Car Maintenance Articles | Page 2

You’ll be glad you know more than just how to drive your car!

If you know how to troubleshoot it you will know how to prevent breakdowns. 💪/💰

Knowledge and tips for car maintenance and troubleshooting

You don’t have to know everything at once, even seasoned mechanics learn from time to time.

Focus on your most pressing problem and you’ll see quite a bit of empowerment coming from time to time.

On this category I share my mechanical knowledge and car tips for your benefit.

You don’t have to know everything at once. Even seasoned mechanics learn from time to time.

Prioritize your most pressing problem and you’ll see more empowerment coming from time to time.

In this category, I share my mechanical knowledge and know-how for your benefit.

If you don’t have car repair experiences, focus on important maintenance on the vehicle . Few people know how to maintain their car, let alone when to do it!

You should know what is basic and able to identify some myths about car maintenance to dispel your fears!

Did you know a total maintenance make cycle on the vehicle! Therefore to perform a good one, the vehicle must have tracked by a car maintenance record .

What are the basic car maintenance?

Well, that would be a long list. Rather than recite it here, check the owner’s manual that was supplied with your car. Maybe you can find the type and interval of maintenance to keep your car in good running condition. These are considered the basics. But if you are not driving under warranty or you own a used car, you can go above these recommendations too. For example, some manufacturers recommend that your transmission fluid is “lifetime” fluid. It really isn’t if you plan to keep the car past 170,000 Km. same with spark plugs , some manufacturer says they are 96,561 Km but by that mileage they are pretty tuckered out, earlier is better (72,000 Km).

Were come from this misunderstanding and what consequence it’s do?

Vehicle-specific recommendations that are often only useful for a short period and misinterpreted in context create myths about automotive maintenance.

What are the biggest car maintenance myths?

#1 That you don’t need to warm up your car in winter.

Much recent news stories have perpetuated a myth that warming is no longer necessary. Most arguments against warming up your car focus on the fact that it’s not really necessary because your car has computers and it’s bad for the environment to idle and waste fuel…

That’s fine… Yes, modern fuel injected vehicles don’t need to be warmed up in order to meter fuel properly, but your engine can easily last over 300,000 km if you take care of your car; and keep it alive longer, even if it’s for the next owner.

You really do need to warm up your car in the winter, but you only need a minute or two to let the oil warm up before increasing the RPM’s past idle… you don’t need to warm it up for 5-10 minutes until it’s “hot”. You’ll avoid the worst part of engine wear by waiting a minute or parking it in a warm garage instead and avoid wasting your fuel.

#2 That premium fuel is better for your car.

If your owner’s manual does not recommend premium gasoline, your vehicle does not need it. If your engine does, use it. Otherwise, you’re wasting your money. Premium or ultra gasoline is not a better fuel, it’s just a less volatile fuel with less smoke at a temperature that will help prevent pre-ignition in high-compression turbocharged engines and other high-performance aspects, and therefore hotter.

#3 That the dealership is better or more honest than a neighborhood shop.

Sometimes it’s the exact opposite, mostly because the deal is so skewed at the dealership. They don’t make money by being honest with you and making you happy; they make money from warranty repairs and overcharging for items.

#4 That engine oil additives (or coolant or fuel additives) are helpful.

It’s usually just the opposite. Add nothing to your engine other than a high-quality oil in the grade for your car . The oil already contains detergents and other additives, so you don’t need to alter its pure formula by adding other compounds. Be aware that an anti-leak product will never work. It will slow down the leak, but will have other negative consequences. All you need to do is fix the leak and be done with it.

#5 That maintaining your own car is difficult/dangerous/complicated.

The automotive industry would like you to believe this. They want you to believe that you need expensive/advanced computers to know what is going on in your car. The “computer” components rarely fail, of course. Sometimes sensors fail, but all cars have the same problems: plastic/rubber cracks when it gets old/weak; seals get dry so fluids leak, that’s what causes most maintenance/repairs.

If you feel confident doing these three things, you can fix your own car; 1) Solve a squeaky door, 2) Change the battery of your smartphone or the charger of your laptop 3) Detect a burnt out lamp in the house. Seriously. (Or, at least, you will identify the problem and then hand it off to a shop with confidence and understanding of what it needs.)

There are a lot of simple jobs that you can do yourself in your garage. Oil ch anges, transmission oil changes, bulbs, and so on. When you do these things you save yourself a LOT of money.

In the home page of the site I share useful tips that can help you when you do things yourself .

What is general maintenance on a car?

Changing your motor oil and filter , at least twice a year.

Change brake fluid every 3 to 4 years.

Change antifreeze every 48,000 Km or 32 months. It depends on the type of antifreeze that is in your car.

Change transmission fluid and filter, according to your owner’s manual. Do not get the 100% flush. Just do a drain and refill only. It will prevent potential future shifting problems with your transmission. If the owner’s manual says to never change the transmission fluid and filter, change it at 48,000 Km, anyway. Or do it earlier. Why? Because you only drain out about 1/2 the transmission fluid. So some old fluid is still inside the transmission. It is much cheaper to do maintenance than it is to replace a transmission.

Put distilled water only in your car’s battery , if your battery has caps that come off the top.

Change air filter and cabin air filter. Check it yearly. Both should last at least 12,000 Km or least.

Check wiper blades while you refill the windshield wiper reservoir when it gets low.

Have your cars tires rotated front to rear every 12,000 Km or every year.

Check air pressure in your car’s tires about every month or two. They listed the tire pressure on your driver’s door jamb. Just open the driver’s door and you will find it. Don’t forget to check the spare tire in trunk too. It uses a higher pressure, usually 35 psi never reaches the maximum, distance it from 5 to 10 PSI less.

Wash your car at least twice a month. Hand waxes your car 3 or 4 times a year.

How often should I service my car?

How often do I really need to get my car serviced?

This is highly dependable on how you drive your car, a lesser degree how it’s used and what the owners’ manual says.

Most people follow the condition of oil (Clear, Light honey color, Dark) to know the engine needs servicing. It is not a better practice because you risk your engine life. Use a car maintenance schedule with your car log, it’s complete than a car maintenance checklist.

If you don’t have permission to access your car logbook, here is more information on How to create one , what needs to be serviced in your car and when to do it.

You can this find formidable Vehicle Maintenance Log Book Pdf to buy at My Store on Teespring .