tiếng anh công nghệ ô tô và chế tạo máy: phần 3

phần 2 cuốn sách trình bày các nội dung: troubleshooting leaks, squeaks, smells, and strange sensations, what to do if your car drops dead or won't start, keeping your car clean and beautiful, getting rid of dings, dents, and other hard knocks, the ten most important preventive maintenance sensations,... mời các bạn tham khảo.
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tiếng anh công nghệ ô tô và chế tạo máy: phần 3 602 car hard to handle after a turn? If your tires show any unusual wear patterns and/or you answered yes to any o f these ques­ tions, your car probably needs an align m en t. Angle of inside wheel Angle of F igu re 19-7: outside wheel Turning radius. F o ca l point Checking your steering C heck ing your steering is easy. Just stand outside your vehicle, near the door on the driver’s side. Stick your hand through the open window and move the steering wheel, with your eye on the left front tire. If you can move the steering w'heel at all before the tire starts to move, then you need to have both your steering and alignm ent checked. There should be no “play” in the steering wrheel before the signal is trans­ mitted to the tires. As you drive your car, be alert to signs that it isn’t han­ dling as easily as before. If the vehicle seems to have a mind o f its own and begins to resist you on turns (and pulling out of turns), take a good look at your tires for signs o f wear caused bv m isalignm ent. 603 Checking your tires for wear You should check your tires for wear at least once a month and before and after long trips. To determine whether you need to (a) buy new tires, (b) have your wheels balanced, (c) have your wheels aligned, or (d) change your driving habits, simply read your tire treads for clues. Table 19-1 and Figure 19-8 show you what to look for. Table 19-1 How to Read Your Treads Clue Culprit Remedy Both edges w orn U nderinflation Add more air, check for leaks Center treads worn O verinflation Let air out to m anufacturer's specifications One-sided w ear Poor alignm ent Have wheels aligned Treads w orn unevenly, W heel im balance Have w heels balanced and with bald spots, cups, and/or poor alignm ent aligned or scallops Erratically spaced W heel im balance Have w heels balanced or bald spots or w o rn shocks replace shocks Edges of front tires Taking curves too fast Slow down I only worn Saw-toothed w e ar Poor alignm ent Have w heels aligned pattern ( continued) Table 19-1 (continued) Clue Culprit Rem edy W hining, thumping, Poor alignment, worn Have w heels aligned or buy and other w e ird noises tires or shocks new tires or shocks Squealing on curves Poor alignment Check w e a r on treads and act or underinflation accordingly 604 Figure 19-8: W h a t the s ig n s of p o o r tre ad w e a r m ean. Severe underinflation O verinflation Poor alignm ent Poor alignment Underinflated tires wear out faster, create excessive heat, increase fuel consumption, and make your car harder to handle. Overinflated tires can “ blow out” more easily, wear out faster, and make the car unstable and unsafe to handle. And a new set o f tires on wheels that are out o f alignment can wear out completely in as little as one day o f hard driving! To determine w h at’s causing problems with your tires, try the following: ♦ Look for th in gs e m b ed d ed in each tire. Do you see nails, stones, o r’ other debris em bedded in the treads? Remove them. But if you’re going to remove a nail, first make sure that your spare tire is inflated and in usable shape. I f you hear a hissing sound when you pull a nail, push the nail back in quickly and take the tire to be fixed. If you aren’t sure w h eth er air is escaping, put some soapy wa­ ter on the hole and look for the bubbles made by escap­ ing air. If you’re still not sure whether the nail may have caused a leak, check your air pressure and then check it again the next day to see whether it’s lower (for help, see “C heck ing your air pressure,” earlier in this chap­ ter). Tires with leaks should be patched by a professional. I f the leak persists, get a new tire. ♦ Look at the sid ew a lls. Check for deeply scuffed or worn areas, bulges or bubbles, small slits, or holes. Do the tires fit evenly and snugly around the wheel rims? 605 ♦ L ook at the treads. Most tires have tread-wear indica­ tors built into them (see Figure 19-9). These bars of hard rubber are normally invisible but appear across treads that have been worn down to Xs o f an inch of the surface o f the tire (the legal limit in most states). If these indica­ tors appear in two or three different places, less than 120 degrees apart on the circumference o f the tire, re­ place the tire. If your tires don’t show these indicators and you think that they may be worn below legal tolerances, place a Lincoln penny head-dow n in the groove between the treads. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, your tire probably needs to be replaced. Figure 19-9: It's tim e for ne w tires when tre a d -w e a r in dica tors appear. To measure tread wea ...