subject: Car Care Tips [print this page] "Try looking around your neighborhood"Try looking around your neighborhood. You may notice that some of your neighbors have two or more cars in their own garage. You might wonder, how do they make their cars last long? One of the things that will surely lengthen a car's lifespan is to take care of it properly and these are the basic things you can do to achieve this:
Change Oil - This is very important especially for your car's machinery system. Professionals recommend changing every 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers of distance traveled. When you don't change oil regularly, you can expect your car to break down every once in a while.
Fluids - Have your brake, transmission and power steering fluids checked regularly and make sure you refill as necessary.
Proper Tire Inflation - Your cars need to be inflated up to a certain pressure is important. An under-inflated tire will cause your car to run much slower than the speed it was created for. You can actually do a test if your to know if your car's tire is properly inflated or not. The first thing you have to do is draw a line across the wheel using a piece of chalk on the part that touches the ground. Let the car roll off, letting the wheel spin 2-3 times. If most of the chalk has been erased from the center, then your tire is over-inflated. But if it's the chalk marks on the sides that have thinned, then your tire is under-inflated, if chalk it is worn off more on the sides then it is under-inflated. Also, if your car is under-inflated, it will consume more gasoline.
Batteries and Cables -Regularly check your car's batteries and cables. It is important to check your car's batteries as these provide power to your car for turning on your headlights, honking the horn and other energy-consuming functions. You will be in danger if your car runs out of batteries while you are on the road.
Wires - Check your car's wiring and take note of those peeled wires. Your car's electronic system will malfunction and can even cause it to stop while you're in transit if you have peeled wires. This is very dangerous.
Air Filter - Your filters should also be changed regularly. Generally, people change their air filters once after changing oils twice, this is actually a wrong practice. Changing your air filter every time you change your car's oil is ideal.
Window Cracks - It is not a good practice to leave cracks on your windows unfixed. It can always grow larger over time no matter how tiny those cracks are. If you find a crack on your windshield or any of your car windows, have it repaired right away.
If you want to maintain your car's good condition, you should follow these simple steps.
