Things You Need To Know About Regular Car Maintenance
You may be a brand new car owner. Fortunately, you know how to drive. You know how to park it. What's left? You must learn how to care for your car as well. Regular driving puts wear and tear on the car and just like your personal health, your car needs regular care and maintenance.
In this short and simple guide to car maintenance, we shall discuss changing the oil, checking the battery, as well as checking the tires. And since the winter weather can make your car quite uncooperative, we have also included some tips on how to maintain your new auto.
Why You Need Oil Changes
One way to ensure that your car stays in perfect shape is to regularly give it an oil change. Your car's oil can be exposed to different kinds of debris, thus requiring a change, and this would include everything from small specks of dust to metal bits coming from your car's engine. Your engine would then falter due to the contaminated oil's gummy consistency.
Motor oil should be changed approximately every three to five thousand miles. Most drivers would need to change oil every three months. Your owner's manual will give you the specifications for your vehicle.
Battery Check
You may have a full tank of gas, but without a battery, you're going no where fast! It all depends on how you use your car, how well you maintain it, and how good the quality of your battery is - car batteries often last about 3 to 5 years.
Don't be fooled in thinking that if you keep you car in the garage all winter it will save the battery. Just the opposite is true. Cars are meant to be driven and a car battery is constantly recharged when the car is operational. Batteries could actually drain faster if unused.
Rotate Tires
The only time most people pay heed to their tires is if they go flat. But improperly maintained tires can increase your chances of a flat, or worse, a blowout while you're driving on a highway. If that happens, you car could uncontrollably spin out of control.
When maintaining a front-wheel drive automobile, take better care of the front tires because they would wear out faster than the rear tires. Rotating the tires helps balance the wear more evenly. You can't avoid your tires getting worn out in some way, so you need to do this, even on 4wd cars. The weight carried by your car would subsequently impact how quickly your tires would wear out. How do you rotate tires, you may ask - just put the rear tires up front and the front tires at the rear. This should be done every six to ten thousand miles. You can be assured of better and safer driving if you regularly maintain your tires.
A Quick Guide To Winter Maintenance
Once the wind in the air becomes nippier than usual, it's time for you to get your car ready for the all-important winter months. Ask your repair shop about several things - the brakes, the antifreeze, the wipers, and your tires - be proactive even if they have their checklists.
It is an obvious warning sign when someone driving sees build-ups of snow and ice on normally clear roads. However, in the months just before and after the mid-winter blast, light rain showers can coat the roads with black ice that is difficult to see and extremely slick. Prime your tires and brakes for these crucial months, and do so while still early.
While you're there, have them check the antifreeze in your car. This liquid is coolant, which may sound odd in the wintertime. But it actually lowers the freezing point and raises the boiling point. Think of it like the pipes in your home - they can freeze and burst in the winter months, and the same thing applies for your car's engine in the winter time without antifreeze. Although it may seem like a silly thing to worry about, new windshield wiper blades can make the difference between a difficult drive and an easy cruise. Have you ever tried driving in a snowstorm with no working wipers whatsoever? You wouldn't be able to see that much. And if you can't see, you can't effectively control your vehicle. So this winter, drive safely and take care of your car.
In this short and simple guide to car maintenance, we shall discuss changing the oil, checking the battery, as well as checking the tires. And since the winter weather can make your car quite uncooperative, we have also included some tips on how to maintain your new auto.
Why You Need Oil Changes
One way to ensure that your car stays in perfect shape is to regularly give it an oil change. Your car's oil can be exposed to different kinds of debris, thus requiring a change, and this would include everything from small specks of dust to metal bits coming from your car's engine. Your engine would then falter due to the contaminated oil's gummy consistency.
Motor oil should be changed approximately every three to five thousand miles. Most drivers would need to change oil every three months. Your owner's manual will give you the specifications for your vehicle.
Battery Check
You may have a full tank of gas, but without a battery, you're going no where fast! It all depends on how you use your car, how well you maintain it, and how good the quality of your battery is - car batteries often last about 3 to 5 years.
Don't be fooled in thinking that if you keep you car in the garage all winter it will save the battery. Just the opposite is true. Cars are meant to be driven and a car battery is constantly recharged when the car is operational. Batteries could actually drain faster if unused.
Rotate Tires
The only time most people pay heed to their tires is if they go flat. But improperly maintained tires can increase your chances of a flat, or worse, a blowout while you're driving on a highway. If that happens, you car could uncontrollably spin out of control.
When maintaining a front-wheel drive automobile, take better care of the front tires because they would wear out faster than the rear tires. Rotating the tires helps balance the wear more evenly. You can't avoid your tires getting worn out in some way, so you need to do this, even on 4wd cars. The weight carried by your car would subsequently impact how quickly your tires would wear out. How do you rotate tires, you may ask - just put the rear tires up front and the front tires at the rear. This should be done every six to ten thousand miles. You can be assured of better and safer driving if you regularly maintain your tires.
A Quick Guide To Winter Maintenance
Once the wind in the air becomes nippier than usual, it's time for you to get your car ready for the all-important winter months. Ask your repair shop about several things - the brakes, the antifreeze, the wipers, and your tires - be proactive even if they have their checklists.
It is an obvious warning sign when someone driving sees build-ups of snow and ice on normally clear roads. However, in the months just before and after the mid-winter blast, light rain showers can coat the roads with black ice that is difficult to see and extremely slick. Prime your tires and brakes for these crucial months, and do so while still early.
While you're there, have them check the antifreeze in your car. This liquid is coolant, which may sound odd in the wintertime. But it actually lowers the freezing point and raises the boiling point. Think of it like the pipes in your home - they can freeze and burst in the winter months, and the same thing applies for your car's engine in the winter time without antifreeze. Although it may seem like a silly thing to worry about, new windshield wiper blades can make the difference between a difficult drive and an easy cruise. Have you ever tried driving in a snowstorm with no working wipers whatsoever? You wouldn't be able to see that much. And if you can't see, you can't effectively control your vehicle. So this winter, drive safely and take care of your car.