You might have seen the beautiful flowers, gardens and well-maintained lawns in front of the house of people or at the side of the roads when you see them, you might have this thought that how beautifully and with great effort they are taken care of. Similarly, our automobile needs such care as well when you know that how costly it’s repair and maintenance would be. Paying attention and keeping a proper record of maintenance of your automobile not only help your vehicle to last long but also saves your money too
The 2500/5000 KM Scheduled Maintenance
Every automobile holder knows that after a certain period of time, one has to change the filter and engine oil of their vehicle. But, if you take proper care of your vehicle and maintain it properly, you can change the time interval to 5000 km instead of the 2500-3000 kms. But, if you just change the oil after every 2500km, you are doing nothing but wasting your money. In case of the filter of engine oil, it is better to opt for a filter which can actually work as a filter. The filters available in the market range from the number 1 to 6 hence, it is necessary to buy a filter that actually works as a filter and is not merely a round tin container.
In order to keep your vehicle reliable and long lasting, you should carry out the following small steps for ignoring the following steps would lead to a significant repair expense in the longer run
- If your vehicle is fitted with the diesel engine, keep a check on its diesel filter and change it when it’s needed.
- Rub your finger inside the cleaner hose in order to make sure that there is no dust entering the engine. Also cleaning the paper type air cleaner with compressed air. However, change the oil and wash it with kerosene to clean, in case of the oil bath cleaners. If you do this, you keep your air cleaner clean and is working properly, however, if it isn’t then the indication for a dirty filter is that you would see the dense black smoke from the exhaust.
- The engine and cooling system AC would operate more efficiently and properly when the radiator and cleaner of your car are clean. Therefore, it is recommended to properly wash and clean the radiator and condenser of a car if AC is fitted in it.
- Tighten and replace the fans or alternator belts if they are loosed or cracked. When you are buying a new belt, it is better to buy the one which has threads for they are used in the reinforcement. They are much better and long lasting as compare to the ones which are made up of rubber only.
- Keep a proper check of the coolant level/radiator of your car. Remember to keep a keen eye when adding water in the radiator for if you have to keep adding water in the radiator, there must be a leak somewhere, and this means that either the cap of the radiator requires replacement or that the radiator is choked internally. When the temperature is high during day time, it is advisable to keep a proper check on the cooling system of your vehicle.
- Make sure that the clamps of the battery are tight and clean. Keep a check on the electrolyte level in the battery.
- Check the fluid level of power steering. Two levels are shown by the gauge. Do not overfill the gauge. One side of the level is for when the engine sis stopped and other is for when the engine is running.
- The fluid level in the brakes and clutch reservoir should be checked properly. If the level of fluid id low in them then top up the reservoir. However, it is worthy to mention that you need to keep the same brand for the fluid for if you mix the different brands, it’ll not only leak the seals but can also break them.
- You also need to check the gearbox transmission and the differential oil levels, the latter is applicable only for vehicles which use rear wheel drive.
- the pressure in the tires should be checked even before driving the car. The pressure should be checked in the tires of the vehicle when the tires are still cold or else you’d have to add 3-4 PSI pressure to the recommended tire pressure. In order to understand this, let’s take an example of the car where the manufacturer has recommended 29 PSI for your car’s tire but you have driven for 1-2 km then the correct pressure, in this case, would be 32 or 33 PSI since your car has worked. In order to check the pressure in the tires, all you have to do is to simply look at the tires, if the pressure in tire is equal to the tread of the tire then you need nothing to worry about.
The points above may seem simple, but if you neglect any of the above, you are directly neglecting not only the proper maintenance of your vehicle but is also compromising on your safety.
