Automobile Blog March Archive

Maintaining Your Car

By Car-Addict at 03/17/08 05:42

We consider cars as investments. It is one of the expensive things we buy in our lifetime. But how do we really keep it at its best condition as possible as we can? Here are some of things you need to do.

• Car Wash - we need to give our cars a bath, not necessarily everyday, but at least 3 or 4 times a week.
• Change Oil - we need to change our engine oils and change the oil filters. It is done to save us a lot of money because old oils can sometimes be wasted and go unused inside the old filters. Changing oil will also maintain the performance of your car.
• Checking and replacing windshield / wipers - we need to do this for safety reasons. It is a must that we do this.
• Tire Balancing - refers to the weight each tire possess. It is a must that we check the balance of tires to avoid accidents.
• Tire Rotation - Tire rotation means checking how does your tires work or rotate. Uneven tire rotation can cause damages to your car or accidents.
• Wheel Alignment - probably this is a common thing for car owners to see if their wheels are aligned. You must check it everyday.
• Checking battery - Of course, the battery is the brain of your car. If it stops thinking, it will stop moving, unless you push it manually. So chechikng how much of the battery is left is a must for car owners.
• Checking Brake Pads and Break Fluid - recent studies shows that one of the major reason for car accident is the lost of active car brakes. Thus, chechikng them before leaving is a must. You might not want to be in the hospital or pay for someone else's hospital, right?
• Air Filters and other safety devices - Check them. Its common sense that safety is always the best policy.
• Spark Plugs, Radiators and others - You need to have a look at them before leaving your house. If one is non functional, others will be affected. So be sure to check them regularly.

Yay, I hope this post made sense. And may this help you in maintaining your car.

How To Change Your Motor Oil - Part 2

Yesterday we've discuss about the proper way of changing your engine oil. Now, we're going to go in-depth with the process.

After the preparation, the next thing to do is getting the old oil out of the car. This may look easy but it actually needs utmost care. The oil is being held by a bolt like plug at the bottom of the oil pan located at the very bottom of your engine. Before removing the oil drain plug, make sure that the recycling container is located exactly underneath. Let the oil flow and after it has been drained, replace the drain plug with a new one. Put a cap on the recycling to avoid spilling. The next thing to do is replacing your old oil filter by the use of your oil filter wrench. Be careful with this because it still has some old oil inside that may spill if done carelessly. Most of the time, you need to go under your car for you to be able to take all the old oil filters off.

Having done all those, its now time to put in the new oil filter. But you need to prepare it first. To prepare it, you have to lubricate the rubber gasket at the end of the filter with some new oil. After that, fill the new oil filter with oil of about 2/3 or 3/4 to avoid spilling while screwing on later. After that, you can now screw it in place. You can screw it by your hands because over tightening it with wrench may cause a strip to the thread.

Now you are ready to fill your engine with new oil. Take off the fill cap and and put in your funnel. Carefully transfer the new oil to your engine through the funnel. Use the oil according to your car manual or what oil fits your car. Don't put in all of the oil yet. Not yet done so don't drive your car haha.

After that, check your oil in your oil gauge meter. Then put in more oil until your engine has enough of it.

There you go, I hope it can help you in your oil changing adventures haha.