I’m trying to make a checklist of stuff I should do to my car on a regular basis.
My current list:
Every time I fill up - check Oil, Coolant, Clutch Fluid, Tire Pressure
Every ?* miles - Oil change.
What else should I include?
If I recall correctly, Chiltons and other car books have a section on this very thing. Go check one out at your local library.
Other than that, when I did my car routine it included:
Checking all of the lights
Changing the oil and filter
Checking the air filter, beating it on the ground for a few seconds if needed, or replaced it.
Checking the spark-plug wires for cracks
Carefully removeing and cleaning the spark-plugs (aluminum block engines can have the spark-plug holes stripped fairly easily), replace if necessary (or buy Platinum ones that last forever)
Checking the cap-n-rotor
Cleaning and filling the battery (distilled water only). Pour club soda on the terminals to clean them easily.
Pop off the front tires and check the brakes. Check all lug nuts and tire pressure (incl. spare) when done.
Looking and testing all wires and cables for looseness and fraying.
Check radiator belt
Go around the car and tighten screws and bolts.
Make sure I had spare fuses and a few bulbs in the glove box
Oh , one thing I used to do, but I don’t know if it was UL or not, was to unplug the + terminal on the battery for 15 minutes. I was told that on some cars this resets the brain box, especially if you live in the mountains where the fuel-injection gets automatically adjusted for elevation. I thought it was harmless enough to do as all I had to fix was the clock on the radio.
I also would buy one of those fuel additives that promise the world (cleans your injectors and fuel line, lubes the cylinders, sends roses to your mom, etc.) every 5,000 miles or so.
Then afterwards, go to the self-serve car wash place, buy a can of engine cleaner, follow the directions and clean the engine real nice. A dirty engine runs slightly hotter.
The above schedule was done every 5,000 to 8,000 miles or so and made my little Tercel last for 125,000 miles with exactly one problem occuring the whole time: my interior light bulb burnt out.
-Tcat
First, we really do need to know what year and model of car you have, the servicing (timing) will be wildly different depending on that. Tomcat’s list is pretty complete, though I’ve never heard of disconnecting the battery. Some of his items you may not be ABLE to do depending on the car, like filling the battery, so just do the ones you can. A Chiltons/Haynes manual is a great idea, I have one for my car and it shows me where everything is.
The thing I usually tell people is to look at the maintenance schedule in your manual, and follow those directions faithfully. Figure out whether or not your driving pattern fits into ‘severe’ or ‘normal’ (severe is rather common these days) and go from there.
It amuses me that people think their neighbor knows more about when to change oil than the people who designed and built the engine. It is very much in the manufacturer’s interest for thier cars to run as well as possible for as long as possible, they won’t intentionally steer you wrong.
Eep! :eek: I’m not that car savvy to do all that, but I’ll remember to check my manual for when they recommend having the car serviced.
OK, is there anything not on my list that a completely car-clueless person needs to be doing?
BTW, I have a 97 Mitsubishi Mirage.
Man. All I do is get my oil changed every five or six months; the ol’ crate just keeps on cruising down the road. Haven’t had to pop the hood personally for years, and I drive it every day. Haven’t the vaguest which side the battery is on, and if I get a flat (which I haven’t in 12+ years), I’d be screwed. Car keeps getting me where I want to go (it’s an 84 Saab).
If you’re totally not car-savvy, I’d do the following… based on Tomcat’s list:
Checking all of the lights - Piece of cake to do, just make sure they all work
Changing the oil and filter - Fairly easy to DIY, but at least get it done regularly
Checking the air filter, beating it on the ground for a few seconds if needed, or replaced it. - You should be able to find the air filter easily, and it’s not hard to take out and inspect/replace.
Checking the spark-plug wires for cracks - Easy, just a visual inspection, make sure they look good
Carefully removeing and cleaning the spark-plugs (aluminum block engines can have the spark-plug holes stripped fairly easily), replace if necessary (or buy Platinum ones that last forever) - I’d skip this and have someone replace the plugs regularly
Checking the cap-n-rotor - Skip this
Cleaning and filling the battery (distilled water only). Pour club soda on the terminals to clean them easily. - easy to do, visual inspection for crud and simple cleanup.
Pop off the front tires and check the brakes. Check all lug nuts and tire pressure (incl. spare) when done. - This is tougher to do, You should get a guy to rotate your tires fairly regularly, he can check for you then.
Looking and testing all wires and cables for looseness and fraying. - Not too difficult, just look at the wiring under the hood and see if any looks like it’s falling apart.
Check radiator belt - Check all the belts for condition, if they show any cracks outside or inside, they should be replaced.
Go around the car and tighten screws and bolts. - I’d skip this, if you over tighten something, you could just cause problems.
Check lights, look at wires, clean battery terminals - sure.
Air filter - how do I tell it needs to be replaced? Lightly dirty, black, cafe au lait?
How often do I rotate the tires? (Or should my manual tell me this?)
And how did I get to 41 without knowing all this?
Hold it up to the sun. If you can see light through the creases, it’s fine. If not, replace (these things are so cheap, don’t bother putting much effort into cleaning them). Of course, that’s with my old school round air filters, I assume yours takes a rectangular one.
This will be in your manual. It’s not terribly difficult, just time-consuming. Unless you have a set of 4 jack stands, in which case it’s a breeze. Some places will rotate your tires for free if you bought them there, I believe.
Because you’re like 90% of us. I think that people should be forced to learn basic car maintenance before they are allowed to drive their car. Not changing a head gasket or anything like that, lord knows I didn’t know how until I did it. But everybody should at least know how to change a tire on their vehicle. I hate to think of people out on the highway sitting there waiting for some stranger to stop and change their tire for them. Not safe. If I have daughters (and, if God has a sense of humor, I will, and they will grow to be teenagers one day), no matter how much they complain they will know how to change a tire.
/diatribe
Yeah, if you don’t know what you are doing, skip most of the stuff I listed. If you want to treat your car nice, just go to a lube-monkey or ??? for their oil & filter change every 5k to 8k (depending on your manual’s recommendations). I’ve no clue how much this costs in the US now (haven’t paid for it there since 1990). BUT, I’m sure it’ll be affordable, or at least you can find a coupon in the paper. I bet they will also have a ‘quick check’ service for an additional $20 or so that you could have done every year or so. The one main reason to go to a paid service is that they will take care of the old oil for you. If you do it yourself, you have to buy an oil jug (picture a 5 gallon gas can with two openings, one on the side, one on top) and then go to a gas station and dispose of the oil, which some places will charge you for. Old oil is not very nice to the environment, so don’t just dump it or try and get the garbage company to take it, it needs to be disposed of properly.
You can also find a ‘guy’ to do this for you. ‘Guys’ will do this stuff on a Saturday afternoon for a 6-pack and McDonald’s, IME.
-Tcat
Where I live, disposing of used motor oil is easy and doesn’t cost anything- we just pour it into milk jugs and duct tape them shut, then leave them out with the other recycling to be picked up.