Just like your body, your car also needs routine checkups. The vehicle has a complex structure like the human body with wires for veins, an engine as the heart, and other parts as the organs. The complex machinery needs maintenance. You must find an expert who has thorough knowledge about the vehicle.
Some experts cater to specific models, and they do a great job with them. They excel at fixing a particular vehicle. For instance, routine maintenance for Subaru would be done by experts who specialize in addressing issues in this type of car. In maintenance centers, a car goes through a comprehensive inspection, including tire rotation and oil change.
It’s advisable to take your car for routine maintenance. This promotes efficient driving and longer life. Apart from this, there are other ways to ensure the well-being of your vehicle. Below are some checks that you can perform on your car every six months.
How You Can Take Care of Your Vehicle
You can perform some checks at home to ensure the efficiency and longer life of your car. Let’s look at some parts of the vehicle that you should have checked.
Tires
Inspecting and maintaining tires can add to their years and save you from accidents. You want to look at three things with tires — tire depth, tire pressure, and how the tire is wearing. On all tires, you’ll find wear bar indicators. If you roll your fingers across one tread block to the next, over top of these tread wear indicators, you’ll see that they’re bending.
If your fingers move smoothly over them without falling into the groove, it means that you have to replace your tires. Now, make sure that your tires are perfectly inflated. Uninflated tires can result in unwanted wear, worse fuel economy, and increase your chances of hydroplaning.
If you look at your tire and see the center is worn down more than the outer part, the air pressure is too high. If it’s the other way around, then your tire pressure is low. If one side of the tire is wearing down more than the other, then it means that you need to get your alignment fixed.
Brakes
To check the brakes, you can remove your tires or look through them for the brake pad. A new brake pad will have around 12 millimeters of pad material. When the padding gets down to three millimeters, you need to think about replacing it. Usually, when brakes reach this level, you’ll start hearing a screeching sound that indicates the problem.
Shock Absorber
Make sure there’s no fluid leaking out of the damper. You must also check for any visual damage on the part. Check the spring to see that everything is in good working condition. You don’t have to remove your wheel for this, you can rotate your steering to one side, and it’ll give way to look into the shock absorber.
Fluids
The first thing that you need to check is the engine oil. Find the dipstick and wipe down the entire to clean it to get a good reading. After that, insert it back again and try to read it. You’ll see that there are two holes on it, which are indicators. Your oil level should be between these two.
If it’s less than that, you’ll have to add in more oil and check again. The oil must be between that level. Keep an eye for milkiness in the oil. If it’s there, that would mean that coolant has mixed in. This can create a big problem, and you must take the vehicle to the mechanic.
Different vehicles have different fluids to check. For example, if a car has electronic power steering, it would mean that there’s no power steering fluid to check. While checking the brake fluid, you’ll see a max and min indicator on the brake fluid reservoir. Make sure that brake fluid is between those two lines.
Check the same for the coolant reservoir. You’ll see an expansion tank somewhere near the radiator. It will also contain a min and max line. Make sure the fluid is somewhere between them.
Filters
The first one is the engine air filter. These generally don’t require any tools. You’ll find a filter that you have to check for debris. If it contains some, clean that up and put it back in. If it’s filthy, you’ll have to replace it with a new one. Next to check is the cabin air filter, which you’ll find inside the glove box. Pop that out and inspect for dirt and debris.
Apart from this, it’s a good idea to check wipers and lights too. All you have to do is slide your hand through the wiper and try to feel any cracks. Make sure that the rubber is intact so that it maintains good contact with your windshield. You can check your lights by merely turning them on and see if they’re working.
These checks will save you from additional uninvited problems and terminate risks. This way, you can prevent any accidents while on the road because you know your vehicle is in good condition.