Car Maintenance

Some of us drive to work each day. Then we come home and go shopping or go out for a night on the town. So that means we put on a lot of miles on our vehicles. Then there are others who work from home or just don't drive as much. When you put a lot of miles on your car you have to do maintenance more often.  Things like oil changes and replacing air filters is a common thing.

Some people who do not put a lot of miles on their cars think they can just skip almost all maintenance. This is far from the truth. Sure you won't have to change your oil as often but other parts on your car will still need to be maintained.

One thing you need to do is keep your tires inflated. Regardless of how much you drive your car your tires need to stay at the rated pressure. If you do not keep your tires at the rated pressure they can wear in the wrong places. Have you ever seen car tires that are wearing on the outer edges? This can be caused by more than just a bad front end alignment. It could also be because they have ran them either pumped up too hard or they are running them too soft. Keeping your car tires inflated properly also will give you the better fuel mileage. A flat tire can make you lose fuel economy.

You also need to check your tires for wear and tear. A tire may look good from far away but up close you may see signs it needs replacing. If I tire starts to get weather cracks in the sidewalls and in the tread badly then you need to replace it. It does not matter how much tread is left on the tire if they are either old are starting to look bad replace them for your own safety.

Another thing you need to keep up with is your battery. If you do not drive your car hardly any and it just sits there then you need to either keep a eye out on it once a month or you need to disconnect the terminals
from the battery so they cant corrode. Even when you use your car your battery can corrode and sometimes does. You can use a baking soda and water mix to help remove acid buildup on the battery posts. Just make it sorta thick but make it runny enough so you can poor it on the terminals. Then get a brush and brush off the acid.

The last thing you should check is the fluid levels in your vehicle. You need to check your oil and transmission fluid often. This can tell you if they are low and if your car has a leak or is using oil. If you just had your oil changed and a month later your oil is low then you need to have your car looked at.

Maintaining your car is important for your own safety and the safety of others on the road. If you keep your car maintained you can lengthen the life on your car by a long ways.  This maintenance becomes especially important if you plan on storing your car for the winter.

A spark plug is what fires the gas fumes in your cars engine to give it the power it needs to roll the wheels over. Spark plugs are very important to your car. Most people do not think much of their spark plugs and some probably do not even know what a spark plug is. You are actually supposed to change your spark plugs regularly to keep them working at peak performance but few do this. With standard spark plugs it is said you need to replace them every 45,000 miles and with Platinum spark plugs you need to change them every 100,000 miles. Most just drive their car until it causes them trouble as maintenance is not hardly thought about.

Here are a few reasons why you should change your spark plugs regularly.

1: It keeps your engine working at its peak performance

Your engine has several cylinders in it. Each one has its each spark plug that powers that individual cylinder. If one is bad you may not know it but it can cause that cylinder to
run under performance. This will cause your car to lose horse power and torque. Once several go out you will really begin to notice this.

2: Bad spark plugs can cause your catalytic converter to go out

If your spark plugs are bad your engine can misfire. A missfire can will dump unburned fuel vapors into the catalytic converter which can cause it to overheat and melt down. It may not hurt to misfire a few times but
after several times the heat can cause the catalytic converter to melt down. This will then possible cause a blockage which in turn would cause a loss of power. The blockage would also hurt your fuel economy tremendously.

3: Your car will start easier and faster in the winter

Bad plugs can be work or clogged. This will cause them to work poorly. You may not notice this in the summer months but in the winter when its harder for your motor to crank you may notice it taking longer to crank or not crank at all. Some people may think that its their battery but its really the spark plugs on the vehicle. Sometimes people will try to crank the vehicle so much that it wears the battery down. Since they are not firing properly this can also cause the car to get flooded with gas and that also would make it harder to start.

As you can see keeping your spark plugs in peak condition can save you a lot of trouble and possible a tow bill. Be sure and change them regularly!

Change Spark Plugs