Apr
22
Car Maintenance Costs – Sustaining in Economic Recession
Filed Under Maintenance Savings, Repair & Maintenance | Leave a Comment
Drive slowly and under 40 the specified speed limit. Driving slowly helps you avoid any kind of breakdowns. It also saves you the high priced fuel.
Go for Routine maintenance. This helps in identification of any wear and tear that may create a major breakdown. Regular checkup of the car prevents such disasters where you need to spend a hefty amount to get the car up and running again.
Keep the brakes functional. Handle the entire braking system gently. Do not use sudden breaks. This comes back to proper driving. If you are driving properly, your entire accelerator, clutch, and break system, stay healthy as you will not be dancing on them.
Another most important aspect is to get the fluids changed on time. The regular ones are the engine oil and brake oil. Make sure you are changing them at regular intervals with best quality oil. Compromising on the oil quality can again lead to major problems that can cost you more than what you can afford in times of economic recession.
Apr
21
It may be hard man times to find a leak in the car. Sometimes it is just fake assumption that the car is leaking. This happens if the car has other problems that are causing the engine oil to be combusted fast than the normal speed. Alternatively, there may be a small leak that is not visible as the oil does not drip from to the ground and sticks to the engine itself.
However, over time, the car leak grows. If you do not know where the car is leaking from or cannot see the leak, it is better to wait till the car shows up the leak. If you can afford, you may go and get the leak fixed at the mechanic. However, it is better to wait till the leak shows up. Normally, the engine leak does not take more than a few days to show up. If it is taking longer, the problem lies elsewhere and needs immediate attention.
Once you can see the leak, you can fix it yourself temporarily using any substance that stops the leak, if you are out of cash. As soon as you get enough money, you can rush to the mechanic and get the oil leak fixed.
Apr
15
Many manufacturers say that the air filters should be changed every 30,000 miles. You can experiment though but not much, to avoid damage to the car. You may drive 40,000 miles on a new air filter from a good brand. Some manufacturers specify even lesser miles for changing the air filter. Going to the mechanic every time just to get the air filter changed can be very expensive.
Before you go for a car air filter change yourself, allow the car to cool down else you may get burns. TO achieve this, stop the engine under a shade and raise the front hood. This allows for faster cooling. Once the car engine is cool enough, you need to locate the air filter. You may need the car manual to see the exact position of the filter.
Once you find it, unscrew it, and throw away the old filter. Before fixing the newer one, take a cloth and clean the area properly. You can see much dust and other carbon particles at the place. This should not get into the car’s carburetor. After you clean it, put in the new filter into place and screw it. You are done with changing the car filter.
Apr
14
There is no exclusion for women when it comes to car driving or maintenance. If they posses a car, they should know how to handle it as the car and external factors affecting it do not differentiate between genders. Women must know all the basics of the car maintenance. The must ones are specified in the car manual that comes with the vehicle.
They should know to get the air pressure checked up at regular intervals and get the same in the tires. The fact is that if the pressure is perfect in the tires, your car eats up lesser fuel. You also get a better control of the car if the car tires are properly inflated no matter what the weather conditions are.
Another factor is to know when to change the engine oil. Most of the vehicles say they need new oil every 30,000 miles. You can experiment though. With the kind of engine oils available in market, your engine can go more than 30,000 miles. Among other things, women should learn to identify the wheel alignment by looking at the overall car.
Apr
9
Buying a car is one of the most cherished dreams of many. However, mere buying will not solve your problems of transportation. You need to keep your car in a good shape to let the car serve you better.
The DIY car maintenance is not as hard as it seems. It is something you can achieve yourself. The first and foremost thing under the maintenance is to understand what all is under the hood of the car. You can refer to the car manual so that it becomes easy for you to know which parts are there and at what location.
The most basic lesson of the DIY maintenance is to check on the fluids required by the vehicle. The most important ones are the engine oil and the brake fluid. Never compensate on the quality of these two products as they may damage the entire system in future. Another measure is to maintain the tire pressure. Apart from these, the base alignment and lights checkup all fall under the basics of DIY maintenance. Make sure you perform these checks so that you can always experience the feeling of driving a new car.
Mar
18
The car maintenance costs are generally kept lower by the manufacturer. This helps in creating a positive image of the manufacturer. On the other hand, the mechanics try to make the most of the maintenance checkups as their business is dependant on it. This often leads to checks and changes that the manufacturer does not recommend.
Each garage has its own norms that they follow while maintenance of cars. Very often, these vary highly from what the manufacturer says. For example, a 30000 miles checkup may not need coolant flush, power steering fluid change, and automatic transmission service. However, most of the mechanics offer all this when you give the car for 30,000 miles maintenance.
The larger the garage is, the more difficult it gets to negotiate. Thus it is recommended that you go for smaller mechanics so that you can understand what all is the mechanic going to do so as to keep the costs low.
Mar
3
The basic maintenance for you car is described in the car manual that came with the car. It includes the air pressure to be maintained in tires and when to change the oil, clean regulator etc. If the car owner does not perform the maintenance on a regular basis, he or she may still feel the problems when driving the car. Any deviance in the car operation means something is wrong and needs attention. You may check out things for yourself.
For example, if the car’s pickup becomes slow while you start the car or pause at signals, it means that the front tires have problem. Similarly, if you feel humps during driving, it is again the problem of tires. You can occasionally, check for the oil using the drip stick that came with the car toolkit. If the car shakes while driving, it means there is something wrong with the suspension or wheel alignment. There are many similar problems that can be diagnosed immediately if you pay attention to your car while driving.
Aug
10
The car manual that comes with the vehicle provides you just enough information as to save on fuel and to provide your car with longer periods of wear and tear, for example, when to change the oil, how much pressure to keep in the wheels etc. Such information is useful for everyone but when we need specialized instructions on say, installing the brake disks, we are at lost. Most of us tend to go and pay a hefty amount to the car mechanic.
The internet offers us unlimited information. Car repair Manuals is just one of them. It also offers information on how to keep your car well maintained for a longer life. Imagine how much you can save if you get the information you need for repairing you car. As such, there are no free manuals on the internet that give you step by step instructions on how to repair your car or for the matter, any other vehicle. However, no matter how much the manuals cost, they are still less expensive that visiting your mechanic again and again.