Some Car Maintenance Checks You May Never Do
You may never notice these car maintenance checks. For maintain your car health and prolong its working life, you must pay attention to these aspects.
Most people occasionally check tire pressure, but completely ignore the spare as will mechanics unless you ask. All pneumatic tires lose pressure over time. After a few years of neglect, the high-pressure compact spare is typically underinflated, sometimes dangerously so, if ever required.
Check all lights. Don’t let a broken bulb lead to a collision.
Check battery eye if equipped. Some batteries have an eye to visually indicate charge condition. Any color besides green means trouble, but note that green can also be a false positive where battery output only becomes insufficient under load due to bad cell.
Check coolant level and condition. If discolored or foul smelling, a flush-and-fill may be due. An inexpensive coolant tester (syringe) can verify freeze-up/boil over protection.
Visually check air-con eye. Bubbles in the A/C sight-glass indicate low refrigerant, and oil streaks spell trouble. Watch for refrigerant flow to avoid confusing a completely discharged A/C system for a full one.
Clean debris from fins of radiator, air-con condenser and power steering cooler, if equipped. Obstructed airflow can lead to overheating of these systems.
Pull out tranny dipstick and sniff it. Really. Fluid should be clear, bright red, and have no burnt odour, which indicates overheating. Check fluid level while engine is running. (Of course, it’s also good to check oil, brake, power steering and washer fluid levels.)
Visually inspect tires. That is, look at them once in a while. Uneven tread wear, bald tires, or damage to sidewalls or tread require attention. A nail in the tread can typically be mended if caught early (i.e. tire looks unusually low), but it can lead to a high-speed blowout if ignored.
Check jack and spare. Don’t find out at roadside that the jack is missing in your used car, or that you need special tools (e.g. for wheel locks). In my old Jeep, some fasteners were mixed up at the factory so the spare couldn’t be removed without a wrench. Fortunately, I discovered and corrected this problem at home, where I had access to the right tool rather than on the road in the middle of nowhere./p>
Lift foot mats in an older car and inspect floor. Salt water running off your shoes in wintertime can pool beneath mats and corrode metal. Holes in the floorboard will allow potentially deadly exhaust fumes to enter vehicle.
Check your auto engine. According to our research, after running 1-2 years (about20000 kilometers), the automobile engine will have performance degradation in different levels: economic performance degradation, fuel consumption increase, short of power, fast acceleration not free, start not smooth, especially in cold start, excessive exhaust emission, noise increase, the engine oil turns black fast or even slightly burned and so on. If you ignore to check it, the carbon deposit will do harm for your auto and it may have shorter life.
