Ever got up on a Monday morning after an indulgent weekend? What you felt was plain lethargy. And what you were advised to do after that was detox, cleanse your system and so on & so forth. No, we’re not giving you ‘gyaan’ on your health and how you should live but we’re equating your car’s health in the terms you would think about yours.
Car is a machine; designed to run and take you places. So, the engineer who designed it had to imagine all possible scenarios of who all would drive his product and had a reasonable idea of how it would get treated, best-case scenario & worst-case scenario, both. It’s their job. Now before you make any assumptions about your car servicing, they’ve already imagined all these scenarios and have setup all possible backups for your car to run smoothly. Yet it’s a machine and sometimes things go a bit overboard just like in case of your health. To avoid this, you stick to a few principles for your car’s health and you’ll be fine.
- Body Fluids.
You have a few in your body and your car has too, engine oil, engine coolant, brake fluid, gearbox oil and air, to name a few critical ones.Your engine oil & coolant are the most vital and keeping them fresh & clean as often as possible is key. If your running is more or less around 10,000 km in a year, once a year servicing is more than fine with engine oil and coolant being replaced completely (not just refill). If you’re running more than 10,000 km then once in 6 months would be ideal but you can still do once a year service. And to those who hardly use their car, you too must try to service your car once a year because the oils and coolants get contaminated with dust and oxidise over a period of time. Remember that cars were designed to run and not sit around for too long, so it’s imperative you take out yours regularly and service them. Air is also an important fluid in your car. Air going through the air filter is mixed with fuel and ignited causing the engine to run (Internal Combustion Engine 101). Thus, if your air filter is dirty, the air going into the engine isn’t as clean as it’s supposed to be and hence the drop in fuel efficiency. Ergo, change your air filter or at least have it cleaned when servicing the car. And while you’re doing that, change your fuel & oil filters. Same logic, no rocket science. Other fluids like brake oil, gearbox oil etc. can be changed once in two years or specifically if the car has developed a minor problem and you get it inspected. So, at the time get these fluids replaced just to be safe. - Brakes.
This is a safety issue, so pay attention. When servicing your car, get your brakes serviced. What happens in brake servicing? Firstly, they’re cleaned, be it disc brake or drum brakes. Every time you brake there is brake dust released from the brake pads which gets accumulated over time. So, it needs to be cleaned. Then come your brake pads. They need to sharpened like your kitchen knife to make sure they are sharp. If they’re worn out, the technician will suggest to replace. Do it for safety. Then your brake fluids and its moving parts will be inspected to check if everything is working fine. Only if there is an issue or you are noticing inefficient braking will something have to be changed. - Tyres.
Tyres are supporting the weight of the car and at high speeds they are going to be your control factor. So, they need to be checked for any cuts, holes or imperfections which can be repaired. If not repairable, you need to replace the tyre in question. But don’t worry, most punctures, holes etc. can be repaired. Once you’re assured that it’s quite bad, then replace. Inflate the tyres to about 30-32 psi and while going on highway runs, 30 psi is ideal. This also applies for summer runs since the air expands rapidly and causes tyre bursts. - General Check-Up.
This is going to include just about everything else on your car based on a quick visual check. Everything that needs to be tight should be tight and everything that needs to move should move. Generic statement but in reality, this is all that happens. Lights, electricals, battery, suspension etc. are checked to see if they’re working properly and to see if there is no unusual noise in their functioning. Anything apart from the ordinary and it’ll be brought to your notice for further inspection and repair / replacement.
To summarise, your checklist is: engine oil, oil & fuel filters, air filter, brake check, tyre check and general check-up. That’s it. In & out.This article is intended for the everyday user who doesn’t have to be obsessed about the tiny details and nitty gritty of car servicing. The very purpose of all this information is to make you somewhat disciplined in your car servicing patterns with a minimalistic approach so that you don’t end up in the middle of a road, with you & your car stranded for help.If you have further doubts or need a comprehensive understanding of each service task, write to us at tellmeshrey@pitbox.in. We’ll talk.Tell Me Shrey @ Pitbox Motors.
