When you take care of things, it lasts long. And this goes the same with your car. Many car maintenance services are available, but you should take care of them. Most of us own a car, but only a few maintain it. It is good to depend on car maintenance professionals. But you should also perform some maintenance activities yourself. A well-maintained car will never let you down in case of an emergency. Also, it can save you from greater expenses in future. This blog will discuss simple checks you can make on your car at home. And we recommend doing it for at least six months.
Start With The Exteriors: Tires, Brakes And Suspension.
Tire
When checking the tires, you want to check: tread depth, tire pressure and how the tire is wearing. This is the most basic car maintenance process.
On all tires, you will have the wear bar indicators. You will notice them within the groves. If you roll your finger across from one block to another, over top of one of the tread wear indicators, it runs well rather than falling back up. This means that you need to replace the tires.
Next, you need to ensure that your tires are inflated well. The tire pressure information is inside the door jamb or the owner’s manual. You have to ensure this tire pressure does not get too low because this can result in uneven wear.
Finally, if you look at your tire and notice that the center of the tire is wearing down more than the outside, then that indicates that your tire pressure is too high. And if the outsides are worn down but the center isn’t as much, your tire pressure is likely too low.
Brakes
You can remove the wheels or look through the holes in the wheels to check the brake pads. A new brake pad will have 12 mm of pad material remaining. You must replace it when the pad material drops about 3 mm. Sometimes when brake pads get down to about 3 mm, they will have a metal indicator in there, giving you a screeching sound from your brakes.
Suspension
Now you have to inspect the shock observer. You want to ensure you do not see fluids leaking from the damper. You also want to look for any visual damage on the shock or springs. You can rotate the steering wheel from one side to look in from that angle and rotate it from another. And you do not have to remove the wheels to do that. Every car owner should know these basic car maintenance tips.
Checking Underneath The Hood: Fluid And Filters
The first thing you have to look out for is engine oil. You have to find the dipstick and pull it out. Use a clean cloth to wipe down the entire thing. You can get a good reading when you insert it back in. Stick it right back in and pull that out. Looking at the dipstick, you will see two little indicators. You want your oil level to be somewhere between these two. If it is right at the bottom, you should add half a quarter to the engine and re-check it. It would be best if you changed it as referred to in your user manual. If you see a milkiness in the oil’s color, that can state that coolant is getting in within your engine oil.
Depending on your vehicle, you will have different fluids that you need to check so far. For example, if your vehicle has electronic power steering, there will be no power steering fluids to check. You want to check the brake fluids to see the reservoir’s maximum and minimum indicator lines. And you have to make sure that the brake fluid is between those two lines. You will see the same things on your coolant reservoir. So somewhere near your radiator or coming from your radiator, you will have an expansion tank. And top off your windshield fluid as needed.
Next up are the filters. There are two filters which you have to inspect. First is the engine air filter. Often these do not require tools to gain access to. You can pull these out and inspect them with some clips. You may find some debris there, so you must clean it and put it back. You may have to replace it with a new filter if it is beyond cleaning.
Also, you have to check the cabin air filter. You will generally find this behind the glove box. You will not need any tools to remove it. Pop that and inspect.
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Final Inspection: Wiper Blades And Lights
Wiper Blades
Checking out the wiper blades and lights is also a good idea. You have to make sure that it is a nice and smooth continuous surface. It should not have any cracks in it. The rubber is not starting to deteriorate.
Lights
The vehicle has three lights: headlights, indicators and brake lights. You have to use them regularly. You can ask your friend to check them while pressing the brake pedal.
So hopefully, this has provided you with some useful information on easy car maintenance that you can do at your home.
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