Vehicle Maintenance Safe Driving Reducing Vehicle Break Downs Increasing Fuel Economy
Either you drive a brand new vehicle or an old clunker, a regular maintenance is must. Certain preventive maintenance items done on a regular schedule will extend the lifetime of your vehicle, reduce the number of break downs as well as save you money in reducing fuel economy.
Introduction
Many of items that are commonly found on the vehicle require regular maintenance or replacement to keep your vehicle in a top shape. While some will improve the fuel economy of your vehicle and therefore are considered of economical benefit to follow (save you the money) other items may be matter of safety and are considered as crucial to perform on the regular interval.
Your vehicle is not going to fall apart by missing the regular appointment by one day, it is good idea to keep a regular schedule as a matter of habit as many of us often forgets to perform many of those small items until we are forced to deal with consequences of not performing the maintenance as scheduled (costly breakdowns, decreased performance of your vehicle, etc.).
Vehicle Maintenance
While it will be hard to come with the universal check list of every maintenance item that needs to be performed on every vehicle as well as how often should be done (more specific maintenance check procedure checklists and intervals to follow for your specific vehicle can be found in your vehicle user manual or they can be advised to you by your service adviser), there are some items that are universal for all vehicles.
Following is the condensed list of some major items required to be addressed on a regular interval as well as brief explanation why they are important.
Oil Change
Your engine works in extreme conditions (heat caused by internal combustion) and therefore is subject to wear caused by friction. Oil inside your engine block reduces this friction to a tolerable levels therefore preventing the breakdowns. However, as the oil does its job of reducing the friction it loses its viscosity (ability to reduce friction) as well as becomes polluted by contaminants found inside engine (tar, micro particles etc.). It is therefore important to change your oil every 4,000 to 5,000 kilometers (approx 2,500 to 3,100 miles). While your vehicle will not break down if you miss this schedule slightly, regular neglect to change oil when due will significantly reduce life time of your engine as well as increase fuel consumption.
Tire Rotation and Tire Pressure Check
The tire wear on your vehicle will never be uniform across all four tires or for that matter even on the same tire. Such items as wheel alignment, tire rotation, under inflated tires, etc, will produce an irregular wear pattern on your tires. Rotating tire positions often (from front to back and across from left to right) will help maintain regular wear patterns on your tires therefore increasing the useful tire life. However, no tire is unwearable regardless how well you maintain it so at some point you will have to replace them (when threads on the tire are worn out).
Tire pressure check will need to be performed regularly (recommended on every second time you fill gas to your car). Under inflated tires will wear faster as well as increase fuel consumption of your vehicle.
Wheel Alignment and Balancing
Wheel alignment refers to having all four wheels aligned uniform so that they spin synchronized therefore reducing tire wear as well as aiding in better and more precise control of your vehicle's steering. Wheel balancing refers to making sure the wheel weight is distributed evenly therefore reducing the centrifugal forces created by the wheel spinning at the high speeds (RPM).
Windshield Wipers
Windshield wipers help remove water and debris from your vehicle's windshield therefore making the drive safer. Especially in winter conditions (snow and ice) windshield wipers must be able to perform well and keep windshield clean. Old windshield wipers loose their ability to remove such debris (snow, ice , water, road debris etc.) and as such should be replaced on regular intervals.
Tune Up and Preventive Maintenance
Certain components in your vehicle such as brakes, spark plugs, spark plug wires, battery, air filter, fuel filter, air cabin filter are all consumable items meaning they wear and tear and need to be checked and replaced on a regular schedule. Neglecting replacing such items could cause variety of symptoms from reduced performance to costly break downs.
Other Maintenance Items and Repairs
As mentioned earlier, the above list is just a very condensed and generalized and is by all means no conclusive. Your vehicle has many other items that need to be checked and serviced. Your service adviser will know more about what items need to be checked or replaced as well as when they will be needed to replaced.
Conclusion
Knowing what needs to be replaced or maintained on your vehicle let alone how often it should be done, can be challenging task. Neglecting or ignoring doing such maintenance checks can be expensive and a major reason behind costly break downs as well as a culprit behind increased fuel consumption and reduced performance of your vehicle.
Your service adviser will keep the detailed log of your vehicle maintenance (when certain things had been done and when they are due again) and remind you when you should service your vehicle again. Establishing the regular maintenance procedures for your vehicle when service is due, will extend the life of your vehicle, reduce the severity and frequency of major break downs as well as increase the fuel economy.
However we quite often forget, neglect or simply ignore to respond to those service reminders (either sent as a notice from your service adviser, being posted inside your vehicle – i.e. next service due sticker for your oil change, or the warning lights that turn on when your vehicle self diagnostic tests fail – i.e.”change oil soon” “turning signal light burnt” etc.
Until such neglect turns to a major problem and when it does we blame ourselves for not acting sooner but by than it is late and we end up with expensive repairs. Even worse, such neglect can cause your vehicle to fail at a critical time causing accidents that can injure or even kill not only a driver that neglected to service her/his vehicle but their pas angers as well as other motorists or pedestrians on the road.
Regularly maintaining your vehicle saves money by preventing or decreasing the occurrence of major mechanical breakdowns but also saves lives by making sure your vehicle is and will stay reliable and will not fail you at a critical moment causing the accident.
Keep your vehicle maintained, be safe.
