Your engine needs proper maintenance if you want it to withstand the test of time. Here are some of the pitfalls in operating your car that you need to avoid.
Destroying your car is not as difficult as you might imagine – and it doesn’t always involve driving too fast and sloppy. You can cause serious damage to your favorite car by simply neglecting it.
Here are things that you need to be especially careful with if you want your car to last a long time:
- Control the oil level in your car
Oil is the lifeblood of any engine. If you let it dry, various parts of the vehicle will be greased out, causing serious damage. Conversely, refilling too much oil can also cause serious problems. Fill it up too much, and you risk getting oil on parts where it shouldn’t be.
As long as the engine has not been turned over and the oil has already been applied, the only solution is to tow your car to a service station where you can drain the oil.
Check the oil level regularly. If you wait until the signal on the panel lights up, it may be too late.
- The car’s water and electrics are not compatible.
If you leave a window or roof hatch open during a rainstorm and water starts to leak on dials and switches, you will not avoid car trouble. This is important to consider, even if it seems like everything is okay on the outside.
You should also avoid flooded roads, as driving in very deep water can cause the water to suck in the air intake and it will go straight into the piston chamber. Significant damage can be done in just a few seconds and you will need a new engine.
- Always use the jack as carefully as possible.
It may seem like an easy task. But if you lift the car by anything or on anything other than the recommended one, you can easily damage the thresholds. Also, make sure the car is on a hard surface and not on soft ground or gravel. The jack may break down and damage your car. You should also be careful when driving on kerbs – many places use kerbs with sharp edges that can easily damage your tires.
- Be careful when starting the engine
Never start the car without first having studied this procedure. Many modern cars have sensitive control units, and a sudden power surge can cause serious harm. Similarly, in some cars the immobilizer can be damaged if the key is in the ignition switch during this time. If this happens, it will erase the key, rendering it useless. This means that you will not be able to drive the car until you reprogram it.
- Cold weather can hurt your car.
Pouring a hot water kettle on a frozen windscreen may seem like a quick solution, but it can also lead to cracks in the glass and, as a result, high money costs. The easiest way to avoid this is to turn on the heaters inside the car and spray an anti-freeze agent on the outside.
Related to this is the problem with windscreen wipers. You probably tried to turn them on while they were still frozen to the glass. Since the engine that drives them will put a lot of pressure on them, it can cause the fuse to burn out. It’s not expensive, but it’s definitely unpleasant.