There are lots of different technological parts that build up your motor vehicles but there are also parts you can now buy to improve your car, make the controlling of the vehicle easier or even just for entertainment purposes. For example things like power steering have made manoeuvring cars much easier and the response of the vehicles a lot sharper, then there are systems like electric windows and sunroofs that just make life easier and of course there are sound systems you can have in cars now that are of better quality than some in peoples homes.

With these systems, however, there are a few key components that make the running of the systems possible, here are a couple of the essential parts for power steering to work properly:

The pump - This pump is powered by the car's engine via a belt and pulley system. It contains a set of retractable vanes these are contained and spin inside an oval chamber. As the vanes spin, they draw hydraulic fluid from the return line at low pressure and force it into the outlet section at high pressure. The amount of flow provided by the pump depends on the speed the car’s engine is working at. The pump must be designed to provide adequate flow when the engine standing idle. As a result, the pump moves much more fluid than necessary when the engine is running at faster speeds. The pump has built in to it a pressure-relief valve to make sure that the pressure does not build up too high, especially at high engine speeds when so much fluid is being pumped through the system.

The rotary valve - A power-steering system is designed to assist the driver only when the driver is exerting force on the steering wheel, such as when starting a turn. When the driver is not exerting force, for example when driving in a straight line, the system shouldn't provide any assist. The device that detects the force on the steering wheel is called the rotary valve, the key to the rotary valve is a torsion bar. The torsion bar is a thin pole of metal that twists when torque is applied to it. The top of the bar is connected to the steering wheel, and the bottom of the bar is connected to the pinion or worm gear, this turns the wheels, so the amount of torque in the torsion bar is the same as the amount of torque the driver is using to turn the wheels. The more torque the driver uses to turn the wheels, the more the bar twists. The input from the steering shaft forms the inner part of a spool-valve assembly. It also connects to the top end of the torsion bar, the bottom part of the torsion bar is connected to the outer part of the spool valve. The torsion bar also turns the output of the steering gear, connecting to either the pinion gear or the worm gear depending on which kind of steering the car has.

As the bar twists, it rotates the inside of the spool valve relative to the outside. Since the inner part of the spool valve is also connected to the steering shaft and therefore to the steering wheel also, the amount of rotation between the inner and outer parts of the spool valve depends on how much pressure the driver applies to the steering wheel. When the steering wheel is not being turned, both hydraulic lines give out the same amount of pressure to the steering gear. But if the spool valve is turned one way or the other, ports open up to provide high-pressure fluid to the appropriate line.

With systems such as this its important to get them checked regularly and as soon as you suspect a problem because they can effect your steering drastically. With the other systems you can either have them fitted in the car when it is produced, have them fitted after or you can buy DIY kits for parts such as sound systems.