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Basic Preventative Maintenance
I cover basic component systems here for general preventative maintenance.
Use these for general advice only every car manufacturer is different.
Oil Changes
Recommend every 3,000 miles or 6 months if stored in garage.
Some full synsthetic oils like mobil 1 boast 5,000 miles or more. I stick the the 3k rule myself and never seen engine failure cause of it. Some car nuts go by every 2,000 miles. This also means change oil filter too for those who are new on this stuff. See repair manual for more information.
Tire Rotation And Balance
Every 5,000 miles Tire balance every 10,000 miles.
If you plan on keeping your tires for a while you should follow these guidelines otherwise your tires will not last very long. Also make sure your frontend alignment is ok. See your local shop for alignment checks most shops check for free. Tires not rotated will wear prematurely. So in order for even wear tire rotations is needed. Make sure tire pressure are correct as well wrong pressure can reduce gas mileage and promote more premature tire wear. Check repair manual for specifications.
Grease Chassis
Every 3,000 miles or oil change
Most cars and trucks anymore dont have greaseable fittings. The car manufacturers are trying to make their cars so called maintenance free. Problem with no greaseable fittings leaving the suspension parts subject to premature wear and noise. I have seen plenty of cars make front end noise when turning and hitting bumps because lack of lubrication. Alot of aftermarket suspension parts come with grease fittings to service them.
If you plan on greasing your own car you will be buying a grease gun at local parts store. See repair manual on for more specific information.
Cooling System Flush
Every 60,000 miles
Your engine requires certain coolant mixture of water and ethylene glycol "antifreeze"50/50 mix usually. Flushing the system helps keep rust and grime from building up on cooling passages in the engine. Which can lead to overheating problems. Good rule of thumb is to have the radiator cap,radiator hoses plus thermostat changed at 100,000 miles they will wear out too. Check your repair manual for specific repair procedures.
Transmission Filter and Flush
Every 60,000 miles
Please note if never been done over 100,000 miles please use caution transmission slippage may occur.After serving. Consult transmission shop if not sure. Fluid never changed with 100k or more gets friction material absorbed into the fluid from the clutches in the transmission from lack of maintenance. So when you change the fluid possible slippage may occur. If 200k or more advise not to service at all. If you get that many miles out of the transmission you got your moneys worth. Flushing the fluid is a service most shops can perform now. This involves a machine that pumps all the old fluid out of the transmission. When you just change the filter and gasket you only get about half the fluid out of the transmission. So doing both flush and filter helps keep the whole transmission clean.
Tuneup
Every 60,000 miles Most tuneups these days only involve changing sparkplugs only. And with today's technology sparkplugs are lasting a lot longer. Some car manufacturers recommend up to 100k. If you have sparkplug wires you should change them at 100k. Alot of car companies are going away from wires and distributors all together. Using individual coils for each cylinder. eliminating sparkplug wires. See your repair manual for further instructions.
Timing Belt And Drive Belts
Check repair manual usually from 60,000 miles to 120,000 miles
Drive belts are the belts that run around all your engines accessories like alternator, air conditioning , smog pump, water pump, powersteering. Visual inspection of drive belt looking for cracking and oil contamination. Any such condition should be replaced to avoid slippage and possible breakage. The timing belt basically runs all the internally components together. Like crankshaft,camshaft, oil pump, balancer etc. Not all engines have them check your repair manual for more information. Worn timing belt can slip or break leading to castrophic engine failure please advise repair manual accordingly. |
| Modified: 06/06/09 19:52:00 | Copyright 2009 website built with 2mexpress.com |
