Keeping, Maintaining, and Caring for Your Vehicle

There’s an old saying for doctors that goes “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  Basically meaning that if you keep up on the little things, you won’t have to worry, for the most part about the big things coming back to bite you.  This is true about health care, and just as true about car care.  There are tons of upkeep things that consumers are told to keep up with when they buy a car, oil changes, spark plugs, and air filters are just a few of the little things we can do to help our cars keep running like new for as long as possible. If you want your car to keep running, looking, and sounding as good as it did the day you bought her from your local Reedman Toll car dealership, follow this list of 6 regular maintenance projects you can do at home to keep your engine purring and running great.

Check and Fill your Fluids

On most cars, you have 5 basic fluids you’ll need to check and top off, Transmission Fluid, Coolant, Brake Fluid, Power Steering Fluid, and Washer Fluid.  Each of these plays an important role in keeping your car running properly.  

Change Your Oil

Your engine has a lot of moving parts, and they move at very high speeds.   This causes a lot of heat and friction.  Your oil is what helps everything in your engine move without destroying itself.  

Change Your Spark Plugs

Your car works by combustion.  Fuel is sprayed into the piston cylinders and is ignited.  The resulting explosion moves the pistons which turn the drive shaft.  So if your plugs aren’t sparking, you aren’t getting proper combustion in some of the pistons.    These are cheap and easy to replace

Don’t Keep Change Your Air Filter

Gas by itself is not flammable.  The vapors are, but only when mixed with air.  The proper mix of fuel and air determines how efficient your vehicle uses the gas it has.  Keeping your air filter cleaned and changed regularly is one of the easiest ways to improve your gas mileage.

Get Your Tires Balanced and Rotated.

Tires keep you rolling if they’re not properly cared for they can blow out on the road, or they can develop leaks that can damage your rims and rotors.  As a general rule of thumb, you should get your tires balanced and rotated when you get your oil changed.  The rotation helps to make sure that the tires wear evenly.

Change Your Timing and Serpentine Belts

These two bets run pretty much everything under your car.  The timing belt controls the order and timing that your pistons fire in, and the Serpentine belt runs things like your water pump and Alternator.  Losing these belts while driving will not only cause your car to stall but can cause overheat and permanent damage to engine parts.