Important Car Maintenance Tasks You Can Do!
Having a working, maintained car is one of many important things you can do to practice safe driving! Here we will talk about some basic and beginner tasks you can do to your car to keep it in tip top shape. By no means do these tips come close to ensuring a 100% working car which is why you are encouraged to take your car into a licensed mechanic for routine maintenance that you may not be able to do at home.
1. Make sure you can clearly see out your front and rear windshields!
This is a simple tasks anyone can do. You can use a glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth and wipe both the inside and outside of your windshield. Doing this ever so often or when noticeable streaks or dirty appear is a great way to make sure you have a clear view of your surroundings when driving.
However, if your view is obstructed by cracks in your windshield that is not something you can fix at home. There are many services that can replace windshield. You even have options of windshield repair and replacement companies that can come to your home or work for those of you who have busy scheduled but still want to drive safe.
Additionally, it is good practice to clean your windshield wipers when you notice they are streaking when in use. You can clean them with glass cleaner and a cloth as well. Lift up the blade slightly and wipe under the blade where it touches the windshield. If you notice that the cleaned blades still leave streaks, you may need to replace the blades entirely. You can do so by going to your local auto store and buying either the identical or similar blades to fit your car.
2. Paying attention to your tires!
There are a few things that you can pay attention to in regards to your tires. First off, the air pressure. If you have an air pressure gauge you can use that to measure the pounds per square inch (PSI) in your tires that may seem lower than usual. A way that you may notice this is if you notice a tilt in your car from the low pressure.
If you do not know the normal PSI for your tires, it can be found in either your car manual or on newer cars it can be found on a sticker near the driver seat when the door is open.
Another factor to monitor on your tires is the tread. One way you can easily identify the tread level is by using different U.S. coins and their faces to track tire tread.
Tire Rack states you should "place a penny into several tread grooves across the tire. If part of Lincoln's head is always covered by the tread, you have more than 2/32" of tread depth remaining."
"Place a quarter into several tread grooves across the tire. If part of Washington's head is always covered by the tread, you have more than 4/32" of tread depth remaining."
"Place a penny into several tread grooves across the tire. If the top of the Lincoln Memorial is always covered by the tread, you have more than 6/32" of tread depth remaining."
3. Changing out or topping off fluids under the hood!
Checking your levels under the hood of your car should also be something that is done often. Newer car owners have the benefit of dash lights that indicate when certain fluid levels may be low. However, it is still a handy trick knowing how to check your fluid levels of your car.
One of the most common fluids under the hood is the oil! Your oil reservoir should have a dip stick that you can pull out to measure the oil level in your car. It is recommended for safety that this is done after your car has been idle for a while so the dip stick or oil is not hot when measured. To get an accurate reading, you will want to make sure your car has been sitting on level ground before checking the oil. Most driveways are not level and are slightly sloped.
Once the car has cooled down and is on level ground, open up the hood, remove the dip stick and wipe it off with a paper towel. You don't want to use the reading when you first remove the stick because it may not be accurate. After wiping it off, reinsert the dip stick and remove it again. The dip stick should have notches or lines that indicate if it is empty, normal, or too full. Depending on the reading you get you get either add more oil or change out the oil if it is too full because it is not good to run a car with too much oil in the reservoir.
For more detailed instructions on how to maintain the other fluids under your hood, check out this article from Total News Wire!
We hope that you learned something from this blog, if you are a car genius and already knew all these tips, we applaud you! These are great basic car maintenance tasks that anyone can do on their own cars.
This year go the extra mile to be aware of the road and maintain your car for your safety and those around you!
Just in Case URL: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=51, https://totalnewswire.com/keep-your-car-in-shape-this-spring-by-maintaining-these-7-fluids/