Owning a car requires you to keep it maintained at its full potential at all times so that you don’t end up stranded at the side of a road only because you’d overlooked one of the issues your car was having, and then it stopped suddenly in the middle of a drive. To do this, we’ve listed down some car maintenance tips to help you out, especially if you’re a first-time car owner. Maintaining your car in top shape helps you stay safe, while also keeping your car from suffering damages or lowering its lifespan.
1. Check the Car’s Tyre Pressure
Since tires are literally what makes your car move, any issue with them means your car becomes unable to move. Therefore, it’s required for first-time car owners to regularly check their tire pressure, and if the pressure reduces, get them air-filled as quickly as possible. This will also help you keep your tires in good condition for a longer time and reduce their wear and tear.
You should also have your automotive service provider check your tires properly from time to time for any stuck pieces of objects or cracks that you may have missed so that they can be repaired before causing any problems.
2. Keep the Car’s Engine Clean
When it comes to protecting your car from damages, you can’t overlook the engine. While using clean fuel, etc. can keep the engine clean internally, you also need to clean it externally from time to time. This also helps you identify areas of concern that need your attention to get them fixed. For example, when your engine leaks, the leak combines with dust present on the surface of the engine and causes it to damage. You can get rid of this easily with engine wipes, but you need to identify it first to get it fixed.
3. Clean up the Car’s Battery
You need to thoroughly understand the basics of a car battery through your owner manual or take help from someone else for this purpose if needed. You should know where the battery is located, how it safely disconnect and clean terminal contacts, etc. Likewise, you should also always remember to disconnect negative terminals first as this will turn off the electrical supply, reducing the chances of an accident. To clean the contacts, you can use a brush that’s safe to use on batteries. And when you’re reconnecting the battery, you need to connect the positive terminal first. Cleaning your battery from time to time ensures its durability.
4. Keep the Car Clean
You don’t need to spend money on getting a car wash every other day, but using a simple vacuum cleaner will help a lot for you to get rid of any unwanted dust and keep your car clean on your own until your next visit to the car wash. In today’s technologically advanced world, you’ll find many creative items in the market designed for the purpose of cleaning cars. This can help you clean tricky and tiny places like the vents, the spot below the steering wheel, and the base of your gear stick.
5. Warning Lights
After purchasing your car, one of the first things you need to learn is which warning light on the dashboard stands for what. The car comes with built-in sensors that indicate if something in the car is out of order. For e.g. during fuel deficiency, tire pressure warning, overly-heated engine, etc. These warning lights help you maintain your car and avoid any unnecessary mishaps.
You should also not whether your car’s warning signals are functioning properly or not so that you can get them repaired by your automotive service provider at the earliest.
6. Check Belts and Hoses
It’s important to keep your car’s belts and hoses to maintain the car’s value and keep it from breaking down abruptly in the middle of a drive. Hence, you need to get these checked and serviced every once in a while by your automotive service provider. Having a car with failed belts and hoses can cause many car parts to fail from functioning properly.
At Toyota Creek Motors, there are expert technicians waiting to get all your car parts checked and maintained properly to help you avoid any sudden breakdowns, and save you from suffering any damage.
7. Faulty Spark Plug Assessment
One thing that should be added to your car maintenance checklist is to regularly test whether your car’s spark plugins are functioning properly or not. These plug-ins determine whether your car will start or not, hence having them in top condition is a necessity. When these plugins are faulty, you’ll have difficulty starting your car, have its mileage drop, and your car’s acceleration will decrease or become uneven. These are signs you need new spark plugs or have the current ones repaired by your.
8. Check Brake Fluid
The car’s brake fluid helps your car’s brakes to be applied smoothly. Hence, you need to ensure that your brake fluid isn’t contaminated and there’s a sufficient amount of it in the car. If you need help with checking the amount of fluid present in the system or need it to get changed, you can refer to your user manual or contact a professional.
9. Lubricants and Oil Filters
The car works best with the help of lubricants. But this oil needs to be refilled regularly to avoid contamination. Further, your car’s oil filter also needs similar changes to avoid dust and debris to get formed in them and contaminate the oil.
10. Fuel Economy
Maintaining your car’s fuel economy is lighter on your car’s mileage as well as your pockets. There are some general car maintenance tips to get this done properly. For one, rash driving and speed fluctuations have a negative impact on your car mileage. It decreases your car’s engine durability as well.
Furthermore, you can’t use your car frequently for moving heavy objects. The more weight used in the car, the lesser its mileage. Hence, if you’re in the business of moving heavy objects around, you need to have the right kind of vehicle for that. Toyota Creek Motors can help you out with this problem.
These were the most essential car maintenance tips from us for first-time car owners. If you need help with anything similar, visit Toyota Creek Motors for information.
Leave a Reply