After 18 years in the Royal Brunei Air Force – a good chunk of it spent maintaining helicopters – Md Nizam Hj Hamiddon decided to hang up his uniform, but not his blue-collar work ethic back in 2015.
Then 40-years-old, the newly retired staff sergeant began working at a relative’s car workshop servicing and de-carbonizing engines. Three years later, he’s decided to branch out and with $30,000 in savings, has opened his own small workshop – Motorque Auto Services – at the corner of Bangunan Haji Othman in Menglait two months ago.
Donning grey coveralls, Nizam instructs his only other staff on duty today, Azinuddin Hj Ibrahim, who reverses a customer’s car into their workshop.
“Normally it’s three of us,” says Nizam warmly. “But Hafiz is on emergency leave at the moment, so we’ll have to make do.”
Nizam’s is hands-on and doesn’t shy away from getting his hands dirty – doing the majority of the car servicing that comes through, while his team of two Bruneians focus on the business’ unique selling point: de-carbonizing engines.
“As your car engine runs, it’s burning fuel which results in waste by-products,” explains Nizam. “Over time, you get a buildup of carbon, which looks like black residue in the engine, eventually clogging it, which will strain then damage then engine as it runs.”
There are several ways to remove carbon from the engine – from manually cleaning the engine to inserting chemicals, but Nizam opts to use a recently popularized method which hooks a machine producing oxy-hydrogen gas up to the engine’s air intake.
The hydrogen pumped through then reacts with the carbons, turning it into hydrocarbons which then naturally lift from the engine and exit the vehicle through its exhaust.
“Especially in older cars, (de-carbonizing) helps to reduce emissions, improve fuel efficiency and the overall performance becomes smoother; so you typically get better power and pick-up,” said Nizam. “For newer cars, it’s also great way to take care of your engine and ensure it has a long lifespan.”
Motorque also offers the standard car servicing, where the engine oil and oil filter is changed – but they are one of only a few workshops in Brunei offering the clean up carbon within the engine using oxy-hydrogen gas.
“The machine itself is from the UK and nearly cost half of the capital needed to start the workshop,” says Nizam. “But it’s well worth the price because we can vouch for its quality, which guarantees the safety of the customers’ cars.”
Once a customer’s engine has been cleared of carbon, many opt for regular servicing, with Motorque having a range of engine oils including SK ZIC and Kixx in addition to the staples of Shell Helix and Liqui Moly.
“There are many workshops around this area doing regular servicing,” acknowledges Nizam. “So we just keep our focus on the quality. Each potential customer or inquiry we do our best to explain – from price to process – transparently. And for each car that’s sent to us we make sure we do the best we can.”
Motorque is located at A1, Ground Floor, Bangunan Haji Othman, Simpang 8, Kg Menglait (same end as DHL), and opens from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, closing at 4pm during the month of Ramadhan. To learn more follow @motorque.bn on Facebook and Instagram to learn more and contact +6737325246 to get in touch directly.
