Does your car or bike engine knocks and does not idle at constant rate? This is a common problem with petrol engines and mostly people think it related to bad fuel or some dirt in the carburetor or injector in case of MPFI. Adding some kind of anti knocks additives to the petrol will reduce this for a while but it’s like taking painkiller tablet and not knowing the root cause of pain. Here I will tell you a simple DIY by which you can check and most probably fix the knocking the irregular idling problem of your car or bike.

First step will be to remove the spark plug caps (if there are several like in case of car, put a mark so that you know which one goes where when you refit them) and using the plug removing tool, remove each spark plugs one by one. Just like screws you need to unscrew plugs in anti-clockwise direction. You may plug the hole with cloth pieces so that you don’t accidently drop anything inside that hole.

Now when you have the plugs in your hand, clean them with an old toothbrush using paint thinner. If you don’t have paint thinner then you can also use petrol. Please wear latex gloves and goggles while doing this. Do not use sand paper or any other thing to clean plugs which can increase the plug gap.
After you have cleaned the plugs and they are completely dry we need to check these using a digital multimeter. We are using a simple multimeter which cost very less and often found in homes. Set the multimeter to “diode” mode and touch the probes (any, no polarity issue here) to the points marked with green color arrow in the picture. If the plug is healthy, you should see a reading close to 0 that is no more than 1 or 2. If the reading is very high or worst there is no reading at all then you need to buy a new plug. Similarly check all the plugs. Change the bad plugs with new ones. If you are able to pull out the plug cables from other end also you will have two ends of the plug cable which you can also check using the multimeter in similar way. Here reading can be any number from 0 to 15. If you are getting reading that is more than 15 then it means cable is worn out. Replace the cable with new one. Usually we replace the full set and not just one. Once you have done this I am sure you will find knocking problem and many other problems like late start and irregular idling gone.

While going to my farmhouse I noticed a construction going on near my place so I stopped by to ask the builder about the owner. Since the land was small pond before it was not in level of road at all and the work was going on to level it. Two excavators were employed to plough soil from higher level and put it where the level was low. The builder started telling me about how it saves time and labor, it can do a lot of work in few hours what a team of labors can’t do in a week! When I asked about the price of a new excavator, he told me that it would cost a lot and not everyone can buy it new and almost every excavators working in the city are used excavators. I have heard about used cars and bikes but this was new to me and we had a talk on this topic for little longer. What I came to know about was that buying a used excavator means saving a lot of money that would have been spent as initial investment in the business. Also these machines are so tough built that nothing goes wrong with them for years and they continue to work like new without any major repairs. No doubt about this as the machine in front of me was also a used one and was working since many days.

Overdrive is an auto magazine featuring reviews on cars and bikes. With these review they also review separate auto parts which are sometimes paid articles. Recently their Aril issue carried out a paid article on GoodYear tyres brand which focused on a travelogue story which was not written by Overdrive editorial team but by a moderator (forum nickname: tsk1979) of famous auto forum team-bhp.com. Everything seems right here as people do submit articles but here the case is of stealing, neither the tsk1979 is an Overdrive magazine reader nor he gave his article to them for publishing.  This kind of open plagiarism by popular auto magazine is really sad and shocking. Since the whole story was edited for paid article for Goodyear Tyre Company, the story was slightly modified to mention use of Goodyear tyre in tsk1979 vehicle. Even after contacting Overdrive by tsk1979, they did not bother paying him any compensation (because article is already published and nothing can be done now) or even ask for apology.  tsk1979 reported that even his travelogue pictures were used in the article, in fact the whole article with pictures was simply copied from the team-bhp forum (link)

Overdrive will now (or is doing) everything to reject claims of tsk1979 by deleting all user comments on their facebook page but proof speaks for themselves and I hope at least Goodyear takes action against overdrive magazine to keep itself clean from any kind of false advertising.

GPS tracking is known for its accuracy as it’s done via satellites that revolve around the earth and are very accurate. These satellites are built by scientist and billions of dollars are spent on its research and development. To capture the power of these you need good quality GPS tracking systems which can be installed on your vehicles. There are many companies that offer GPS devices, choose one that gives you good product support and service. You would never want a GPS device that could not be serviced if it develops a fault. Also if you don’t have many vehicles and will not be buying many GPS devices, go with a company that don’t force you to make some large amount of purchase of service with long term contract.

These days when competition is tough and people want to be informed more frequently, having a vehicle tracking installed in your good carrier trucks is important. It’s not just a fancy device but can be helpful in many ways. In case when there is a delay, you can know the location of your vehicle and when you know the location you can work out the possibilities of avoiding further delay. This system also helps in case vehicle gets stolen or when driver is confused with his route and takes on wrong road.

When GPS service was launched, its range was limited and maps were not that detailed. Also the machinery needed was expensive. But today GPS has evolved a lot and now it gives very detailed view with real time tracking facility. GPS tracking devices are a must for every transport related business. You will definitely have an edge over your competitor if you get GPS facility installed in your transport vehicles. Your staff will be also working more sincerely when they will know that they are monitored by you all the time wherever they take your vehicles, no more lies and lame excuses from them and more profit for your business!

There are two ways to do a work, first is do with rules and second is do with rules and add some common sense to do it even more smartly. I’ll tell you the smarter way. Here our target is to change our car engine oil and we know old oil is needs to be drained out as much as possible from the engine so that new oil does not turn black as soon as we pour it due to remains of old oil.

Plan a Saturday night when you won’t be using your car that night (means you don’t sleep walk and sleep drive LOL) and with some free time on Sunday (the next day). Prepare the place you will be using to change your car engine oil. I recommend that place to be your garage with a floor that is not inclined on any side but perfectly leveled. Saturday evening before auto spare shops closes keep a drain pan, wrench that fits your oil sump nut (the nut below your car engine from which engine oil flows out if loosen), disposable glove, funnel and some rags ready in your garage. Wear your not so new and good looking clothes and drive off to an auto spare part shop and but engine oil and oil filter for your car. Oil filter should be of OEM type as they are good enough, just tell your car model and the auto spare part dealer will give you the oil filter for your car. Go shopping for items that you might need for your home till Sunday morning because remember you won’t be able to use your car the whole night and next Sunday morning as well. Reach your home, park your car in garage with hand brakes and open the hood/bonnet whatever you call it. Now without any delay take the drain pan, place it below the sump nut and using the wrench open the sump nut. Don’t worry if the nut falls in the drain pan, you can retrieve it later.  Things will be quite hot under your car so when you go under your car make sure your hand or face don’t touch anything. If your hands are long and car is not that big, you even don’t need to get under the car, just stretch yourself a bit and you can reach the nut. When the nut is fully open you will see black oil going into the drain pan. Enjoy the moment! Clean your wrench and hands with rag if it came in contact with oil immediately. Now look at your engine and loosen the engine oil checking dip stick. For those who are extra cautious you may want to take out one main HT lead or just the negative (-) terminal of your car battery so that someone don’t start your car by mistake. Starting and using the car without engine oil will kill the engine in few minutes. After you have done all this close the hood, lock the car and go to sleep.

Whole night the old oil drop by drop was drained from each and every corner of your engine. I told you to immediately drain oil after you came home driving from spare part shop because using the car on road for sometime will make sure old mixes all the sludge of engine in itself and also becomes thin due to the heat of engine. So when you drain it hot, it comes out with all the sludge easily. Next morning come and most probably no more drops would be coming out of the sump. Wear gloves and safety glasses too. Now locate the oil filter in your engine and move the drain pan just below it. Don’t throw this oil; let it be in pan for some time. If you have dropped the sump nut in it take it out using any wooden stick. Since engine is cold now you don’t have to worry about burning yourself. Now unscrew the old oil filter (anti clock wise) with your hands. If you can’t use both your hands and with a jerk apply your full strength and it should open. Use sandpaper if your hands are slippery. If it still doesn’t open, you will need an oil filter opening tool. While opening the filter keep your face away as some old oil will drop, well sometimes lots of oil if your filter is big. Once open pour all the oil that is inside the filter in the drain pan and keep this old filter aside with open side up.  Use rag to clean that place from where you took out the old oil filter. Get few drops of oil from the new engine oil that you bought for your car, just few drops not more than that and apply it over the gasket (round black rubber part) of new oil filter. Now screw this new oil filter it in its place in clock wise direction. Tighten it with your hand only, not any tool. Take the sump nut, clean it with rag and put it back in its place (the sump) and tighten it with wrench. Do not over tighten else it may slip. Now open your car hood, push the dip stick back in its place and locate the engine oil filter cap on your engine. Mostly it’s a big yellow or black plastic cap right on top of engine, so easy to locate. Open it and using funnel pour the new engine oil. Again enjoy the movement of extreme satisfaction!  Once done, place the filler cap back in its place, clean the engine with any spilled oil and wait for few minutes. Now take out the dip stick and look at the oil level. It should be touching max level now. If it does not don’t panic, wait for some more time as oil can take time to travel below the sump where oil level gets measured by dip stick. If it’s still below max level (slightly lower is ok) then you might need to buy smaller pack (500ml or so) of the same engine oil and top up till dip stick reaches max.  In any case do not fill the oil above max level.

When all done, put the HT lead back or battery negative cable if you had taken it out to prevent accidental cranking of engine and start your car. Check that engine oil warning light is not glowing on your dashboard, if it does it means oil is low. The light will however come for few seconds even when engine is started because your oil filter is new and takes some time to get wet with oil fully and start working. If all fine, you have just successfully changed your car engine oil yourself! You have not only saved money but also made sure that your car gets the right oil in right quantity and everything is genuinely done. Some workshops use recycled oil if you are not around and alert enough to check what’s going inside your car, they even might not change the filter and save on spare parts as well, worse they might not even take good time to let entire old oil get out of the engine and pour new oil not only dirtying the new oil but also increasing oil quantity in the engine which is harmful for engine.  You might not find drastic change in your engine response for now but after driving about say 50km you will start noticing some good changes in your engine due to this efficient way of oil changing. Make a note of KM reading on the odometer and date of change of oil on a small piece of paper and stick it inside glove box of your car. This way you can remember to change oil according to your manufacturer recommended interval. Same way you can change engine oil of your bike too. Enjoy the smooth ride and drive safe!

Request: Please do not throw old engine oil in drain, seal it in an air tight plastic container and give it to any auth. Auto workshop from where it will go for proper disposal. Also crush the new engine oil container so that it cannot be used for refilling and selling fake oil.

You definitely love your car if you have reached this article and started reading it with interest after reading its title “DIY Car Engine Oil Change”. People don’t want to dirty their hands and change oil themselves and leave it on mechanic at service center.  However this is good till your car is under your warranty but after that you are not sure what type of oil is going inside your car engine. Even under warranty you should keep an eye.  Engine oil is vital part and before it gets too black and stop doing its work, you should change it. Black oil always does not mean its gone bad, its only carrying the dirt of your engine and keeping your engine clean but not allowing those dirt to settle on engine components. Ok now let’s get back to topic of oil change for an old car which is not under warranty and you are free to try your own brand of oil.

First of all you need to check your car manual for the “grade” of engine oil your car engine needs. It’s written something like 15w40 or 20w50 etc. If you have lost the manual then don’t worry, just search Google and you should get fairly accurate info. For older engines with lots of kilometers done, 20w50 which is thicker oil is good. For newer engines 15w40 is good enough but you can also use 20w50 if you drive in extremely hot climate conditions or using or using alternative fuels like LPG or CNG which makes engine valves hotter than when same engine is running on gasoline.  These ratings were for mineral engine oils, if you check out synthetic range of engine oils, you will see ratings like 5w50 or even as low as 0w50! The number before “w” represents viscosity of oil when engine is cold and after “w” when engine is hot. Cold engine needs thin oil so that all components get lubricated as quickly as possible to avoid wear and when engine is hot, it needs thick oil to withstand heat and provide lubrication in extreme condition. So now you got why synthetic oils are better for your car but they come at premium price. So if your budget allows, do use them else stick to mineral oil which are also good.

Once you have selected the right engine oil for your car, you need to buy few other things as well which includes:

1. New Oil Filter
2. Drain pan (if you don’t have already)
3. Disposable gloves (cheap plastic ones)
4. Wrench to open oil sump nut.
5. Rag to clean spilled oil, grease and grime.
6. Funnel

Now what is oil filter? Where it is located? And what is sump nut? Worry not I’ll tell you everything.  Apart from Oil, Wrench and New oil filter, you really don’t need to buy anything else if you don’t have but also want to save money.

Read Part 2 of this article >>