OZCARGuide.com (Oxford-Zeiss Content & Research Guide)

For all those who own a car, one of the significant things to be taken care of is the day-to-day maintenance of the car.

It is always good to have the regular mileage related maintenance done as per the recommended chart given by the manufacturer. This will help in avoiding high costs of making revisions to the car on an annual basis.

It is also equally important to personally know how to maintain your car on a day to day basis. To ensure this, all you need to do is to just take care of the various parts of the car that can be easily done by you thereby avoiding minor holdups and taking the car to the garage only in the case of a major problem. Some of the things that can be easily taken care of by you are:

Check the tyre pressures periodically. Maintaining the correct tyre pressures helps to get good mileage. Drop in tyre pressure will entail drop in mileage. It is also necessary to have the alignment of the wheels checked on a monthly basis. This helps to enhance the life of the tyres.

Opening the hood of your car you will find the various fluid tanks. Check the radiator water every day before taking the car out. The windshield wiper cleaning water level needs to be checked periodically. Always make sure that the brake fluid is always at right level as it is a very crucial aspect ensuring your safety. Brake failure can cost you your life. A periodical check of the engine oil using the dipstick and topping up or replacing the oil as and when necessary will ensure the longevity of your engine and also give you the desired performance. It is advisable to change the oil every 5000 km, but in modern cars of today it is alright to change the oil after 7000 or 10,000 km.

The air filter which channels the air outside the passenger compartment is especially easy to locate. It is advisable to make the first change after 30,000 km and thereafter every 15,000 km to 20,000 km. The oil filter has to be changed periodically, preferably during the oil change. In both the above cases, the work can be done by you using simple tools available at home and consulting the car's instruction manual.

The oil change is very simple to do, but you always have to check the recommended grade and type of oil that has to be replaced. The latter is very important. The casing (the part that holds the engine oil) has a drain block at the bottom that can be opened with a simple wrench. Open it and wait until all the oil has drained. Replace the drain bolt and fill in the new oil. The same procedure can be followed for the gearbox oil. But you need to be careful, since engine oil is highly polluting. To do this, it is best to place a container under the car to collect all the oil extracted.

If you find this cumbersome to be done at home, you can go to certain workshops where you can have the oil drain boxes rented for a certain time along with the tools and elements needed for most mechanical tasks, in addition to mechanical professional advice and help with doing your own car maintenance.

The brake pads are also one of the key elements that have to be reviewed from time to time depending on your driving and braking habits. A look on the inside at the caliper disc brake is enough to ascertain whether they are worn out. Timely replacements will prevent damage to the disc, which is much more expensive to replace. It is advisable to replace the pads between 20,000 kilometers and 40,000 kilometers, depending on the use of the car and the wear and tear.

In the event that your car has drum brakes in the rear or both axles, the wheels need to be dismounted and the drums opened to check the brake pads. This task is more complicated and it is best to leave it to the professionals.

The shocks also have to be reviewed often, since shock springs in poor condition can make a car less stable on the road and considerably lengthen the stopping distance. To verify the effectiveness, just push the car down directly on the suspected shock absorber. If the car bounces a lot when released, it is possible that the shocker has lost its effectiveness. It is recommended to change the shock absorbers every 80,000 kilometres.

In the case of head lights, it is much easier to check and replace. Once in a month, check whether all lights are working properly (crossing, long, intermittent, reverse and fog). Replacing light bulbs is easy, except in certain cars where xenon headlamps are mounted. Refer to the instruction manual or any DIY guide to overcome this.

As a last step, the easiest to detect a malfunction and repair are the windshield wipers. If the wipers make a squeaking noise or leave scratch marks on the windshield they need to be changed immediately. It is recommended to change the blades once every 6 months or when it is found to underperform. It is best to change them after before the rainy season starts. The replacing of the blades can be done quite easily. You need to release the locking tab, slide out the worn out blade, slide the new blade in and relock the tab.