Learning how to drive or buy a car is easy -understanding how your car function and maintaining it is the difficult part.
Knowing how to drive requires a totally different skillset from the one that is required to maintain a car – simply because you can drive a car doesn’t mean you know how to maintain it. There are some car repairs and maintenance that requires you to contact professional repairers, but there are some basic that I came to know while tuning the Toyota 2ZZ, that I own, that everybody should know.
What Are The Basic Things Every Car Owner Should Know?
Brakes And Shocks
Worn outbreaks and shocks are dangerous and can lead to accidents. However, most car owners do not know when their shocks or brakes get worn out. Do you hear rattling when you go over bumps? Does your car rock back and forth from time to time? Then your shocks and brakes are slightly one-off. This is a common problem and is a sign that they need to be looked at.
Air Filters
Air filters need to be changed every six months. Not doing this can clog up and cause engines to get dirty, which causes them to work harder and increases the good expenses. In addition, it reduces the lifespan of your engines.
Paint Touch-up
By owning a car, you should also be prepared for scratches and chipped paint. These can inevitably happen over time and be worrisome, but nothing a touch-up paint can’t fix.
While it is best to call a professional for help in touching up car paint, doing it yourself costs less. It is also best to touch up paint immediately after you notice chipped paint on your car to avoid exposing the metal to rust. The first thing to do is know the right paint for your car. Some car brands include it in the vehicle information sticker on the dashboard or side door jam. But other brands make it harder to find, and some paint codes are created only for a specific model. For example, to touch up paint on a Chevrolet, you also need to be sure about the year and the model of your car since some colors differ.
Know more about: standard lettering decals.
Once you have the right color for your vehicle, you need to identify which applicator to use for paint touch-ups: pen applicator for small chipped paints or scratches; brush applicator for larger ones. The application must be slow and precise since there is difficulty in removing excess paint. If the touch-up paint you have applied is not noticeable, you did the right thing.
Battery And Jumper Cables
Jumper cables need to always be in your vehicle as they are an essential tool that you would need if your car battery gets drained. A good guide to affixing your jumper cable to the battery is remembering that black is the negative and red is positive-red is hot and black is not.
Check Engine Light
Where the check engine light is located in a car is something every car owner should know. When the check engine indicator flashes, it usually means that there is a serious problem with the car and it shouldn’t be driven. You can get more engine-related ideas at Kpdiesel.
Tire Pressure
This might seem like non-essential knowledge but the pressure in a car tyre can affect how your car moves. It can cause your car to drag when in motion which results in increased oil consumption. It can also cause permanent damage to the tyre.
Owner’s Manual
A vehicle owner’s manual might not be the number one reading material but it is important that you read the entire manual. This is one of the ways that you would understand what the various
indicators on your dashboard are for and what the lights mean when they come on. Even if your car was bought used, you can find the owner’s manual online for most cars.
Car Maintenance
In order for your card to live out its lifespan and serve you well, it needs to be frequently maintained. The maintenance cost may vary from used cars in sacramento and new cars.
Your car would have to be checked periodically for things like battery life, the condition of the fan belt, engine oil top-up, car lighting, and so on. This should always be done by a professional. Also, visit Cargister for the best tips on car maintenance.
The Vehicle Fluids
This is another thing that every car owner should know -the various car fluids, how to top them up and what they are used for. To keep your car running smoothly, they need to be checked regularly.
Windshield Wiper Blades
If you’ve ever driven in the rain with windshield wipers that don’t work, you would know that it is not the most pleasing experience. It is easy to forget the necessity of these wipers until they are needed. To have your windshield wipers working properly, the blades need to be checked regularly to ensure that they are in proper shape. Windshield wiper blades need to be replaced on average every six months. This is not a hard and fast rule, check and follow your car manual first.
Spare Tyre
The spare tyre can be found in the back section or underneath the car for most vehicles. Tyres get worn and can burst at any time. It is imperative that your spare tyre is always in good condition and you know where your car jack is – what is even more important is knowing how to change the tyre of your car.
Check Engine Oil
Learning how to check your car engine oil is one of the simplest things that you can do to keep your car running smoothly. All you have to do is check your dipstick to ensure that the correct amount of oil is in the engine. Even though you can go several months before needing to change your car oil, you should frequently have it checked in between changes.
For more information on smash repairs check out Sheen Group.
