10-24-2009, 09:18 AM
Want to improve the life of your vehicle?
Well, the best way to improve the life span of any vehicle is preventative maintenance. Basic stuff that even your wife could do lol.
1. By far, the most important thing you can do for your vehicle is change it's oil and filter. Some people say change it on a time line, but really there is no need. Pull your dipstick, if your oil is black, it's dirty, simple enough right? if it's dirty change it. For those of you who don't know how i have posted a very detailed tutorial in the auto section.
2. Clean/replace your air filter. most of you know what this is, if you have a chevy, it is more than likely up in top of your engine. If you have a later model car, it usually comes out the side into an airbox. Very easy to spot. Eather way, pull your air filter with what ever tools required. And hold it up to a light, if you can see light through it, your probably fine. But if not, eather spray it out with compressed air, or replace it. They are fairly cheap at about $10-$30.
3. Do a visual inspection of your tires, this means looking for uneven wear, bals spots and bulges. This simple step can save your life. If you notice uneven wear, bring it into a shop and have it checked out.
4. Grease the zerks, this is a little complicated to explain without a visual and i can't explain them all. Basically there is little nipple like structures around your suspension, and other places that frequently moved. If your car starts squeaking while you are moving, then ask someone who knows what these are and has a greese gun, or bring it to a shop if you have a little extra money and some time.
5. Check you tranny fluid. This is usually located on the left hand side f the engine, it says "trany fil" pull that out and smell it, if it has a "burnt" smell, have it changed. I will post a tutorial on how to do this later. Now, when i say burnt, i mean burnt. It will have a smell like someone lit it on fire. lol, that's the best way i can think of explaining it.
Well, i hope you enjoyed this, or atleast got something from it. If you feel i missed something, let me know and i will update it. Thank you.
