Carcare

Best Car Care Tips Online

Below you can find daily car care tips to maintain your car.

Keeping your car running in top shape isn’t rocket science. Here is what you should pay attention to:

Air conditioning

As air conditioning becomes more common in India, you have yet another fluid level to check. You should run your air conditioning at least once a week, and not just when the weather is hot, to help maintain it.

Vehicle manufacturers recommend servicing air-conditioning systems every two years. A fully functional system brings you several major benefits:

Ensures that correct temperatures are being reached.
Reduces pollen and pollution entering your car.
Saves you money.
Reduces the amount of chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere.
Increases the life of your vehicle’s air conditioning system.
A useful tip in winter is to run the air conditioning to prevent your windscreen misting up.

Air filter

Air filters are inexpensive, but when they get dirty they can reduce your fuel economy by an appreciable amount, and result in a fine for failing a roadside emissions test. Dirty air filters should be replaced or cleaned as soon as possible. It’s an easy job to do but check the handbook if you are unsure, or alternatively take it to a garage.

Battery

Most batteries have “maintenance free” stamped on them, and you won’t ever have to check the electrolyte level. If your battery is not “maintenance free”, you should unscrew the plastic caps and check the level of the liquid inside (electrolyte). If it is low, top it up with distilled water, not tap water. You should also check the condition of the terminals. If they are corroded, take off the wires (negative off first and back on last), clean up with a wire brush and grease with Vaseline or normal grease to prevent corrosion returning. Remember, batteries contain strong acid and you must always be cautious when checking and removing them.

Brakes

Your vehicle’s most critical system is its brakes. Many people never look at the master cylinder until they have brake failure. In late-model vehicles, the master cylinders are often made of semi-opaque plastic that allows inspecting the fluid level without taking off the cover, as is the case with cast-iron master cylinders.

In addition to checking fluid level, look for leaks where the brake lines attach to the master cylinder and where the master cylinder bolts to the power booster. If you see signs of brake fluid, tighten the fittings using a line wrench on brake-line nuts to prevent against rounding off their shoulders. If the master cylinder is leaking at the rear, replace it.

In the interest of safety, periodically get under the vehicle and inspect the rubber hoses that go to the wheels for excessive wear or cracks; replace these hoses as necessary. Finally, check brake shoes and/or caliper pads regularly. Worn pads can damage the brake rotor or drum, turning a simple maintenance job into an expensive replacement procedure. For vehicles with disc brakes, replace the pads with whatever style the manufacturer recommends.

Clutch

On a hydraulic clutch, fluid ensures the clutch operates smoothly and helps prevent wear and tear. If you feel that under acceleration, the engine revs build up faster than the car is actually accelerating, it may mean your clutch is wearing out. If this happens, get it checked as soon as possible - worn clutches eventually fail which means you will not be able to change gear. So it pays to check your clutch fluid level and ensure it is replaced as recommended by the vehicle handbook. This will help to keep costs down and your car running safely.

The best way to keep the running cost of your car minimal is to maintain your car effectively. Cars do not look after themselves and parts do wear out due to the extreme conditions and pressures they operate within. However, if you carry out regular checks on your car, you can extend the life of certain parts and ensure your car runs reliably. Always ensure you have your car serviced as recommended in the drivers manual. Failure to do so may lead to excessive wear on your vehicle, leading to breakdowns and expensive repairs. Failing to have your car serviced may also mean that parts critical to safety are not checked, which can be dangerous.

Fan belt

If your fan belt starts slipping (you will definitely know when you hear the squeal!), it may not be tensioned properly. At best this could result in your battery going flat through not being recharged, and at worst, it could fail to operate your cooling fan, resulting in serious and expensive damage due to the engine overheating.

Fuel

It may sound obvious, but make sure you have enough fuel before you start a journey. “Breakdowns” caused by people forgetting to do this are surprisingly common. As for the grade of petrol - super unleaded is usually a waste of money and won’t improve performance or engine longevity. Normal unleaded petrol will do just fine.

Leaks

If you do notice any leaks, get them checked immediately. With so many different systems in a modern car relying on specialist liquids or lubricants to run properly, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Lights

Another safety-related aspect that should be checked periodically is the light system. With the exception of the bright-white halide-gas headlights on expensive new sports cars, many automotive lights are just bulbs, downsized versions of the ones in your house. As such, they do eventually burn out.

Periodically check the lights to make sure they’re all working. Turn on your emergency flasher and see if all four lights flash. Then individually try the right and left turn signal to make sure they are working front and rear. Ask a friend to apply the brakes to see if the brake lights are functioning. Obviously, it’s extremely dangerous to drive a car with faulty brake lights.

If any of the lights aren’t working, replace that bulb. If the brake lights aren’t working first check the bulbs, then the brake switch. If your dash lights are not functioning, check for burned out fuses, or for defective bulbs in older vehicles. For passenger safety, make sure that the courtesy lamps illuminate. Don’t forget any underhood bulbs as well as the trunk lamp.

Oil

Adequate lubrication is one of the key factors in keeping your engine running well. The fluid level should be checked weekly, and the oil should be changed frequently (every 3,000 miles in older engines) to keep it clean. The most common effect of neglected oil inspection is an engine seizes or some other type of catastrophic failure. Checking the oil level is a lot more convenient than replacing and engine.

Consult your owner’s manual regarding oil-change intervals and lubricant specifications. We recommend using synthetic oil because it resists degradation better than conventional oil and stays cleaner longer. If you choose to use standard fossil oil, check your owner’s manual for the recommended viscosity in various weather conditions. Temperature seriously affects your oil and its lubricating effectiveness, and using the incorrect weight—such as straight 30-weight in winter in cold country—can be harmful to the internal parts you’re trying to protect. Radiator

Steering

Check for “play” on your steering wheel - there shouldn’t be much movement without the front wheels turning. If you notice you car is pulling too much to one side or the other, check your steering and wheel alignment. To make certain, please test this on a flat road. Most roads have a slight slope, or camber, towards the kerb, which has the effect of very slightly pulling your car towards the kerb as you are driving along.

Timing belt

The timing belt connects upper and lower engine parts, and is usually hidden from view under a plastic cover. If this belt breaks your car either runs very poorly, or the engine may “seize”, causing extensive damage. Check your handbook to find out what the recommended interval is for changing the timing belt, and stick to it!

Tyres

Many companies now offer spray-on tire-care products. Some people prefer the glossy-black look while others like a more natural semi-gloss black. Common soap pads can be used to clean white letters and to remove the brown brake dust from the sidewalls.

Most people are well aware that tire failures can be fatal. With this in mind, get in the habit of visually inspecting daily for sidewall bulges and checking air pressure at every gas stop. After all, a tire pressure gauge is a lot cheaper than a new set of tires.

Proper inflation pressure makes tires last longer, and it also improves the vehicle’s fuel economy. Assuming that the wheels are properly aligned, under-inflation causes the tires’ shoulders to wear faster than the centers, and over-inflation makes the center strips go bald earlier than the shoulders. Your owner’s manual will recommend the correct pressure for your vehicle.

Assuming that the vehicle is aligned properly, inexpensive tires should last in excess of 30,000 miles; expensive brands often go over 50,000. Conversely, worn tires may work okay in dry weather, but they can become downright dangerous in the rain. Periodically inspect the sidewalls for cracking or splitting. Old tires, even with low mileage, can be dangerous because the rubber cracks and hardens over time. Any tire over five years old should be changed. Bottom line: Blowouts can be fatal!

Warning Signs

Watch for warning lights, note performance changes and listen to your car - any changes or unusual noises are worth having checked before a more serious fault develops.

Windscreen

There’s nothing worse, or more dangerous, than looking out of a dirty windshield. Dirty glass deflects the light and can make visibility dangerous at best, impossible at worst.

Many products do an excellent job of washing your windshield, and it’s always advisable to wipe the product off with a paper towel that doesn’t leave lint or streaks. Consider cleaning your windshield every morning, or at least use your automatic windshield washers before departing.

For surface scratches, glass-polishing products can usually make the windshield appear as good as new. Also, small rock chips and cracks can be sometimes successfully filled with resin repair kits from the auto parts store. Alternately, automotive glass shops and mobile-repair services can fill small chips and cracks so that they virtually disappear.

Source: valvoline.com & carwale.com