12 months of TLC for your car

2 MONTHS OF LC FOR Y OUR CAR Every 40.000 or 2 years Air conditioning performance check Replace fuel filter 5.000 km or 3 months Annuolly, usually in the spring Replace air filte Under-hood belt and hose inspection, Ol & filter change ond chassis lubrication Inspect lights and check tire Wheel alignment check Brake inspection Pressure Monthly Tire rotation and wheel bolancing Automatic I0.000 km or every other oil change transmission service Belt and hose replacement Cooling system flush and refil Engine timing belt replacement I Clean windshield. A dirty bug-splattered windshield is a safety hazard. as it obscures your view of the road. So give it a regular cleaning. Using the spongy part of the gas station squeegee. soak the whole windshield with the cleaning fluid. Then pull the squeegee tightly from the middle of the windshield to the sides. finishing off the remaining streaks by puling it top to bottom. This is especially important after an extended drive on the highway when your windshield is littered with insect carcasses and using your cars washing fluid and wipers to remove them only creates a big. smeary mess that obscures your line of sight even more. If your headights are dirty give them a squeegeeing as well Your wipers have a role to play in keeping the windshield cleon too. but well talk about them later this week. 2 Check tire pressure. Maintaining proper tire pressure will keep you safe and even save you a little dough Improperly inflated tires - and this may mean over-inflated or under-inflated don't handle or stop as wel as tires with the correct pressure. They also increase your chance of a blow out. Plus. tire. with the correct pressure have a longer life and increase your fuel efficiency 3. Check oil level and top off as neededMotor oil is essential to your car's performancelts most important job is to lubricate all the movingparts in your engine so they don't grind and tear themselves into dysfunction. It also transfers heat away from the combustion cycle and traps andholds all the nasty byproducts of combustion.sending it to the oil filter. your engine doesn'thave enough oil. your car is at risk of going kaput. If As newer vehicles have become increasingly complex with onboard computers and high-tech godgetry maintenance jobs now often requre a mechanic with the proper training and tools to correctly complete the tosk But there ore stil a few maintenance jobs that most men can do themselves on most modes. and below I list three of the most accessible. It's true that taking care of these tasks doesn't save you very much in either time or money but it is satisfying nonetheless and I recommend trying each job at least once.as theyll give you a reason to look under your hood as well as a small bit of insight into how your trusted chariot works GAS OPEN 24/7 Change ol every 5000 mles Weve written a guide on how to change your car's motor oil yourself. But for those Iving in an opartment or dorm, this might not be on option Whether you do it yourself or take it to a mechanic getting your of changed regularly is one of the most important ways of keeping your car ruming smoothly Chonge air fiter every 12000 mies. This is quite possibly one of the easiest car maintenonce jobs you con do yourself We wrote how to do it here Regularly changing your car's air fiter will increase fuel efficiency prolong your engine's Ife and reduce emissions. While changing your car's oil comes with the hassle of fnding a way to dispose of the used oil properly, no such inconvenience exists for the air filter. and doing it yourself wll easily save you half the cost of having a service shop take care of it. Rotate tires every 5000 to O000 milesfront and rear tires wear dfferently. Regularly rotating your tres equalizes ther natural wear patterns ensuring a smoother and safer ride It aso extends the life of your tires which wil save you money on costly replacements. Here show to rotate your car tres coolant level lug bolt inspection The following checks and procedures should be performed every 3 months. If you don't use your vehicle often. you can perform them every 5O00 miles. Checks and Inspections: coolant brake fluid check mixture check oil power steering fluid check fill washer fluid The following checks and procedures should be performed every year. don't use your If you vehicle often. you can perform them every 12000 - 15.000 miles. coolant level coolant mixture lug bolt inspection ► check oil fill washer fluid tire depth check brake inspection + spark plug wire check + power' steering fluid check brake fluid check