Do you know how to take proper care of your car?
Car maintenance is an essential part of extending your automobile’s life expectancy, but for do it yourself car care enthusiasts take note. Because your maintenance schedule is critical for keeping your motor vehicle road worthy, no matter where you live. Cars need regular care, just like anything that is meant to be well maintained. Basically, there will always be recommended maintenance or inspection intervals, at which any number of vehicle services should be conducted.
At 5,ooo miles it is always time for a routine tire rotation. Making it the most frequent service on our car care list.
Around 6,000 miles it is time to check the wheel alignment, c-v boots, and how well the battery is holding up.
The rest of the car should undergo service at 12, 24, and 36 thousand mile intervals. These are the times that most car maintenance inspections should be done, because the times coordinate with the seasonal changes in temperature, weather, and road hazards.
At 12 months or 12,000 miles be sure to check your cooling system, including hoses and things like the PCV valve. This point is also time to get a yearly engine tune up and your emissions testing done. This will allow for checking exhaust parts and doing an overall engine analysis. And don’t forget all your filters should be inspected at this point; that includes air, breather, canister, fuel carburetor, and fuel injection filters. At 12,000 miles is also a good time to double inspection shock absorbers, steering mechanics, struts, cartridges, seals, axels, wheel bearings, and even wind shield wiper blades.
At 24 months or 24,000 miles it is always time to have the air conditioning system checked, as well as scheduling transmission servicing. At this time is a good point to inspect car brakes, c-v joints, drive axel bearings and seals, plus get your car computer tuned up. At 24,000 miles is also time to check fan belts, hoses, suspension parts, while having a power flush the cooling system and the fuel injection cleaned.
Sometime between now and 30,000 miles is time for oxygen sensor inspection.
At 36 months or 36,000 miles inspections are ready for timing belts, cooling hoses, universal joints, and vacuum modulators.
All the above recommendations are based on a severe forecasted service needs scenario for your individual vehicle and car maintenance. Much of these above services can be performed by the car owner themselves with very little effort.
Keep in mind that these timelines may differ from your actual recommended service by a car’s manufacturer. So consult your owner’s manuals for more specific details, as what is listed here stands only as a general guideline. Preventative maintenance is a year round process for any motorist driving today. These service recommendations will improve vehicle efficiency, overall longevity, and maximize safety of your car. Take time to make a car care schedule and stick to it this year. You will be glad that you did it.