Though your vehicle’s filters are made to strain dirt and, well, get dirty, it doesn’t mean they will do their job efficiently forever. Like the rest of your car’s components, your filters also have limitations in performance: you would have to replace them sooner or later to maintain your vehicle’s overall optimum performance.

Well, if you have no idea when “sooner” or “later” is, below are the recommended filter servicing intervals, from AutoUpkeep.com.

AIR FILTER

change after every 12,000 miles. Or as recommended by manufacturer. Some claim that their filters can last up to 50,000 miles.

CCV FILTER

every 2 years or 24,000 miles

FUEL FILTER

every 2 years or 24,000 miles

PCV VALVE (Yes, this isn’t a filter, but it’s connected to one.)

every 2 years or 24,000 miles

Here are more underhood artworks (just click on the image to view in full resolution):

Engine cover with bloody red flames

An engine cover probably inspired by King Arthur's shield

And just when you probably thought you can paint only the engine cover and the fuse box…

A Stitch-in-Elvis-Presley-outfit underhood design

"Glossed over" underhood

An air filter cover set on fire

Get additional "horsepower" with these black coated valve covers with fiery blue stallion design

Your engine definitely won't overheat with these flaming valve covers

Don’t you get kind of bored every time you do your regular engine check up? No, I don’t mean your never-ending dipstick-pulling, screw-tightening, and leak-checking monthly engine maintenance rituals. I’m talking about lifting the hood and setting eyes on a monotonous tangle of grimy wires and components.

Well, of course, you can clean your engine compartment. But a clean engine still doesn’t look interesting. So to make it look more exciting, why not try a bit of customizing? You know, add a bit of color on this, paint some bright stuff on that — just like what some crazy and creative guys did to their rides. Check out these masterpieces.

Roller cams with lifters

If your engine’s having an erratic timing and you’ve checked practically everything in the ignition system, why not take a peek at your camshaft? Your engine might be experiencing excessive camshaft end play, which is called “cam walk.”

The end play is the “lateral movement of the camshaft” (Motorera.com) inside the engine block. It’s all right because the camshaft, composed of constantly moving parts, really should have an allowance for movement in the block.

However, cam walk or too much end play isn’t good. This also means that the camshaft “walks” towards either the back or the front of the block when the engine is running. A walking cam means the cam lobes are not perpendicular to the cam lifters. It may also mean that the shaft hits and flexes or even scores the timing chain cover.

Measuring the spark plug gap with a gauge

When we you hear “spark plug gap,” you should think of only one thing: the distance between the spark plug’s side/ground and center electrodes. (The side electrode is the L-shaped wire protruding from the spark plug’s threaded end, while the center electrode is the less-protruding wire coming from the, uh, center.)

Knowing that should give you an idea what to gap or re-gap the spark plug means; it is adjusting the gap between the center and side electrodes. Now, the question is, why re-gap the spark plug? Isn’t the spark plug already properly gapped by the manufacturer?

Well, spark plugs of course have been gapped according to the number of the engines they’re supposed to match. But some engines require slightly-different spark plug gap measurements to efficiently burn fuel; hence, the need for re-gapping.

To re-gap a spark plug, check with the vehicle’s emission control information sticker commonly found in the engine compartment. Use a spark plug gap gauge to adjust the gap according to the sticker information.

To add or not to add? That is the question on oil additives. And since the answer to that is worth thinking about, let us help you on the “thinking” part. Here’s a list of reasons why you should or should not buy an oil additive.

Use additives because they…

- could prevent wearing of the engine by coating the engine parts and acting as a cushion between parts that come into contact and create friction

- could prevent oil from seeping into the combustion chamber and getting burned along with fuel, which causes blow-by and smoking

- could reduce oil consumption by keeping the oil from the chambers

- could have a detergent property that cleans sludge and impurities out of the engine

- could provide a protective coating that prevents sludge and other impurities from sticking to the engine’s internal parts

- could prevent oil impurities from coagulating

- could inhibit corrosion and oxidation of the engine’s parts

Don’t use additives because they…

- might contain chemicals or compounds like Polytetrafloeraethylene or PTFE (more popularly known as Teflon). PTFE comes in the form of powder and is merely mixed with an additive’s base compound. It supposedly prevents oil from leaking into the combustion chamber by thickening the oil so it won’t easily get through the gap between the piston and the cylinder bore. On the contrary, PTFE could clog oil filters if its particles aren’t small enough to pass through the oil filter. This won’t only obstruct oil flow, it would also render your filter unusable.

- might contain TFE resin, which hardens at really high temperature and might get deposited into the bearings.

- might contain chlorine that can oxidize and corrode your engine’s parts pretty fast.

- may just be popular because they’re too hyped up in the media. Meaning, they advertise false claims about their product.

- may not be needed by your oil anymore. Most oil manufacturers nowadays already include additives into their motor oil products.

- might just neutralize the anti-wear, anti-corrosion, and combustion efficiency-enhancing compounds already mixed into your oil.

Are you looking for a sure-fire way to improve your engine’s power without too much fuss? Don’t worry because there is indeed a way and you won’t even have to install too many aftermarket parts on your engine. People, that solution is the NOS or the nitrous oxide system.

NOS were introduced in the 1970s. Today, there is no better way to power a racer compared to a NOS. Yup, no mistake about it. You’ve seen how these things work in the movies. It gives your car the necessary boost to cross that line first. But have you ever stopped and questioned the science of the process?

A car conducts combustion to produce energy. In this case, energy is the byproduct of air and fuel. Whenever you step on the accelerator, the engine lets air in. This air will be mixed be mixed to a corresponding amount of fuel. Once merged it creates a lot of energy. Now, science dictates that more air and cooler air are more combustible.

This is where Nitrous oxide comes in. Nitrous oxide has a cooling effect on the air intake system. Upon releasing the NOS, you reduce the intake air temperature. This will increase air density and will provide more air for your engine. This results to a sudden jolt of power (Think Vin Diesel in The Fast & the Furious).

However, there are inherent problems. Nitrous oxide is a bit bulky, and the engine needs a lot of it to see the effects. Like any gas, it still takes up a lot of space even if it is compressed to a liquid. Scientists claim that a 5 liter engine running at 4000 rotations per minute (rpm) will consume 10,000 liters of air every minute. So it will take a tremendous amount of NOS to run a car continuously. Thus, it is usually taken in small dosages. NOS is commonly used in spurts and not in bulk. A racer will exercise necessary prudence by choosing when to press the button.

So you’re searching for a way to boost your engine’s power without spending too much and installing too many parts eh? How about you get the services of a new header for your engine?

But before anything else, how do the headers work anyway?

A good performance part to install on your car is a new set of aftermarket headers. The headers replace your car’s stock exhaust manifold and it adds a significant amount of horsepower to your engine.

An engine loses power during the exhaust stroke because of back pressure. The headers eliminate back pressure by using a set of exhaust pipes for each cylinder rather than using a single exhaust pipe. In this way, back pressure is eliminated as the exhaust from the engine’s cylinders is dispersed through each pipe of the headers. The individual pipes then come together as a larger pipe known as a collector. These individual pipes are carefully cut and bent to have them equal in measurement. Through this process, back pressure is eliminated and your car will produce a much tougher sound when revving.

As a result, your engine will work much better and churn out more power every time you push the pedal to the metal. Be warned though. After installing new headers, your engine will produce a louder sound. But if you’re not that too concerned about the neighbors, then by all means install those new headers right away.

In our last post, we tackled the cold air intake and how it works. Now, we’re going to discuss another variant of it - the ram air intake.

A ram air intake is usually found on high-performance vehicles and it differs from the function of a cold air intake greatly. The cold air intake cools down incoming air into the vehicle, packing more air molecules to deliver more horsepower.

On the other hand, a ram air intake employs the use of a dynamic air pressure to greatly increase the massflow of air that enters the engine. The dynamic air pressure is created by a moving vehicle in its effort to increase static air pressure that enters the intake manifold of an engine.

This aftermarket performance part also works by acting as an intake air velocity reducer. It does this feat by boosting the cross sectional area of the intake ducting. The increased air pressure is then mixed with the fuel. Once this happens, there will be an increased amount of air to be burnt with the fuel and a boost in performance will be achieved.

The ram air intake has been used since the sixties and it seems that more people are using it to increase the performance of their cars. The ram air intake is a significant add-on for any drag racer who’s planning on having the best parts installed on their car.

Every drag racer knows that a stock engine has no chances of crossing the finish line first. It’s the use of various aftermarket parts and accessories that powers the stock engine and transforms the driver into winner. Without the advantage of these performance parts, your car is just something you’ll use to get you from point A to point B without the sudden rush of speed in your capabilities.

One of the many performance parts you can avail is the cold air intake. Air is a vital ingredient to the internal combustion operation of a car’s engine and without it, a car would not be able to start. What a cold air intake does for your car’s engine is it cools the incoming air into the engine to deliver more horsepower to your ride. Cooled air means it has more oxygen inside of it than your usual settings does. Once your engine uses this cooled air, the performance of your car will rise and a boost in horsepower output will be noticeable.

A cold air intake is made up of materials that help it withstand the heat and pressure generated inside a car’s engine compartment. This aftermarket performance part is often sought by car tuners and offers great performance for your ride at a very affordable cost. Companies such as K&N and Simota manufacture cold air intakes for various types of vehicles so finding one for your car is made much easier.