While many components of your vehicle are complex and composed of lots of mechanical and electrical parts, there’s one that isn’t complicated but still important. It’s your engine air filter.
As you know, today’s vehicles rely on a lot of computers in them to keep them running clean and efficiently. Those computers depend on information delivered by several sensors throughout the engine and exhaust system. And one of the most important is the oxygen sensor.
Maybe your vehicle feels like Breaking Bad. In other words, when you brake, things are bad. You may find it takes you a longer distance to stop, you feel a vibration, or it’s pulsating when you depress the brake pedal, or perhaps your vehicle pulls to one side.
No, ERG isn’t the sound a pirate makes. It’s a part in your vehicle that recirculates exhaust gas to reduce certain gases and pollutants in the atmosphere. In fact, ERG stands for “Exhaust Gas Recirculation.”
When you start your vehicle’s engine, there’s another motor that makes that whole process possible. It’s called the starter, and it’s a small electric motor that gets your vehicle running.
Your vehicle’s engine is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a power plant. But it has another power source that is vital as well: the alternator.
There’s something you can do that helps your tires last longer, wear more evenly and your vehicle handle better. “Sign me up,” you say! Wondering what that is? It’s aligning your wheels, and it will literally point you in the right direction when it comes to a better and safer driving experience.
If your vehicle’s power goes to the rear wheels, then you have something called U-joints in the drivetrain. U-joints are connectors that allow the rotating power from your vehicle’s engine to deliver its power through a driveshaft to make the rear wheels rotate. You need U-joints because the surfaces you drive on aren’t perfectly flat, and the driveshaft has to allow for some flexibility when you are traveling over uneven surfaces.
Tires are so reliable these days that few drivers pay much attention to them. But tires wear out. They have a tough job since they are the only point of contact between your vehicle and the road. They have to get your vehicle going from a stop, keep it going, make sure it is headed in the direction you want it to go, and –importantly – slow and stop it.
