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Auto Maintenance Tips

Auto Maintenance Tips

Auto Maintenance TipsBy Kamal Sadik.

Although cars are designed to receive regular maintenance, many people do not take auto maintenance tips so serious with the suggested schedules. Routine maintenance ensures longevity, safety, comfort and drive-ability of a car. The basic maintenance of a car is not really hard because it involves simple guidelines to follow.

Below are some fundamental auto maintenance tips that you should follow for the best results in the extending life of your car:

Engine oil level and filters

Auto Maintenance Tips - Engine Oil

Oil changing is one of the most important auto maintenance tips because too high or too low oil level can cause complications in the engine. Checking oil level is something everyone can do and once the oil pressure light on the control panel lights, it indicates that you should not drive the car with this condition until you fix the problem. It is recommended to dispose and change oil at a maximum of 5,000 miles. Low oil pressure can also be caused by broken oil line, insufficient oil, obstruction in the oil line, weak relief-valve spring, thin oil, worn oil pump, worn engine bearings, leaking or blocked oil filter. The issue of oil changing must be taken serious and the oil filter must also be changed at every oil change.

Wheels and tires

Both underinflated and overinflated tires wear out earlier than normal. You should check their pressures regularly, preferably once a week. You should also check their wear pattern and have them swapped to even out their wear.

Battery and lights

Auto Maintenance Tips - Battery

Battery maintenance is also one of the most important auto maintenance tips, because if its terminals are dirty, it can be hard for current to pass around the electrical system, causing havoc. Clean the terminals and caps with a wire brush, so as to get a nice contact surface. You should also inspect all lights whether they are blown and replace the bulbs.

You should understand the instrument warning lights because some of them require technical repair and others can be disregarded. However, most of these lights warn us when there are faults in the systems. All of us don’t wish to visit the garage or get stuck at the road side when it is not necessary. It is therefore important to seek professional assistance for more assistance.

Belts

All rubber belts that drive the pulleys shrivel occasionally. It is preferable to change them every 50,000 miles. Their failure can cause the engine to lack power, overheating, backfires and misses.

Fluids and coolant

Check or replace brake fluids, power steering fluids and transmission fluids. The other most important thing your engine must need is the coolant. You must check the coolant level. The most common coolant complaints are:
  • Engine overheating
  • Slow warm up
  • Coolant leaks



Auto Maintenance Tips - Professional Mechanic

You must consider coolant as one of the most important auto maintenance tips because coolant leaking can be dangerous to the engine especially when it is internal. It can cause rust if it contaminates with oil. It can also lead to head, piston, block cracking or rod bending if it leaks into the cylinder.

Although you can maintain your car on your own, it is important to keep in mind that it can be more expensive than having a professional mechanic doing it. This is because you may not have special tools to work with and it can be hard to access some ports. It can also cost you more time to do everything by yourself and more expensive when purchasing items. Therefore it is simpler to allow a mechanic to do so if you are looking for an affordable way of maintaining your car.