There’s an old English saying that goes ‘a stitch in time saves nine.’ A fancy way of saying you should address a problem as soon as it pops up its head, and not wait when the problem has grown and matured to grow tentacles, claws, and teeth.
That saying could not be truer when it comes to having your car running smoothly. Never ignore that flashing check engine light, too much smoke coming from the exhaust, when you pop open the hood you see smoke, sudden transmission problem that keeps occurring, weird noises while driving, and the engine is racing, shaking, or chugging.
You see anything out of the norm with your car, drive through your mechanics shop as soon as possible. If you decide to ignore the problem, the wear and tear will advance, and what you might have fixed for say $200 will end up mushrooming to $2,000 and above.
A car is machinery like any other and subject to wear and tear. If you want to keep it running smoothly for long, maintenance and repair comes as part of the package. However, it doesn’t have to break your wallet. Especially if you nip the problem while it is still in the bud. The following are some checklist things you should check on:
Do a Daily Inspection on your car: Make time every day to run a full car inspection on your car, and this calls for some knowledge on the internal workings of a car. You don’t have to go all pro – the levels of a mechanics – but you at least need to know the basics. Otherwise, you might be staring at a problem and fail to recognize it. The basics include checking no tire pressure; to ensure it is at the correct level. Check on the brakes, seatbelts, and fuels among others.
Check the Car Oil regularly: Clean quality oil is the lifeline for your engine. As you can imagine, the engine just like your heart, is always running for as long as the car is moving. There is a lot of friction, leading to wear and tear. Hence there is need to change your car oil as recommended by the manufacturer and/or your mechanic. Be very keen on the type of oil you use; making sure it’s original, high quality, and free from dirt particles.
Change other Car fluids regularly: Other than the engine, there are other car components that use fluids that need to be changed regularly. One of which is water in the radiator, which acts as a coolant for the engine and washer fluid that shoots out to clean the windshield. If you live in cold areas, also change the antifreeze and fluid used in the power steering.
Clean the Battery Contact: The car battery is critical especially when starting the engine, as stated by Green4u. To ensure the engine always starts without any hiccups, the battery must be in a top-notch condition. The battery contact for one tends to gather dust with time, and left on its own, the build-up will interfere with the flow of current. If it is a wet cell battery, ensure that the acid quantity is at the correct levels.
Change Streaky Wipers: The wipers are some of the most ignored car parts when doing maintenance. With time the wipers tend to get streaky, and eats into the windshield destroying its quality. Left too long, it leads to the windshield easily cracking, which will cost you more than replacing a wiper as soon as you hear it start streaking.
Your car is a mirror of yourself as you drive around the block. There is a direct correlation between how people perceive you and the state of your car. A clean sparkling car that runs smoothly will make people perceive you better than if you’re driving one that stalls, spews a cloud of smoke into the streets and looks like a trash can on wheels.