Car Mechanics May 2022

Email martyn.knowles@kelsey.co.uk Follow us on Facebook @ Car Mechanics I was won over by the charm of the SLK. And that was just looking at it from a distance! Our next project car starting this month is a 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 with a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine. We’d like to think that some of these old-timers are something you would consider as we head towards EV population. Most of us petrolheads will miss the sound of high-revving engines – and when they are gone, they will be replaced by... ‘silence’. So, we have decided our second project car will be a ‘modern classic’ – ‘something for the weekend, sir’. We are considering a third project car later in the year which will also be old(er), with a budget motoring…

With summer on the way, Peter suggests a couple more driving routes for you to try… I’m writing this on the last day of March, and despite waking up to a light coating of snow this morning, summers on the way. So, while the recent fuel cost issues aren’t going to make life any easier, I reckon that most people, having been restricted travel-wise for the past two years, will now be looking to get out a bit. Accordingly, I thought I might suggest a couple more driving routes that you might want to try in 2022, in addition to the North Norfolk coastal and A39 Somerset and Devon run that I’ve mentioned previously in this column. I stress that these are 100% personal choices; they are, though, both routes…

INSTANT EXPERT The longevity of any machine that requires friction reduction is linked inextricably to the condition of its lubricant. Periodic analysis has, therefore, become a wellestablished discipline. As the procedures are conducted under laboratory conditions, it tends to be justified only where maintenance and avoidable downtime are very costly. By evaluating the lubricant, the operator can save money, by replacing it at the optimum time. While premature oil changes are wasteful, elderly lubricant risks courting even more expensive and inconvenient mechanical failure. While electricity generation and construction equipment are typical examples, the same argument is relevant to motorcar engines. Crucially, wear particles are suspended within the lubricant. If analyses of those contaminations are included within the chemists’ remit, the origins and degree of mechanical wear can be established. This…

Battery chargers have been around almost as long as cars have had batteries, yet in the last couple of decades they’ve become significantly smaller, smarter, and dearer. So, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether all of this expensive sophistication is really needed or even justified? The stock answer, normally, is that batteries have changed and, therefore, chargers have had to evolve too. Actually, though, that’s just part of the story. Yes, batteries have advanced, but – equally as importantly – cars and car owners have changed as well. Let’s consider that last point. Many of today’s drivers – obviously not us CM bunch – would consider disconnecting and removing a battery from their car as a bit too advanced – something best left to the 'experts'. If they need to…

FORD GALAXY Bad connection By the time this 2005 Ford Galaxy had arrived with me, the owner made a temporary repair to the burnt-out fusebox using a short length of wire. This was probably not the best option, but he had luckily got away with it. The fuse which had completely disintegrated was the one for the alternator and should be rated at 150 amps. If this had blown due to failed circuit, then the route taken by the owner could have resulted in a serous short circuit and possibly ended with a vehicle fire. Having tested the circuits and finding nothing amiss, I suspect that what had occurred here was that the connection to the fuse was poor, resulting in the fuse heating up. This may have compounded the…

Everyone has their opinion on German cars. My own is that since the days of the BMW E36, Mercedes W202/W210 and the original 1994 Audi A4 and 1998 Golf MkIV, they are increasingly riddled with stupid design resulting in expensive failures, unacceptable rust and never-ending oil leaks. Many cheaper cars with humble badges are able to avoid such nonsense – why is that? However, there’s no denying that when working as intended they are generally really nice cars that drive well. Rather than a 200 Kompressor, we bit the bullet and bought a cheap petrol V6 from auction for two and a half grand which is right at the bottom of the value spectrum. Will it be a tale of woe, or surprisingly OK? About the R171 SLK The second-generation…