Car Maintenance Tips
An ounce of prevention is better than several ounces of transmission fluid in the desert
Confession time. When I was first married, I wanted to show my wife just how smart I was by taking the car to get the oil changed because, hey, that’s what you do with cars. Farmer’s daughter that she was, she proceeded to show me how to change the oil myself. And this set off my car maintenance career.
Since that time, I’ve learned many car maintenance tips that have kept our vehicles out of the shop and auto mechanics out of my wallet. Let me share a few with you.
Oil? Check. Filter? What filter?
Your manual, or my wife, will specify how often you should change your oil, however, as a general rule with non-synthetic oil, 3,000 to 4,000 miles is considered good car maintenance. And while you’re under there, change the oil filter.
Let there be light.
Ideally you should check your headlights, taillights, and brake lights, as well as your turn signals periodically. If someone flashes you (not THAT kind of flashing) or you get honked at a lot and you’re not that attractive, chances are you have a light issue with your car.
Check your fluids.
And I don’t mean Mountain Dew. If you can change the oil, you can certainly check your windshield washer, power steering, brake, transmission, and antifreeze fluids. I’d go into great detail on each but your owner's manual will tell you how to check these.
You’ll get a belt out of this car maintenance tip.
If your belts start squealing, you should take a peek for cracks or missing segments. And even if they don’t squeal, you should still check them regularly. Some people say you can use pantyhose in a pinch as a belt but you don’t want to be the guy who gets caught with pantyhose in his glove compartment when his buddy is fishing for a pack of Marlboros.
If you like saving gas (and not running off the road), check your tire pressure.
Perform this check monthly, and especially as the temperatures fluctuate. The inside of your car door will often have the air pressure specifications listed if you can’t find that pesky owner’s manual.
Windshield wipers don’t seem that important unless it’s a torrential downpour.
When wiper blades go bad, they start streaking (not THAT kind of streaking). They can get cracked or torn. Replacing wiper blades is easy. You won’t even need my wife to show you.
Check your air filter.
Bad gas mileage? Bad smell coming from under the hood? Bad breath? Check your air filter. Access is usually fairly easy. Your filter should be clean and not damaged or clogged.
Now you can impress your friends and your wife (maybe my wife is friends with your wife so she’ll definitely be impressed) and avoid your auto mechanic a little bit longer with these car maintenance tips.
