under the Hood

There are lots of noises that come with operating a vehicle, from the hum of the fuel pump to the whine of a supercharger. The whistle of the turbocharger or the quiet roar of the tires on the pavement they are all sounds we get accustom to. The one sound that is common that most of us cannot stand is a belt squeal. The noise is created either by the belt in the groves of the pulleys in which it rides. There are a few different causes can be associated with the source of the squeal. When the sound comes after a rain or driving through a large puddle it means that some of the water has reached the back of the belt and is causing slippage which is the source of the sound.

Belt squeals are caused by the belt not being tight enough and slipping on the pulley, when the rubber of the belt slides on the pulley it causes the sound. A huge concern on this is that the belt will wear faster and could snap leaving the drive of the vehicle stranded.

Belts become loose for a few reasons in a vehicle, one is that over time the belt has stretched due to tension. Another factor can be physical movement of the belt driven part itself, all belt drive accessories are bolted to the motor on sliders. If the bolts that hold these units become loose the belt tension will lower and slippage will occur.

Belt squeals can be fixed in a number of ways, a new belt can be installed and the problem will be solved though this can be expensive at times. The more popular solution is to just simply tighten the belt, this is a simple process of loosening the bolts that hold the accessory causing the sound and moving the unit till the belt is tight. Then secure the bolts and the sound should be stopped, it is important to not over tighten the belt as too much tension can cause the belt to snap. As with all car maintenance it is important that this be done properly by someone who knows that they are doing. With proper attention a car can last well into the half million mile marker without major issues. 

What does the Alternator Do?

Cars run a number of systems each of which has a specific task, all of these processes function with one commonality. They all in one way or another rely on electricity from the battery to keep them going. While the diesel fuel pumps and diesel injector both run on electrical impulses many other systems rely on electricity as well. Belt driven systems like the power steering pump and water pump may seem to have nothing to do with the electric flow but they rely on the movement of the motor which is caused by combustion started by a spark.

The alternator is the belt driven unit in the motor which generates electricity that can be flowed to the battery in order to keep the unit from discharging all of its power. If the alternator fails the car will not instantly die because the battery retains a charge that can maintain the systems for a short time. Do not expect to make it very far on just the battery since every function in the car is going to be draining the battery of its life.

Electricity or the movement of electrons is created by the alternator by way of a rotating coil driven by the belt of the motor. Around the coil is a larger coil that uses a magnetically opposite metal that forces the electrons to move through the coils and then out of the lines from the unit. This flow of electrons will charge the battery and keep the car going.