With rising gas prices and very costly repairs, the last thing you
want to worry about is if and when your car is going to break down.
Here's how to protect your investment, and get from Point A to
Point B as reliably as possible.
Steps
- Drive less. Especially, avoid short trips.
Cold starts are hard on engines, your gas mileage, and the
environment. Short trips can also significantly shorten the life of
your muffler. Basically, you get condensation in the exhaust when
you start a cold engine, and if you don't run the car for long
enough to evaporate all of the condensation out of the system,
excessive amounts of water can accumulate in your muffler, and rust
a hole through it. Avoid starting a cold car just to pull it into
the garage, for instance. Consider walking to the nearest store for
a change. Combine short errands, and, if you have multiple
vehicles, drive the one more recently driven when you go out again.
Do drive a car at least every week or so, since cars that sit for
longer than a week or two at a time have other problems, such as
fluids gradually draining out of systems. Consult a mechanic if you
will store a car for an extended period.
- Check the fluids: You should check the level
of your antifreeze, oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid,
and brake fluid, very regularly: like every time you buy gas. Even
if your car doesn't leak fluids, it can develop a leak and quickly
have a dangerously low level of something. You should also check
the color of some of these fluids. Some of these have see-through
plastic tanks that you can look through, and some have dipsticks.
Antifreeze should be either pink, green, or yellow (Pink for newer
cars with "Dex-Cool", green for old cars with plain Ethyl-Glycol,
and green or yellow for cars that have been flushed and filled with
universal antifreezes...brown antifreeze should always be flushed,
it either has rust or a lot of dirt in it, probably both. Also,
never mix antifreezes; if you don't know what color antifreeze your
car has, buy a universal brand. Oil should be relatively clear, not
black - black oil has been left in the engine for too long. Oil
that looks white and milkshake-like has water in it, probably from
an internal antifreeze leak, or very rarely, just a large amount of
condensation. Transmission fluid should be bright red, and should
not smell burnt...it probably needs to be changed if it's brown or
smells burnt.
-
Fresh,
clean oil.
