Key Items that need Maintainance at 100000 Miles
You have reached 100,000 miles on your vehicles odometer! While many years ago, this was a huge deal to most car owners, today people are driving more and driving farther. In the 1970's, it might take someone ten years to get this many miles on a car. In today's world however, most people will reach this milestone in five years or less. The good news is that today, most vehicles are built to withstand harder driving and higher mileage.
So, you have hit the 100,000 mile mark. What should you do now to make sure your vehicle stays on the road for a few more years? The answer is preventative maintenance. There are several key items on your vehicle that may need to be replaced, or at least checked out, once you have gone over the 100,000 mile mark. The first thing to remember is that every vehicle is different. Your vehicle's owner's manual should have a maintenance schedule that will tell you exactly what to check, and when to check it. If you don't have your manual any more, it might be a good idea to do some research online, or just purchase a Haynes Repair Manual at your local auto parts store. Having the information provided in the manual will be essential to helping maintain your vehicle's longevity. Having said that, there are a few key items that should be dealt with on most vehicles at 100,000 miles.
The most important key item in any vehicle is fluids. Your engine needs oil and coolant to run. Without these these essential fluids, you won't be going anywhere. Vehicles with higher mileage tend to go through these fluids a bit quicker than those with low mileage. You will want to make sure that you check these fluids regularly and investigate if the are running low. The most common reason that fluids dissipate faster than normal is leaks.
Check under your vehicle for signs of coolant or oil leaks. Water will drip from your air conditioner, which is normal, but if you notice water or antifreeze dripping from the radiator or engine block, you could possibly have a coolant leak. When it comes to oil, you will want to look for greasy dirt spots or buildup. This is usually a good sign that oil is leaking from a gasket or seal. In either case, if you feel that you might be loosing fluid, this problem should be checked out by a mechanic as soon as possible.
Oil and coolant are not the only fluids that need to be checked and changed. There is also transmission fluid, differential or rear end fluid (in rear wheel drive vehicles), brake fluid and power steering fluid. At 100,000 miles, most of these fluids will need to be changed. In the transmission, you will usually need a flush out of old fluid and a filter replacement. For your brake, power steering and differential, the fluids are usually removed with a vacuum device and replaced to a precise level. When it comes to checking and replacing these fluids, unless you are an avid “do it yourself” person, it is best to have a mechanic check everything out and make the necessary changes.
Aside from fluids, there are many key items in your vehicle that wear out over time and should be checked or replaced before they break. One of the easiest of these key items is your belts. A worn out of cracked belt can break while driving and cause severe damage to your vehicle. When checking your belts for wear, you want to look for fraying and cracking. Look on the underside of the belt for cracks where the belt meets the pulleys on your engine components. If you see any frays or cracks, replace the belt. Be sure to check all of your belts as some vehicles have more than one. While you are checking out or replacing belts, do a visual inspection of your engine components Look for leaks, breaks, cracks and loose parts. If you notice any of these, parts may need to be replaced.
Another key item in preventative maintenance after 100,000 miles is the water pump. In most vehicles, the water pump will wear out and go bad. You do not want this to happen while you are driving. If your water pump fails, it will cause your engine to overheat which could result in severe damage to your vehicle. Even if the current pump seems to be operating perfectly, the cost of replacement is usually fairly inexpensive and will save you a lot of money in the long run. If you are going to replace your water pump, do so before changing the belts. You must remove the belts in order to replace the pump so, it only makes sense to do this first. Again, while you are working in this area of the engine, check for loose parts as well as any breaks or cracks in other components Key items such as the belt tensioner, alternator and power steering pump may become loose or broken over time and should be tightened or replaced if this is the case.
The spark plugs and spark plug wires should have been changed before your vehicle reached the 100,000 mile mark. If you are not sure if or when this was done, now is a great time to check it out. Replacing these key parts will help your vehicle perform better, get better fuel mileage and prevent damage to your vehicle's internal parts. Spark plugs should be generally clean and free of heavy burn marks or build up. The plug wires should have no cuts or frays and should not easily fall apart. If you find that any of these problems are occurring, replace the part as soon as possible. If you need to change one plug, change them all. The same goes for the wires. If one is bad, the rest will soon follow. When looking through your plugs and wires, you should check the distributor cap (where applicable). This is the round cap the the plug wires connect to opposite the spark plug. Remove this cap and look for burn marks, cracks and dirt build up. Under this cap, you will see the rotor. Inspect this for the same issues. If any of these are found, you should replace the cap and the rotor.
Any vehicle with100,000 milesor more should be checked over regularly for common issues that come with high mileage. Under the vehicle, you should look for things such as cracks if the shocks and leave springs, cracks or breaks in the frame, loose or detached hoses, wires or pipes and holes in the exhaust system. Under the hood, you should look for any breaks or cracks in anything, loose or detached hoses or wires and signs of fluid leakage. While it is always best to have a mechanic check out your vehicle, you can save quite a bit of money by looking things over for yourself and doing any maintenance that you can. The more that you can do, the less you will spend in the shop.
