Racing Car News

Archive for September, 2009

Volvo Water Pump — The Heart Of Volvos Cooling System

A Volvo vehicle’s cooling system could not function properly without a Volvo water pump that acts as the heart of the cooling system pumping and circulating the coolant throughout the cooling system from the radiator to the engine and then back. A typical Volvo water pump takes its power from the engine. Some water pumps operate through a belt and pulley. Others use a gear or chain. This power is transferred to a shaft which contains an impeller that spins and circulates coolant in as much as the same way as a propeller works on a boat or an airplane to move water or air. Both the shaft and impeller spin on a sealed bearing.

Water pumps wear out from time to time and may even get damaged. When the gasket or seal behind the Volvo water pump begins to leak or when the bearing for the pulley gives way one can already say that the water pump is already broken. Other symptoms of a faulty Volvo water pump are coolant leak coming from the water pump or from the surrounding area loose pulley bearing excessive belt tension wearing out and seal failure. A growling noise is also an indication of a bearing failure. If this happens more serious problems may occur like the breaking of the timing belt thus causing the engine valves to crash into the pistons.

Today some water pumps are relatively easy to access and can be serviced with basic hand tools and mechanical knowhow. Other water pumps are located deep inside an engine. Professional help is therefore required. Water pumps that get their power from the timing belt or chain are often located inside the engine and best replaced when servicing either component and vice versa. It is recommended to have the Volvo water pump checked by a professional to prevent more serious damages.

About the writer:  Evander Klum is a Business Administration graduate who hails from Alabama. He enjoys extreme sports and he is also a car racing fanatic. At present he works as a marketing manager at an advertising agency in Cleveland.

Volvo Tailgate Strut: No Mere Part

The first generation Volvo S80 held one of the highest crash test ratings in the whole of the automotive industry for the premium midsize segment. In the same vein the second generation Volvo S80 also managed to bag the highest ‘good’ rating in the IIHS crash test performance for frontal impactsthis was a mere few months ago. From these results one may already conclude that the obvious: that to have been able to achieve such topnotch ratings the cars had to have been equipped with high quality Volvo S80 parts in the first place. Of the entire queue of Volvo S80 partsand there are manythe Volvo Tailgate Strut is one part that car consumers often ignore.

The Volvo tailgate serves as the door or hinged board. It is often located at the rear portion of the truck bed. The Volvo Tailgate basically moves up and down when cargo is loaded and unloaded from the truck bed. The Volvo tailgate or tail board is comprised of both an inner as well as outer panel. More often than not these materials are made out of composite materials like fiber glass. A Volvo Tailgate Strut is usually bonded with the strongbuild with heated window glass linked at its outer surface.

As for the main support component for the tailgate cable of the tailgates this is one job that the Volvo Tailgate Strut takes care of. The Volvo Tailgate Strut is basically the spring that aids the tailgate to rise and go down. It’s a simple operation really and thus may explain the decided lack of consumer attention to a Volvo Tailgate Strut. However simple as it may seem this component makes it possible for loading operations to proceed with more ease and convenience. Volvo Tailgate Struts are one prime example of how the simplest things often make a world of difference.

About the writer:  Evander Klum is a Business Administration graduate who hails from Alabama. He enjoys extreme sports and he is also a car racing fanatic. At present he works as a marketing manager at an advertising agency in Cleveland.

Volvos Clean Inside Clean Outside Philosophy

It is common knowledge for car enthusiasts that the Swedish brand Volvo is known for the safety of their vehicles. Since the founding of the company 80 years ago they have made safety their top priority when creating their products. But aside from developing safety features such as the BLIS ROPS and WHIPS the company is also devoting their effort to help protect the environment and at the same time provide comfortable and convenient consumer features. This concern for the environment is part of Volvo Cars Clean Inside Clean Outside philosophy.

Clean Inside means that the development of fabrics leathers and other materials used for the interior of Volvo vehicles should be consumer and environment friendly. The company uses consumer friendly fabrics for the seats carpets and even safety belts of their vehicles. The OEKOTex 100 Textile standard according to the companys website is a benchmark used in the European industry. The said standard calls for the use of fabrics threads carpets and safety belts which do not have any amount of hazardous substance on it. This is made sure by checking that the process used in the production of the said materials has limited or no use of harmful substance. This step is made to ensure that the occupants of their vehicles will not risk their health by being exposed to the harmful element which could have been present in the said material if the standard was not upheld.

Another part of Volvo Cars Clean Inside standard is the Nose Team. According to the Ford Motor Company owned brand a Nose Team tests the smell of the materials used on the interior of every Volvo auto model. This step is to find out whether the materials will be pleasant or not. The team tests these materials under several conditions. Volvo said that they even test the materials smell after being heated under the sun. This shows how far the company would go to ensure that they will deliver the best vehicles for their consumers.

Under their Clean Outside program the company is concerned about making their engines produce as little harmful gas emission as possible. With the use of different exhaust filters which treats the exhaust gases Volvo Cars have reduced the emission of carbon monoxide nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbon emissions by as much as 99 percent.

Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas which is regarded as the most common type of deadly poisoning in many countries. The gas affects the central nervous system and the heart two of the most vital organs of the human body. The gas can also affect a fetus inside a pregnant woman. Nitrogen oxides are also toxic and contribute heavily to global warming since it is a greenhouse gas. The reduction of these emissions means that Volvo cars can meet the strict emission standard mandated by different countries. In the European Union a harsher emission standard has already been approved and in the United States the state of California is known for the strict emission laws.

One concrete evidence of the Clean Outside program for Volvo is the fact that the new Volvo XC90 has already met Californias requirements for the ULEV or Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle classification.

Environment friendly vehicles can only be considered green cars if the manner they were produced did not produce substances or emissions which can damage the environment. Volvo is aware of this fact and it has the distinction of having the worlds cleanest factory. The said facility is also part of Volvos Clean Outside program. The companys paint shop in Torslanda Sweden is given the distinction of being the cleanest factory since 1991. The said factory produces a limited amount of potentially hazardous materials and the company is still working to cut it down. This complements the flexfuel vehicles that Volvo is producing which are made with high quality Volvo performance parts.

With Ford having clean factories it is not a surprise that one of its subsidiaries is also working to make their vehicles and production facilities even cleaner.

About the writer:  Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit Mi. She is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.