Simple Check For Your Car's Health

What will happen if someday when you are driving your car and it 'boycott' you from arriving on time at an important meeting? Angry? Mad? Well, it's supposed not to happen to you if you have a will to do some simple things to ensure your car's health. Here are some tips for you.

1. Before starting up, you'd better check for everything such as oil quality and quantity by checking the dipstick. It's shown like this (pict from wikimedia.org)

If the color of the oil is getting dark, and the quantity become a little bit less than the recommended measurement, then it's time to change your oil. Hope you don't wait too long to do it, for it brings much influence to your car, starting from the performance, fuel economy, and the time usage for the engine parts. Usually the oil manufacturer gives you 5000 km to use their product safely. After that, you need to change it. There are some factors why the measurement is only limited by 5000 km. They are the stop and go condition, especially in traffic jam or peak hours, the way you drive, and how long you let your engine runs while stopping.

2. Make sure your radiator is still fullfilled with water or coolant, and the color doesn't change because of the corrotion (pict by trustmymechanic.com)

If your radiation condition is like the picture shown above, then it's time to change your radiator water or coolant. Just open the valve located under the radiator, usually the cap is butterfly like. Just let the dirty water or coolant flow till the radiator tank is empty, then replace the cap and pour water or coolant until the radiator tank is fullfilled. Don't forget to also check the reservoir tank. If the height of water or coolant level is lower than the Upper level, add it. For some cars especially manufactured by European manufacturers like BMW or Mercedez Benz, pay attention of the water quality because it can affect your radiator performance. Use distillated water or coolant made from the safe ingredients for your European car radiator.

3. Next step is, check the level of battery fluid if you use wet battery. If the level goes on Lower Level, then add distillated water until reaching the Upper Level. Don't add too much because it just can make your battery lifetime going shorter. However, if you use dry battery or maintenance free battery, just check the terminal poles whether it's dirty or not. Clean them up and put the cover to prevent from dust or corrotion caused by condensation during the charging process of the battery. This checking is also must be done for the wet battery beside the fluid check.

(picture by autotrends.org)

4. You can check the other fluids like brake fluid, power steering fluid, and transmission fluid. The way you check is just as same as the engine oil checking, but you don't have to pay attention for the quality. Just check the quantity whether it needs to add more fluid or not.

5. Check the wiper water tank. Usually it is usefull to clear up the view when rain comes or when you pass the dusty area. If the tank needs to fill, just pour some water mixed with wiper concentrate, with the ratio one capfull of concentrate for one litre of water. You can add a bottle of a packed mixture of this instantly, for there are some brands of this kinda mixture produced, so you don't need to add more water like this one. (picture by cheapnclean.com)

Ok then. You have already check the vehicle to bring you go around the places you want. Don't forget also check the lamps, turns light, and also horns. Enjoy your trip, and drive safely.