No matter how luxurious and expensive a car is, even a sports car, it is still going to lose its best performance if you do not conduct routine inspection and maintenance. The battery will wear out, and the engine parts will become prone to damage. Components that do not receive proper lubrication can get corroded and degraded.
And there are two types of auto maintenance: one that you can do independently and manually, and the other that needs professional assistance. Let us discuss them further below.
Manual Maintenance
1. Start Your Car Every Morning and Let It Warm
Starting the car every day can give you the benefit of an early alert just in case your car’s battery starts to wear out. It can save you from the trouble of getting your car jammed in the middle of a trip.
Letting your car in a stationary position while the engine is on allows the oil to lubricate all of the engine parts properly. New cars that are made later than 2010 might not need this routine, but if you are a fan of old cars, it is a necessity.
2. Cleaning the Air Filters
There are two filters in every car: the engine air filter and cabin filter. An engine air filter halts damaging debris and dust from contaminating the car’s system. Your engine needs oxygen to burn the fuel, and what is in the air is not only oxygen. And that is where an engine air-filter plays a significant role.
Cabin filter, on the other hand, protects the driver and the passengers from harmful materials from the outside. It is responsible for keeping the air inside the cabin clean and breathable.
To clean them, you need to disassemble the necessary parts and begin brushing. Make sure you wear a mask because you do not want to get sick from the accumulated dust on the filter.
3. Flushing the Radiator
A car’s cooling system holds the key to the engine’s performance. If your engine is overheated, it can fail and burn. And once the engine is damaged, you will need a considerable amount of money to repair the car.
All you need is to buy a cooling liquid/coolant and replace the old one. First, make sure you know where the drain plug is. Place a liquid container and flush the old coolant from the car’s system. Make sure that your car is cool and has not been ignited in the past two hours. If you unplug the drain while the engine is hot, you can hurt yourself. The coolant absorbs and stores the heat from the engine, and its temperature can be much higher than boiling water.
Maintenance with Professional Assistance
1. Fuel-Injection System Maintenance
Modern cars abandon the function of carburetors and use fuel-injection technology instead. This system allows more fuel efficiency than the carburetor version. And it uses a computer chip to regulate the fuel distribution for the engine. However, maintaining a fuel-injector requires specialized technical skills.
Once you notice something is strange with your car’s performance, you should check the fuel-injection system, especially if your car has been running for more than 500,000 km.
Another symptom of a damaged fuel-injector is abnormal gas use. When your car consumes gas more than it is supposed to be, you should check it to the nearest mechanic.
2. Exhaust and Emission Maintenance
Although damage to a car’s exhaust is extremely rare, regular inspection is still necessary. By going to a professional mechanic and having him/her examine your car’s exhaust, subtle leaks can be easily detected. Carbon monoxide leakage is fatal to passengers, and the way to notice it is by conducting regular maintenance on the exhaust system.
Emission maintenance is a must for old cars. If you are a collector, you should know that the classic cars were made without a careful estimation of the emission.
Besides, exhaust and emission inspection these days are all computerized and precise. Improperly reassembled parts or human errors are least likely to happen because everything is calculated according to the machine.
Endnotes
Maintenance is vital to the engine’s longevity. And we can do some inspections and maintenance by ourselves, while for some others, we need professional assistance. Our rides are as valuable as our lives, especially if we claim ourselves as auto fans. So, there should be no reason for us to postpone or decline an inspection, repair, or replacement schedule.