Do you want to work on your car yourself? If so, you’ll want to know about some of the easy car maintenance tips that can help.
Whether you’re changing your oil, air filter, or tires, you’ll be glad to have these tips to help you handle a bit of car care that you don’t usually take. These tips can make you feel like you know your car and help you save some money. Let’s look at ten of the top tips for you to use some DIY knowledge to take care of your car.
Start With an Easy One and Change Your Air Filter
Before you go to the store and buy a new air filter, you should make sure it’s time to change this item. You should change the air filter about once a year or every 12,000 miles. This is one of the most straightforward maintenance tasks you can complete. Find the filter under the hood and pull it out of the box to inspect it. If it’s time to change this item, you’ll need to head to the store and buy a replacement. This change is a simple swap out of the old one for the new model.
You Can Easily Replace Your Wiper Blades
If it’s time to replace your windshield wiper blades, this is an accessible item for you to change. This car maintenance tip is to change them according to the installation instructions on the package. When you head to the auto parts store, they have a device that allows you to look up the wipers needed for your vehicle. You should complete this task in the spring and fall of each year.
Regularly Check the Air Pressure of Your Tires
Your tire’s air pressure is one of the easiest things to check on your car. It would help if you did this monthly and made sure your tires have the correct air pressure to continue to drive with confidence. This is easy to do with a tire pressure gauge sold at every auto parts store or online. If you need more air, head to your local gas station, and bring the air up to the correct pressure level.
Change Your Brake Pads, It’s Easy
Save some money and take advantage of one of the best car maintenance tips by changing your brake pads. This takes some time, and you need to ensure you have the necessary tools, not just the flat tire kit in your car. Typically, you need to slide the pads out of the calipers and put the new ones back in around the rotors. If you’re unsure of how to perform this task, you’ll find several great videos online to give you some guidance and instructions.
Check Your Oil Regularly
You don’t need to change your oil as often as you used to, but you should check your oil level periodically to see if you have enough oil in your vehicle. It’s a good rule to check your oil level every 1,000 miles to see if you need to add a little more. This can be done using the dipstick in the engine. This simple DIY item gives you peace of mind knowing you have enough oil in your car.
Check Your Lights and Replace Them as Needed
One of the essential car maintenance tips is to check your vehicle’s exterior lights. Once every couple of weeks, check the headlights, brake lights, and turn signals to see if all of the lights work. If you find one that doesn’t work, you can change the burned-out bulb yourself and have a car that now has all of its lights working correctly. Be sure not to touch the new bulb with your bare hands because the oils from your fingers can damage the bulb.
Change Your Own Spark Plugs
Most spark plugs need to be replaced after 30,000 miles, but you should check your owner’s manual to see how often you need to change these items. There are some critical steps to this process, but if you’re looking for a DIY car project that doesn’t take too long, this is something you can certainly handle when you’ve got some free time on the weekend.
Touch Up Chipped Paint
Many auto parts stores offer a selection of touch-up paint for vehicles that makes it easy for you to fill in a chip or scratch. Use a fine tip paint applicator, some wax, and grease remover to fix that small scratch in your paint. There are steps to this process, and you need to show some patience to get the job done the right way, but it is certainly worth it. Once the paint is touched up, you’ll love the way your car looks when you take it out for a drive.
Does Your Car Have Enough Tread on the Tires?
Driving wears down the tire tread, and eventually, you need to change your tires and get new ones. Avoid troubles with your tire tread with one of the essential car maintenance tips by using the penny trick. Put a penny upside down in print, and if you can see a gap in Lincoln’s head, it’s time to change the tires. A good time to check the tread is whenever you check the air pressure in your tires.
Check All of the Other Fluids
You know how to check the oil, but several other fluids in your engine bay need to be checked. You’ll be glad to prevent the transmission fluid, engine coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid, and windshield wiper fluid. Checking all of these fluids in your car will help you continue to have a vehicle that drives right and operates appropriately when you’re out on the road. It’s good to know that you’ve got full fluids whenever you’re ready to take a drive.
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