Spring into action with vehicle maintenance
The arrival of spring signals certain obligations for all of us. Among those must-do items like fertilizing the lawn, obtaining a date for the prom, cleaning out the garage, or taking the WASL tests, is the need to catch up on your car’s maintenance. A good regimen dictates the safety, dependability and appearance of your vehicle, so if you can’t or won’t do it, find someone qualified who will.
Here’s a basic checklist:
Engine oil. If it’s been three months or 3,000 miles since your last change — it’s time! Your owner’s manual is the best place to find maintenance information for your vehicle, including which oil to use. Manufacturer maintenance recommendations are usually the best, except regarding oil life, where, on the average, most carmakers now publicize 7,500-mile oil and filter changes. The American Petroleum Institute promotes the 3,000-mile interval, and it isn’t just because they want to sell oil, but because their tests show that lubricating properties diminish after that time. Every mechanic I’ve spoken to over the years agrees that frequent oil and filter changes are the cheapest and best insurance for your engine. If you read most owners’ manuals carefully, they say that in “severe use,” the interval should be three months or 3,000 miles — I think it’s best, then, to consider all use as severe.
Coolant. Commonly referred to as “antifreeze,” they are one and the same. While the product was indeed conceived for freeze protection, its advanced properties make it a superior cooling medium to water. It also raises the boiling point of water in a 50/50 mixture, allowing vehicles to run over 212 degrees at times without boiling over.
Most vehicles have an expansion tank, which is semi-transparent, for viewing coolant level. If there is no coolant in the tank, you may have a leak in the system. You see, coolant is not used or “burned” during operation, so a low level indicates that it is leaving the system via a leak in a hose, fitting, radiator, heater core, water pump or head gasket. If your expansion tank is low, fill to the specified level with a 50/50 water/coolant mix, and observe the level for a few days — if it continues to disappear, look for a leak. If your expansion tank is completely empty, then remove the radiator cap (when the engine is COOL), and make sure the radiator is full, then fill the expansion tank to the proper level. Be sure to use the correct coolant for your vehicle, as there are several formulas now.
One of the new coolants in Dexcool, which has an extended change interval of five years. If you have regular coolant, two- to three-year changes are recommended. The periodic changing of coolant has become increasingly important with the advent and proliferation of aluminum engine blocks and heads.
Other fluids. In addition to checking oil and coolant, don’t forget other vital fluids, such as automatic transmission fluid (ATF). This is checked when warm, with the engine idling, and the transmission in “Park.” Most recommendations for change are in the 30,000-50,000-mile range — some people never change it, which helps keep transmission shops in business.
The other fluids you can check and top off are power steering fluid, brake fluid, washer fluid, and yes, much to our recent chagrin and hardship to our budgets, gasoline.
Tires. Sometimes you can find tire and pressure information in your owner’s manual, but usually it is seen on a sticker affixed to the door or doorjamb. Here, you can be safe with the factory pressure specification, or a couple of pounds-per-square-inch (psi) above it. Temperature does affect tire pressure, so if you put 30 psi in your tires in December, it’s probably about 26 psi now, even if you don’t have a leak. Check pressure often, and be sure to replace the valve caps when you are done.
Make a frequent visual inspection of all your tires, too. Look for sidewall bulges, uneven tread wear or lack of tread. The minimum legal tread depth, and well past the safe level, is 2/32 of an inch. There are wear indicators in the tread that appear as solid and side-to-side across the tire to indicate this level of wear.
More basics. Unless you’ve purchased a new car since winter, bounce the corners to see how well your shocks or struts have survived the harsh season. It takes a bit of muscle, but when you are standing outside of your car in the driveway, get the corner of the vehicle bouncing. When you stop aiding it, the corner should come to rest in fewer than two bounces. If it takes any longer, you’ll probably notice a harsh, bouncy ride as well.
If you don’t know when you got brakes last, consider having a shop check them — many do it for free. If you feel any strange sensations or hear sounds coming from your brakes, by all means head to the shop as well. When you’re tailgating me, I want your brakes to work properly!
Finally, give your trusty steed a good bath, hosing out the wheel wells, and spraying the undercarriage as well — you drove through plenty of liquid magnesium chloride this winter.
Keep those pet driving peeves coming. Thanks for your e-mails — left-lane louts and tailgaters are the early favorites.