Traffic boss: A car is like a human heart
Taxi drivers and other stakeholders learn how basic and full servicing is done as part of the educational workshop. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
Vehicle maintenance should be taken seriously just like we take care of our health.
A car shares quite a lot from our lifestyles to the extent that if poorly maintained it would be the equivalent of not minding about our health or bodies. Jude Katende was at an event where a similar message was delivered to taxi operators
An engine is like a human heart. It needs to be properly taken care of. Do not go to roadside garages for servicing, go to professional mechanics. We need standard products so as to reduce accidents in Uganda,” said Lawrence Nuwabiine, Kampala Metropolitan Police traffic boss at a City Oil Namirembe Road branch lubricants workshop held last weekend. The workshop was organised to educated taxi drivers on proper use of lubricants and the importance of servicing.
“The government is planning to build good roads but we also need standard vehicles to use these roads. We do not need vehicles that emit strong gases (monoxide) or fumes. Use proper lubricants when servicing. Road safety relies on you the driver. Your behaviour and
how you look after your car even if it is new but it is not serviced, it will not perform
well,” Nuwabiine noted.
Mohammed Arif of Emirates National Oil
Company (ENOC) from ENOC in Sudan who was the main speaker said his life revolves
around oil. He started working in lubricants in 1988. He said there are over 270 brands of oil in United Arab Emirates and that because of completion, some export low quality oil to
some countries in East Africa.
“The other brands cannot meet the standards of Dubai thus they export to othercountries instead. The UAE government is concerned about this issue of low quality oil being exported. In the end, people think that Dubai oil is of low quality. By using low quality oil means you will always be topping up,” he argued. Responding to a question from a taxi driver about the pistons used in the past and today’s, Arif said the lighter the piston the better the performance of the engine.
“Cars and buses of the 1970s and 1980s are not the same as today’s vehicles. People now need more power and speed, so in addition to the engine, many things were changed. The 1970s and 1980s pistons are different from today’s,” Arif explained.
When do you service your vehicle?
This was a question that puzzled many of the drivers that participated in the half day workshop. Arif wanted to know when and why service is done.
“If I am driving a taxi, I will not use kilometres to determine my next servicing as many of you have stated. The taxi moves and stops all the time. One hour of idling is almost at 80 kph. Kilometres will not help you. With new
technology, I can guarantee you 10,000km for the next oil change bad oil.
When is oil useful?
“Starting the vehicle sometimes damages the engine. Oil makers and vehicle manufacturers work together. Mono-grade oil is heavy and will delay to go up the engine yet it requires 18 seconds for the oil to rise. Multi-grade oil is light and works at low temperatures. When you start the engine, the oil quickly rises up. So you should use multi-grade oils. In the future, oil will be semi and fully synthetic,” Arif stated.
He cautioned drivers against damaging expensive engines with cheap and bad oil.
Demonstrations on how basic servicing is done were carried out. Participants at the workshop were given discounts on shock absorbers until 15 December.
