Tune-up your Car with this Series of Tips for Responsible Maintenance
Keeping your vehicle in the best possible conditions is one of the main responsibilities you acquire when you buy your utility. A car in good condition helps to reduce accidents and therefore contributes to road safety, in addition to good maintenance helps to prevent serious and costly breakdowns.
Shock Absorbers:
Have them checked every 20,000 kilometers. Its deterioration is imperceptible to the driver. Shock absorbers not only provide driving comfort but also represent a guarantee of safety, since they help control the vehicle, especially at high speeds and in risky situations. In fact, it is considered one of the three essential components of the so-called "Safety Triangle", along with tires and brakes.
The correct operation of a shock absorber depends on various factors, such as the state of the road, the load of the vehicle, the mileage, and wear effects such as cold, heat and humidity. Consequently, the action of these factors causes the effect of the shock absorber to be gradually reduced until it stops working properly. As it is not perceptible wear and tear for the driver, it is advisable to carry out periodic checks every 20,000 kilometers.
Wiper Blades:
In the event of adverse weather conditions, the windscreen wiper blades play a key role. If they do not sweep well and do not properly evacuate water, hail, or snow, they prevent precious information from reaching our eyes. A few seconds can be vital to the lives of vehicle occupants or pedestrians.
If the brushes leave areas to be swept, cause strange mists, make noise, or jump, the time has come for their replacement. We recommend your change after the summer as appropriate. There is nothing worse for its components than prolonged days of sun and high temperatures. Now, in addition, they usually incorporate very useful wear detectors.
Filters:
As its name indicates, its work is based on the filtration of physical elements from the air or fluids such as oil and fuel. It is advisable to replace them once a year, unless you frequently drive on dusty or heavily soiled terrain. Important: a clogged filter still has worse health consequences than the absence of a filter.
Tires:
It is difficult to predict the useful life of a tire. There are many factors that influence it: from the components of the tires and the storage prior to their sale, to the way of driving of its user, or the weather and the characteristics of the pavement on which it rolls. Therefore, it is very difficult to determine an estimated number of kilometers. However, being the link between the car and the road, its role in safety is paramount.
The user must be very aware of this and correctly maintain the pressure indexes recommended by the manufacturer. It should always be very aware of the appearance of vibrations and noise, of abnormal wear (greater in some areas than others), of any strange behavior detected in braking. It may be time for the change and even to warn us of failures in other components related to security.
Brakes:
With the brakes in poor condition, we will need more meters to stop the car in an emergency. A few meters can mean the life of one person or several people. It is important, therefore, to be very attentive to any anomalous variation in the behavior of the vehicle when the brake pedal is depressed (it can go to one side, take "react", noise, squeaks, etc.). It is not easy to detect it , since the brake components deteriorate little by little, unless the difference is very marked, in which case the passage through the workshop must be immediate.
In addition, the wear of the components of the brake system depends a lot on the characteristics of the driving and also on the usual means by which the vehicle rolls (traffic jams in cities, mountain tours, with many curves, etc.). Therefore, it is very important that this system is reviewed by a specialist at least once a year.
Lubricants:
Lubricants have the function of minimizing the wear of the engine parts, channeling the metallic particles that arise from that wear to the filter, helping the cooling, and avoiding tiny leaks in the circuit due to their sealing properties.
The service life of lubricants has been greatly increased in modern cars. If 20 years ago, the average change was around 5,000-8,000 kilometers, today vehicle manufacturers speak of much more distant replacements, above even 30,000 kilometers for their new models. From the workshops, we consider that the change of lubricants should not be extended more than 15,000 kilometers. We note that motors suffer excessively with such long periods.
Illumination:
In addition to allowing us to see, the vehicle's lights have the task of allowing others to see us and to inform drivers and pedestrians of our intentions when we drive a vehicle through signaling devices.
Although it is no longer necessary to carry spare lamps in the car (due to the difficulty of its assembly and even to the electrical risks that the change operation can pose in certain vehicles), it should not be forgotten that it is mandatory to maintain the system lighting and signaling in optimal conditions. To do this, it is advisable to check monthly the correct operation of all lights (position, crossing, road, brake, reverse, turn signals, and fog lights) and keep their outer surface free of mud and dirt. Likewise, whenever any irregularity is detected (a drop in intensity, for example), a specialist should be consulted to verify the existence of problems and to proceed to solve them.
Exhaust System and Catalysts:
Exhaust systems have a double mission in caring for the environment: they must reduce pollutant emissions and the noise of gases leaving the engine. Its deterioration cannot be avoided, due to its hard work, especially when traveling a lot in cities and on short routes and / or on irregular pavements. As users, be aware of any signs of leakage or corrosion. We will also notice this due to a lack of engine power and the increase in lubricant consumption.
Also, and as indicated by the main manufacturers, driving with defective catalysts or exhaust pipes can increase the risk of fire in the vehicle and cause suffocation and poisoning in closed places such as garages or workshops. To avoid damaging the catalyst, it is advisable to avoid climbing the curbs. In addition, the vehicle must be warmed up by keeping the car idling for a couple of minutes before starting off.
Although it depends on many factors and therefore it is not possible to speak of a fixed figure, the catalysts cease to cover their protective function of the environment at approximately 80,000 kilometers.
Timing Belts:
The timing belt synchronizes the four-stroke of the engine, the opening, and closing of the intake and exhaust valves, and the spark of the spark plug. It is very important to follow the advice of the vehicle manufacturer because, as it is an element that wears out, its breakage can cause serious and expensive damage to the engine.
It is practically impossible for an average driver to detect an alarming deterioration in this component that warns us that the time has come for the change. Therefore, we repeat, the best forecast that can be made is to replace it by an average unit based on the intervals recommended by vehicle manufacturers.
