Your Quick And Easy Guide To Car Maintenance
Cars are like electric lights. We often don’t appreciate them until they go on the blink. Regular maintenance checks and simple service can greatly reduce the cost of car ownership and keep you a much happier traveler!
Don’t let the thought of car maintenance intimidate you. There are actually several car maintenance tips you can do – even if you’re totally mechanically-challenged!
For instance, you’ll want to keep your windshield washer fluid reservoir full. This involves screwing off the cap and pouring windshield wiper fluid in the right spot. You can quickly check the fluid levels when filling up at the gas station.
While you’ve got the windshield washer fluid out, pour some on a rag and clean the bug guts, etc. off the wiper blades.
If you see any colored fluid leaking from your car, get it serviced immediately.
If you smell any peculiar odor coming from your car, take it to the nearest service station. Odors mean something inappropriate is going on under the hood of your car!
Every fall, go ahead and replace your wiper blades. You need new ones once a year – might as well get them before winter sets in and you’re wiping away that ice and sleet! Read the rest of this entry »
Why you can’t do without a car audio crossover.
I’ve heard the question asked many times before, ‘Do I really need a crossover?’ Without wasting any time I quickly answer, ‘Yes you do’. Whether it’s a passive crossover or an active crossover, your car audio system will never sound good without a crossover. I want to make myself very clear here, so before you get confused let’s talk about what a car audio crossover is and why you need one.
A crossover is a filtering device which limits the frequencies that reach a speaker. It splits a music signal into separate frequency ranges and sends them to speakers that are designed to best reproduce each frequency range. For instance, only high frequencies would be sent to your tweeters, midrange to your mid range speakers, and lows to your subwoofer.
The passive crossover is very common. It’s basically a capacitor or coil installed on the speaker leads between amplifier and speaker that stops certain frequencies from reaching a speaker. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to install.
But for your car stereo system to perform better and be efficient, you need an active crossover, also referred to as an electronic crossover. It is installed between your head unit or equalizer and your amplifiers. Your electronic crossover sends the proper frequency ranges to each amplifier. Some people run three separate amps: one for bass, one for mids and the other for highs.
Active crossovers are almost infinitely adjustable. You can vary the crossover points and adjust the level of separate speakers to achieve the best overall sound in your vehicle. Read the rest of this entry »
