Have a new car and aren’t sure on where to start when it comes to car maintenance and repairs? No worries — we’ve got you covered! Here are some easy, straight-forward facts about auto repair that will keep your car in tip-top shape.
The air filter
Even though your air filter mostly goes unnoticed, it serves a very important part in the efficiency of the engine. Here are some warning signs that you may need to replace yours.
- Has your gas mileage gone down? Because the engine needs to run with as clean air as possible, if there is dirty air it will cause the car to use up more fuel to produce enough power.
- It takes a couple tries to start your car. Your car should start without a hitch, and if you are having a problem, your spark plugs could be polluted, causing engine misfires.
- Your car is experiencing reduced horsepower, which means that it doesn’t have enough clean air to accelerate properly.
Tires
- When your car is out of alignment, its suspension and tires do not function normally. One way to test this is to go to a side road, and slowly take your hands off the wheel while going at a slow speed. If you notice that your car is starting to fade to the right or left, you can have alignment problems. To prevent this, experts recommend checking your tire alignment every 6,000 miles, or whenever you have your oil changed.
- To ensure your tire wear is worn down evenly, make sure to have your tires rotated every 7,500 miles.
- It is common for your tire air pressure to fluctuate during the colder months, so to prevent a flat, make sure to check this bi-weekly.
Transmission
- A common culprit behind transmission failure is the overheating and contamination of its transmission fluid. Make sure to monitor this every month.
- See any leaking fluid? Your car needs transmission repair right away. This fluid typically smells pretty tart, and a leak means that the multiple different parts have nothing to prevent them from burning up.
- A grinding noise. Yet again, this noise can mean there is a lack of transmission fluid, and the gears are working harder than necessary.
Is your car in need of some auto repair? Come on down to see our car professionals today!
