Your car may be an expensive purchase and a valuable asset, but it is definitely not an investment. That’s because its value depreciates over time. To keep your car performing at its best and maintain its appeal for longer, it needs adequate routine maintenance. Here are 5 car maintenance steps you shouldn’t ignore.
1. Inspection and Maintenance of Your Car Battery
A battery inspection helps you determine if your battery can hold a charge to start your car and power other aspects of your vehicle, such as the headlights. It involves having an automotive technician check for signs, such as cracking of the cables, rust and corrosion of the terminals, problems with the hose case, and more. The technician may also hook up the battery to a charge tester to test the life and charge-ability of the battery and let you know if it needs to be replaced.
2. Changing Your Engine Oil Frequently
The engine contains several parts that move at a high speed when the car is mobile. Having your engine oil replaced regularly ensures these parts are well lubricated, which reduces friction, further reducing the amount of heat produced by the engine. This significantly lowers the chances of your engine overheating and overall elevates the engine’s performance. It also helps the engine last longer by reducing wear and tear.
3. Inspect and Maintain Your Brake Pads and Rotors
Inspecting your car’s brake pads is absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of everyone aboard the vehicle. Frequent inspections and maintenance of brake pads and rotors also help extend the life of these parts, helping you avoid costly and untimely replacements.
During a routine inspection by an auto technician, the entire brake system is checked. This includes the brake lines and hoses, the brake fluid, brake pedal, brake assemblies, and even the parking brakes.
Alternatively, you can also conduct your own visual brake inspection at home by shining a light on the brake pads and rotors. If you notice there’s too much rust, then that is a sign they desperately need to be maintained or replaced.
4. Inspect and Replace Spark Plugs
Spark plugs emit the spark of electricity that ignites the air/fuel mixture. If you fail to maintain your spark plugs, your car will have difficulty starting, especially in harsh weather conditions. You may also end up spending more on fuel because the engine is not able to burn the air/fuel mixture effectively. This also has the added disadvantage of poor acceleration and a really loud engine.
5. Inspect and Maintain Your Cooling System
Your cooling system ensures the temperature in the engine stays at a modest level. This prevents the engine from overheating as well as preventing rapid wear and tear of the different moving parts.
In this regard, some parts that should be routinely inspected and maintained include the radiator, the radiator hoses, the water pump, and the thermostat.