Automotive Academy

Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle, so you need to know how to change your car’s oil. Changing oil is very simple and it should not take any longer than 15 minutes.

1.) First step is to run the engine for 5-10 minutes to warm the oil. After you do this you need to be careful as the engine parts will be hot! You need to locate the oil drain plug, and position the drain pan underneath.

2.) Next you need to remove the dipstick to allow air to enter the oil pan

3.) Use the adjustable or box end wrench to loosen the drain plug. Finish removing the drain plug by hand, and allow the oil to drain.

4.) As the oil is draining, use the filter wrench to remove the oil filter. Adjust the chain on the wrench to fit the size of your filter. Turn the filter counter-clockwise until it loosens, then finish removing by hand. The filter will be full of oil so place it in the drain pan open-side down to allow it to drain.

5.) After the oil has drained from the oil plug port, clean and replace the oil plug. Next, dip your finger into the old oil and spread a thin film on the rubber gasket located around the opening on the new oil filter.

6.) Next thread the new filter onto the engine mount, where you removed the old one. Don’t use the filter wrench to tighten.

7.) After you have replaced the oil filter and drain plug, begin to add the new oil through the oil port, located in the valve cover. And then check the level by cleaning, and inserting the dipstick to check the level. Continue to add oil until you reach the proper level.

8.) Replace the dipstick, and the oil port cover. Look underneath for leaks. Now start the car, and let it idle for 10 minutes. Check again for leaks. Once you have driven 20 miles you must check again for leaks and also check the oil level, if it appears low you need to top the oil up. 

Whatever it is that needs to be de-iced, the process will be much easier if it is first coated with a lightly oily spray. In the case of windshields, one of the handiest and most economic de-icing solutions is Rain-X. This will not prevent ice from forming on the windshield, but it will make ice removal a quick and easy process because it doesn’t allow the ice to directly bond to the glass.

Save some money by making your own homemade de-icing fluid. Then pour the liquid into the windshield reservoir. The fluid will help to cut through windshield ice and it won’t freeze up unless you live in or near Antarctica. As an added benefit, the fluid will also help to keep the plastic parts of the windshield spraying system from becoming brittle over time.

That’s right; those innovative little scientists have made a windshield spray that makes ice on windows, doors, handles, and locks instantly disappear. De-icer works wonders in any situation, and it doesn’t hurt the surfaces underneath (paint, wax, etc.)

Remote start systems can be installed in most types of vehicles, including those with standard transmissions, which can help to warm up the car before you get into it, de-icing the windows ready for when you get in the car. Remember – leave your car out of gear before starting and always lock the vehicle!

Car cleaning products can be made at home, much less expensive than the store bought cleaners and they are better for the environment too. Here are some home made recipes that will take care of all of your car care needs.  

CAR WASH SOLUTION: Add a couple drops of liquid castile soup which can be found in health food stores to a bucket of water and wash with a sponge or soft cloth.

WINDOW CLEANER: Fill a clean spray bottle with full strength white vinegar and spray onto windows, then allow it to sit for a few minutes, then, wipe dry with a piece of newspaper.

CHROME CLEANER: Mix together equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Then, spray it on your wheels; and work it in with a sponge or cleaning rag. Note: Vinegar should not be used on aluminum alloys.

CARPET AND UPHOLSTERY STAIN REMOVER: Mix white vinegar and baking soda together to form a paste. Then, work the paste into any carpet and upholstery stains with an old toothbrush or something similar. Allow the paste to dry. Then, vacuum up the baking soda, and the stains should be gone. Note: Some stains may need to be treated more than once.

INTERIOR CLEANER: Mix together equal parts white vinegar and water. Then, spray it on any vinyl, plastic, wood, or leather surfaces in your car that need cleaning. Allow it to soak in. Then, wipe dry with a clean rag. Note: As with any leather cleaner, you should test on a small area before applying to the entire surface.

WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID: Mix half white vinegar with half water and fill your windshield washer fluid reservoir. The acetic acid in the vinegar dissolves grime, bugs, and sap. It also helps keep windows frost free in the winter.

Rear-facing not only turns out to be safer for infants, but for people of all ages. In fact, we would all be safer rear-facing in cars, airplanes, trains and elsewhere. Of course, this would not be acceptable to most adults.  

When seating babies, it is best to remain rear-facing to the weight and height limits of the carseat.  Some convertible carseats have 30 or 35 pound rear-facing limits.  In all cases, infants should be rear-facing until they are both one year and twenty pounds at the very minimum.

Usually a child can be moved to a booster when they are too big for a harnessed carseat, and once they are able to sit properly in a seatbelt.  A child should be in some type of booster seat until around 8 years old, unless they are already 4′ 9″ tall.

Fortunately, adults are somewhat better able to withstand the forces on the head and neck in a severe crash when they are front-facing. Babies have very immature bones and connective tissue, and this is especially the case when they are younger than 1 year or under 20 pounds. For that reason, front-facing babies face a particularly serious risk of spinal cord injury in a frontal crash.

Frontal crashes are more frequent, more severe and usually have less ride-down time than rear-end crashes.  In such a frontal crash, it is easy to see why a rear-facing carseat is a better choice.  The entire shell of the carseat cradles the child’s back, neck and head. Some seats even have foam protection in the shell to cushion the child even more. 

The crash forces are spread throughout the large area of the child’s back and head, reducing the pressure during the crash, and keeping the head from snapping backward with respect to the body.  Unlike this rear-facing carseat, a child’s legs and head are not restrained at all if they are turned front-facing.  In a serious frontal crash with a front-facing carseat, the head and legs of the child are thrown forward like a rag doll, and serious forces are put on the child’s spinal cord. 

In a front-facing carseat, only the harness couples the energy to the child’s body.  The smaller area of the harness means more pressure on the child.  In the egg analogy, the egg is much less likely to break if it is caught using the whole padded area of your hand rather than with just a couple bony fingers.

Similarly, for the uncommon rear-end crash, a front-facing carseat may be safer than a rear-facing model.  Still, rear-end crashes are much less common and much less severe than frontal crashes, and it is for that reason we choose to maximize the protection for a frontal crash instead. 

In addition, rear-facing carseats can also provide an added degree of safety in side-impacts.  Rear-facing seats will usually protect the head from being thrown outside the shell of the carseat much better than a front-facing carseat in a frontal offset or side impact.

When your child is sat in the car seat ideally you want the child to be coupled in as tightly as possible to the harness system and car seat, and the car seat as tight as possible to the vehicle with the seatbelt of latch system.

When you do this, the child gains all the benefit of “ride-down time” provided by the crushing frame of the vehicle in a crash.  With a loose installation of any kind, the child gets less ride down time and suffers a more severe crash into the harness system.  The analogy is that a tight installation is like catching an egg when you “give” backward with your hand to prevent it from breaking.

A loose installation will be more like holding your arm and hand rigid when you catch the egg.  The egg will splatter in your hand if you don’t give, much like what happens to the internal organs of a person when they are flung into a loose seatbelt or harness. Vehicle frames, advanced seatbelts and airbags are all designed to help passengers slow down more gradually.

Car seats themselves are not designed provide much ride-down time; their main functions are to prevent ejection and to allow the child to be coupled tightly to the vehicle so the frame can provide the necessary ride-down time.??

Rear-end crashes allow for a lot more ride-down time than frontal crashes, the potential energy in a rear-end crash is usually lower than a frontal crash because the speeds involved are slower. In addition, the two vehicles are not usually moving toward each other like they would be in a frontal crash.  That often means one vehicle is allowed to “give”, and the overall ride-down times for both vehicles are much greater, meaning lower forces on the passengers.

The speed of a vehicle is very important to the energy in a crash, even more important than the weight in the vehicle, when frontal and frontal offset crashes occur they are the most severe as they often happen when both vehicles are traveling at a high speed and in a opposite direction.

Rear and rear offset crashes often happen at lower speeds, and most of these cases are when one vehicle is stopped or nearly stopped, and another vehicle hits it from behind at a low speed.  Other cases of accidents like this are when both vehicles are traveling in the same direction at a similar speed and one is bumped from behind.

So the difference in the speed of the vehicles is usually much slower in a rear end crash, this means the energy in the crash will be much lower and if the energy is low there is less chance of a injury. Ride down time is the time is takes for a person to come to a complete stop in a crash. The total force on the passenger will increase with the weight of the person and the speed they were traveling before the crash. The total force on the passenger decreases as the time it takes to stop increases.

While we have often have no control of the speeds involved in a crash, we can do some things to help increase the time it takes for a passenger to come to a stop.  As mentioned earlier, in a frontal crash the vehicles are often traveling in opposite directions at high speeds.  When they crash, both vehicles stop very suddenly, in a small fraction of a second, and even a small increase in the stopping time can considerably reduce the risk of injury. 

Even with best practice, not all injuries can be prevented. Some crashes are unsurvivable. Still, much of best practice is based on statistics, and how to have the best chance to reduce injuries. Best practice may also be based on crash forces and physics. Both are very important regarding the use of rear facing seats.

Rear-facing seats are a lot safer for babies, as they would face a greater risk of spinal cord injury in a front-facing car-seat during a frontal crash, a rear facing seat may not be as effective in a rear end crash but severe frontal and frontal offset crashes are far more common and severe than rear end crashes.

A few factors govern the physics of crashes as they relate to children in car seats. Obviously, the faster the vehicles are going, the more energy will be in the crash.  Perhaps most important is the length of time passengers have to “ride-down” a crash.   The longer the “ride-down”, the more time your skeleton and organs have to absorb the crash energy.   Longer time means less power is transferred to your body, and less chance of injury.

Frontal and frontal offset crashes are accountable for 72% of severe crashes, side impacts are 24% and rear crashes are only 4%. The odds of being in a fatal frontal crash are far higher than a rear end crash. Rear end crashes are very common when cars are moving at a low speed, and these types of crashes usually result in whiplash injury to adults especially passengers lacking head restraints.