Car Maintenance Hacks: Tips, Tricks and Dipsticks!!

Let's get to the thick and thin of how to maintain your vehicle properly so that you can have a smooth ride and amazing long road trips whenever you want.

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Let's get to the thick and thin of how to maintain your vehicle properly so that you can have a smooth ride and amazing long road trips whenever you want.

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One of the best qualities of contemporary cars like Tata Nexon, Harrier, Mahindra XUVs, Maruti Suzuki Baleno, is that they need much-less frequent service to keep them running well. Gone are the days when changing the spark plugs, breaker points, and condenser used to be a seasonal and normal exercise, and well body rust was accepted as a normal hazard of aging. Times have changed now and many spark plugs nowadays can go around 100,00 miles without any change. Electronic Ignitions has done away with the points and condensers. Even chassis, suspensions, and some transmissions are lubed for life. And factory rust-free warranty runs for like six years or longer. Added to all of these, reliability has increased and improved significantly.

Here we are still giving you some simple, periodic checks and procedures that you can do to maintain your car.

Checking the Engine Oil:

First things first, do check your engine oil regularly. Although many modern-day cars come with an engine replacement interval of 10,000km or more. Low engine oil levels can be harmful to internal parts of the engine which eventually will lead to a complete breakdown of the car. So, the question you would be thinking right now is, “Man, then how to check the engine oil?” Well, we have the answer to it. Few simple steps to follow.

1. Let your engine cool down:

A cool-down period of 10 minutes will do good and the reason I am asking you to not do anything while the engine is spitting fire is that all the oil from various parts of the engine collects in the lower oil pan when the engine is back to normal, by normal I mean its cool. But, I would suggest you check the owner’s manual because some car manufacturers do not suggest checking the oil level on cold engines. Well, diversity is always there eh.

2. Park the car on the leveled ground:

This should not come as a surprise. Avoid a ramp or an uneven patch of road as even a slight tilt in the car’s position can display the wrong level of engine oil which eventually will make you seem satisfied but, hey, your car would definitely throw some tantrums later on. I hope you get that!!

3. Take out the yellow dipstick from the engine compartment:

Open the bonnet and check for a yellow-colored dipstick cap which usually is in the center of the engine compartment. Pull out the dipstick and wipe it off with a clean piece of clothing and I request you to kindly make sure that the cloth is not soiled and does not have any moisture or dirt on it as these are dangerous for the internals of your prized vehicle.

4. Put it back and take it out again to notice the oil mark:

This would be easy for everyone right, sounds familiar eh. Well, once wiping it clean, do put it back completely. Wait for a second and pull it out. Yes, I am talking about the dipstick inside the oil chamber. Notice the oil mark which should ideally be between the minimum and maximum markings. The dip-stick usually has indicators marked as L (low) and H (high).

If the level is low do top up the engine oil. Make sure that you are using the same grade oil so as to avoid any harm to the engine parts. Never top up the oil over the recommended level. Excess of everything is bad, ain’t it fellas!!

5. Top up the engine oil and repeat the process:

Topping up the oil can be done via the oil filler cap which is located near the dipstick cap. One has to be careful and patient while topping up the oil and do not spill it over other parts of the engine. Admire your car’s engine while waiting for a few minutes so that the oil can settle as oil does take a little time to settle due to it being viscous.

Also recommended for you is to check the oil level once every few weeks or if you are going for a long road journey. It will hardly take a minute or so but that one minute can make your journey smooth and your money- within your wallet.

Check Tire-Air Pressure:

Before any extended road trips or journeys and I would go on to recommend, once a month, do try to check the tire-air pressure using an accurate tire-pressure gauge to check the inflation pressure in each tire, including the spare. Make sure you are using this when the tires are cold (before the vehicle has been driven or it has been like 3 to 4 hours since you took it for a spin around the corner). Use the inflation pressure recommended by the vehicle’s manufacturer, not the maximum pressure embossed on the tire’s sidewall.

You will find the recommended pressure on a placard on the front door jamb, in the glove compartment, or the secret would more likely be revealed in the owner’s manual. I will also recommend, like many experts, to inspect tires for abnormal or uneven wear, cuts, and sidewall bulges you can see.

Wash the Car:

Try to wash the car at least every weekend, if you can. Wash the body properly and if you can, do hose out the fender wells and undercarriage to remove dirt and road salt. When it's all clean do gasp at the beauty of your vehicle and thump your back for a quick wash you just did.

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