Regular Car Maintenance Tips
The trick to having your car running smoothly without giving you any trouble is in doing certain basic maintenance routines. Besides, these routines will help you save cost, and also limit and/or eliminate the damage that may occur due to use. Hence, you should be mindful of doing these (following) things:
- Check your car's oil level, and see to it that it is at the recommended level- in-between the 'top' and 'bottom' marks [on the dipstick] or precisely on the top mark. This, you can ensure by measuring the oil level with the dipstick: pull out the dipstick, clean it with a piece of cloth, and then dip it into the oil again to check the oil level. If the oil is at the bottom mark [or further below it]; add some more oil- this should not go beyond the 'top' mark. It is also important that you get the oil changed every three (3) months.
- Check your coolant system regularly. Ensure that you top it up [with the appropriate mixture of water to coolant ratio] if need be. You should make sure that the coolant system is outrightly flushed once a year. To sound a note of caution: you should not attempt to do anything on the coolant system while the engine is hot.
- Check the condition of your car's battery: take care of corrosion by washing off spills [of the battery acid] with water. Furthermore, ensure that the battery's terminals are tight and that the battery is well fixed. And more importantly, whenever you are attempting to disconnect the battery; you should remove the negative terminal first before taking off the positive terminal. The reverse is, however, the case whenever you are reconnecting the terminals to the battery- positive to be reconnected before the negative.
- Free up the brake of your automobile from dust, and also give heed to the sound that might be coming from it. Furthermore, make it a point of duty to have the brake fluid changed once every year.
Additionally, you should check the following parts of your automobile regularly [to be sure that they are in good condition] before driving out of the garage:
- Horn;
- Windscreen wipers and washers;
- Exterior lights;
- Tyre pressure.
