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Preamble
During my last 3-yrs or so of ‘practice’, off and on I come
across queries from visitors which are somewhat removed from the run of
the mill kind – like what car to buy or ‘I’ve just bought
a new so and so – pl tell me how to maintain it’ (!).
What follows now is a continuation of a selection out of my personal archives,
which I hope visitors like you will find informative and useful.
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Q11
I got a ‘Karcher’
pressure pump which is great for cleaning the car. Gives a good jet of
high pressure water which removes all the mud and cow dung from underneath
very easily. On your CS website there's an ad for this dust remover from
lebon. Have you tried it? Is it worth getting?
A11
I have resisted the
temptation of getting one for myself as living on the GF, I get a 'garden-hose'
OHT head of ~ 40 feet and that's quite fine for routine wash-ups for the
over/under body.
Infact, contrary to
popular belief, high-pressure hosing down of the under-carriage - leave
alone the top Paint work - is really not advisable as the water then tends
to get in and trapped between the series of spot welded joints that abound
in these areas. Once trapped there, corrosion sets in much faster than
what it'd otherwise. Brackish/Borewell Waters make it only worse.
Q12
What I want to ask
is that the rotary engines used in the Mazda RX7 were capable of developing
255 BHP even though the displacement 1250 cc. If the engine can develope
such a whopping power with comparatively smaller displacement available
why this technology is restricted to the RX7 and few other cars? Was there
any problem adopting this technology? Please explain this fact. Also can
you suggest few websites where all the detail info on the automotive engines
is available?
A12
As regards your Q
on Wankel Engines, while I am no authority on them, my limited knowledge
tells me that :
i) They are more expensive than conventional reciprocating Engines to
produce, as far closer manufacturing tolerances are reqd.
ii) They are somewhat like 2-stroke Engines where one of same CC can produce
almost 2 x the power of an eqvt 4-stroke engine but at the cost of some
other performance related limitations.
iii) There are some tricky problems with W-Es regarding 'leakages' to
solve/contain.
While at it, there's an informative Article on W-Es posted under 'Cruising/Archives'
on our Home Page titled -
Wankel Rotary Engine How rotary engines work.
For other general
info on Automotive Engines, there are a host of Articles on their various
facets on Cybersteering as well as under 'Infobank' of our Sister Site
<indiacar.com>.
Pl Surf them for any further information that you may desire.
Q13
i own a 2000 indica dle which has clocked 22000 kms..i want to improve
the exhaust note of the car to a more sportier one...i heard that installing
a free flow exhaust will do the job and also increase the power a bit.....how
much will it cost in the local market...also i visited a spares dealer...he
has an exhaust which he called ''sports exhaust''..he also said that sports
exhaust is not recomended for diesel cars because it would require frequent
carbon removal...please give ur suggestions abt this..is the sports exhaust
and the free flow exhaust the same....
which one do u recommend
A13
I'm afraid none has ever attempted it as far as I know - for the chances
are it'll end up sounding like a Tractor - given the inherent/hi-compression
characteristics of a DE.
BTW, Free-flow and Sports Exhausts are 2-sides of the same coin.
Further, what you have been told reg the FFE gathering excessive carbon
deposits is just the reverse of what will happen - if a DE were to be
fitted with one.
If still so inclined, you can try replacing the II/tail end OE Muffler
with an FF one and see what diff does it make to the exhaust note.
Theoretically, an FF Muffler shouldn't cost more than a Stock one but
better material/opportunity/low volume cost add-ons will always be there.
Q14
This may seem a silly
question to you but I am just a little curious nonetheless. It would be
kind of you to answer my question? One of my friends recently purchased
the new Esteem diesel. He already has a 98 model Esteem and he is so happy
with his car that he was one of the few first ones to buy the diesel version.
Both his cars are white in colour. I just had a thought, what if some
day he mistakenly filled diesel in the petrol car and petrol in diesel
car. What would then happen to the engines of car and if so how would
we come to know about it and what should be immediately done to prevent
any major loss to the engine. Also I need to know the difference between
a normal diesel engine and a turbo charged diesel engine. What would happen
if petrol were put into a turbo charged diesel engine.
A14
Your Q is not silly at all - coz I am aware of quite a few such mishaps,
incl one from an educated English/Music Master on a tour of Europe with
his Band ! He ended up putting diesel in a petrol Car !!
BTW, just for the heck of it, I passed this Q around to some of my friends
and here's what a couple of them had to say within the 24-hr time limit
imposed :
1) Well as they say, if you have two horses and they both look the same,
u need to remember which is which. In the case of the esteem-d he should
not have a problem unless he is touch and hearing impaired. The esteem-d
is far more noisy than the esteem-p.
In any case if he does manage the unthinkable, when on trying to start
he will realise his folly [hopefully]. He can switch off the engine, have
the car towed away to a service centre, get the tank and fuel lines flushed.
I guess that should do the trick.
BTW, maybe it's best for guys who cannot remember which is which to buy
different colors and to further remind them of the fuel the car sips they
can put a sticker on the filler lid - Cyrus.
2) From what I have read, diesel fuel is harder to ignite so the vehicle
will not run for very long depending on how much petrol is left. Diesel
also has high lubrication, which can oil up the spark plugs and cause
smokey emissions.
On the other hand putting petrol in a deisel engine will lead to a detonation
of the engine. Excessive Knocking could be an indication that something
is wrong.
As Cyrus said, take the car to the ICU - Adil.
Now to cap these, here's my take on the core issue :
i) The intensity of repurcussions in either case will depend on the extent
of 'contamination'. Let's assume for the moment that it's 50/50.
ii) When Petrol gets contaminated by diesel, it'd not be so serious. In
fact, thanks to our stupid Govt's Policies, we are facing it practically
every day ! The Car would begin to lose power, knock substantially and
may eventually stall and refuse to start due to excessive carbon deposits
on the Spark Plugs.
ii) No permanent damage to the engine is likely BUT Cars with in-tank/electric
fuel pumps - which all Mpfi's and some EU-I's like the Zen/Esteem have
- the Fuel Pump will croak - setting you back upto Rs: 18k for a Honda
City ! This is coz such FPs cannot handle liquids of 'specific gravity'
higher than 0.80 - which for Petrol is 0.72-0.78 max.
iii) Remedy - Drain/Flush the entire fuel System incl 'return lines' and
refill with correct fuel.
iv) On the other hand, things can be more dicey when diesel gets laced
with Petrol. For starters, the engine would knock heavily coz the petrol
part in the fuel can't tolerate the high comp ratios.
v) Sooner than later, the diesel 'fuel injectors' will 'seize' - due to
lack of lubrication other wise provided by diesel oil. Whether damaged
permanently or recoverable can only be known after they have been dismantled
for scrutiny.
vi) Like wise, the present generation 'rotary Fuel Injection Pumps' can
go for a six for good. Both these can set one back by as much as 30k +
! The main engine per se' is unlikely to suffer any damage.
vii) Remedy - as per (ii) above + whatever replacing damages have taken
place.
So what's the moral of the story - keep your wife and girl friend/s quite
apart !!
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