English Spanish Car Parts Glossary

English Spanish Car Parts Glossary

Owning a vehicle Spain requires some quite specific vocab skills particularly if you have an overland vehicle or are a car enthusiast. Why?, well if you like to take an interest and be involved in what happens or gets replaced on your vehicle then there will be plenty of conversations with your mechanic if you are using one.

Just like any conversation in a foreign language, one word or phrase can throw you completely resulting in all kinds of potential confusion! Below is an English Spanish car parts glossary to help you identify a few things, if Google translate isn’t giving you the correct results then perhaps this will help.

Keep in mind that some car parts in Spanish have several different names and we have tried to include these were applicable, the list is by no means exhaustive and we will be adding to it over time [and when we ourselves discover something new]. If you find this useful then give us a shout on the www and hopefully someone else might find it useful too.

A

• Accelerator – acelerador
• Air filter – filtro de aire
• Axle – eje
• Air conditioning – aire acondicionado
• Airbag – bolsa de aire
• Alternator – alternador
• Anti roll bar – barra estabilizadora
• Anti freeze – anticongelante

B

• Battery – batería
• Bumper – paragolpes
• Bushes – silentblock
• Bonnet – capó
• Brakes – frenos
• Brake discs – discos de freno
• Brake pipes – tubos de freno
• Brake pads – pastillas de freno
• Brake calipers – pinzas de freno
• Brake shoes – zapatas de freno
• Brake fluid – líquido de frenos
• Brake servo – servo freno
• Bulbs – bombilla

C

• Camshaft – árbol de levas
• Cambelt – correa de distribución
• Catalytic converter – catalizador / convertidor catalitico
• Chassis – chasis
• Clutch – embrague
• Cylinder – cilindro
• Carburetor – carburador
• Coil springs – muelles
• CV boot – bota cv
• CV joint – cv conjunto

D

• Dashboard – panel
• Differential – diferencial
• Dip stick – Varilla de nivel de aceite
• Front door – puerta delantro
• Back door – puerta trasera
• Drive shaft – eje de accionamiento

E

• Engine – motor
• Exhaust system – sistema de escape
• Exhaust pipe – tubo de escape
• Exhaust silencer – silenciador de escape
• Expansion tank – tanque de expansión
• Emissions – emisiones
• EGR valve – válvula EGR

F

• Fan belt – correa de ventilador
• Flywheel – volante motor
• Fog light – luz de niebla
• Fuse – fusible
• Filter – filtro
• Four wheel drive – cuatro por cuatro / todoterreno
• Fuel injectors – inyector de Combustible

G

• Gear box – caja de cambios
• Gear stick – palanca de cambios
• Gasket – empaquetadura / junta
• Glow plugs – bujías incandescentes

H

• Handbrake – freno mano
• Handbrake cable – cable freno mano
• Headlights – faros
• Heater – calentador
• Horn – bocina

I

• Ignition – encendido
• Ignition coil – bobina de encendido
• Ignition leads – cables de encendido
• Ignition distributor – distribuidor de encendido 
• Intercooler – intercooler

J

• Jack – gato

K

• Keys – llaves

L

• Locks – cerraduras
• License plate – placa de matricula
• Leaf springs – ballestas

M

• Manifold – colector de escape
• Mirror – espejo
• Mud flaps – guardabarros

N

• Navigation system – navegadore gps
• Nudge bars [bull bars] – defensas / mataburros

O

• Oil – aceite
• Oil filter – filtro de aceite
• Oil pump – bomba de aceite

P

• Power steering – dirección asistida
• Propshaft – árbol de transmisión
• Panhard arm – barra panhard
• Pitman arm – barra pitman
• Piston – pistón

R

• Radiator – radiador
• Radiator hose – manguito radiador
• Radiator cap – tapon de radiador
• Radiator fan – ventilador de radiador
• Relay – relé
• Roof rack – baca de techo / plataforma de techo
• Roof rails – barras de techo
• Roof basket – portaequipajes / baca africana
• Running boards – estribos / estriberas
• Rocker cover – cubierta de balancín

S

• Shock absorbers – amortiguadores
• Steering column – columna dirección
• Steering rack – cremallera de dirección
• Sunroof – techo solar
• Seatbelts – cinturón de seguridad
• Starter solenoid – solenoide de arranque
• Spark plug – bujías
• Spoiler – alerón
• Steering wheel – volante
• Suspension – suspensión
• Starter motor – motor de arranque

T

• Transmission – transmisión
• Turbo – turbo
• Tyres – neumáticos
• Temperature guage – indicador de temperatura
• Temperature sensor – sensor de temperatura
• Thermostat – termostato
• Towbar – barra de remolque

U

• Unleaded – sin plomo

V

• Valves – válvulas de escape

W

• Window – ventana
• Water pump – bomba de agua
• Windscreen – parabrisa
• Wipers – limpia parabrisas
• Wheel bearings – cojinetes de rueda
• Wheel nuts – tuercas de rueda

Y

• Yolk [propshaft] – arbol de transmision

4×4 / Overland Specific

The list below includes some more specific parts related to 4×4’s and overlanding gear, most parts on this list can be sourced through specialist online stores, there are several in Spain that retail accessories and more advanced system setups ie: suspension.

• Roof tent – tienda del techo
• Winch – cabrestante
• Tools – herramientos
• Weight – peso
• Awning – Toldo
• GPS – gps / navegadore gps
• Spare wheel – rueda de repuesto
• Recovery strap – eslinga / cuerda remolque
• Shackle – grillete
• Recovery boards – planchas de rescate / planchas de desatasco
• Jack – gato
• High lift jack – gato elevador
• Puncture repair kit – kit reparar pinchazos
• Compressor – compresor
• Refrigerator – refrigerador / nevera
• Snorkel – snorkel

Buying spare parts for your Shogun / Montero / Pajero in Spain? Read about the realities of sourcing parts in the article here.