Keeping Your Vehicle in Good Condition: 4 Types of Preventative Measures to Consider Every Year

Your vehicle is essential to your daily life. You use it to pick up groceries, take loved ones to the doctors, and drive to work. When your vehicle breaks down, it can halt your life. You become stranded; or, at best, have to shell out money for Uber or inconvenience a friend to help you.

But what if you were able to follow a few simple steps that could prevent you from being stranded down the road? I’m speaking of preventative maintenance that you can do every year, simple measures that you can take to keep your vehicle running smoothly. All these preventative measures can be handled by the experts at Telle Tire and Auto Center. Just check out telletire.com and see how their services can help keep you on the road and prevent future auto troubles.

 

Tire Rotation and Alignment

Have you ever been driving and your car seems to want to pull you to the right or the left? There’s a simple explanation:

• Over time, varying road conditions wear tires down unevenly.

• Because the tires are uneven, they do not stay properly lined up.

• This misalignment causes your cars steering to become imbalanced, and your car begins to favor the left or the right

Without the proper alignment, your car will consistently try to veer either off the road or worse, into oncoming traffic. Over time, other issues can become factors for you as well, such as decreased fuel economy and vehicle performance, as well as further tire damage.

Having your tires rotated helps to keep your vehicle evenly balanced. This will keep your vehicle in alignment longer, helping you save on fuel as well as avoiding some expensive auto repairs in the future. So, you can see the importance of regularly maintaining your tires.

 

Battery Check

When you’re having issues with your battery, unfortunately, there is usually only one solution: to replace it. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait until your stranded on the side of theroad before you can do anything about it. There are signs that can help you know when your battery is dying.

• Your headlights are dimming

• You hear a clicking when you turn the key in the ignition, and it takes a moment for the vehicle to start

• The dashboard lights are on, but the engine won’t start

• Your vehicle won’t start after sitting overnight

One misconception is that the battery light tells you when your battery is dying. It is not the battery, but an indication that you have a problem with your charging system, and your vehicle is only running on battery power. You will be able to drive for a little while, but your electronics system will shut down; so, no power seats or windows, no radio, and your headlights may dim, making driving at night treacherous.

Jumping your battery is a simple, short term fix to some of these issues, but it’s a very temporary solution. It is best to have your battery routinely checked to be sure it is in proper working order. This will ensure that your electronics system is running at its best.

 Oil Change

This is one of the most common things that is recommended by mechanics. Ensuring that you have clean oil will keep your engine from seizing; in essence, keeping your car from becoming a massive paper-weight that will take thousands of dollars to repair.

There are some important things an oil change does for your engine.

• It keeps the working parts of your engine lubricated

• It keeps the temperature of the engine down

• It loosens debris and sludge from between the moving parts

• It saves on gas

• It helps your engine last longer

The parts of your engine move at a very fast pace, the friction causing tremendous heat. Over time this heat and friction wear down the parts of the engine. Oil acts as a lubricant, coating the parts, allowing for less friction as the parts move. This keeps the parts cooler. It also keeps the parts from wearing away as quickly, helping the engine to run longer.

Oil also helps to remove small debris that would otherwise get trapped between your engine’s parts. The lubrication between the working pieces helps to keep any particles or other buildupfrom getting a foothold in your engine.

By keeping clean oil in your vehicle’s system, you are reducing the wear and tear the engine suffers over time. As a result, your engine will run smoother, and more efficiently throughout its lifetime.

It is important to make sure your engine oil is changed according to the type used and the make and model of your vehicle. This simple, inexpensive maintenance will help keep your engine running clean and is critical to the overall health of your vehicle.

 

Belt Inspection

Your engine has a lot of moving parts. Many of these require belts and pulley systems to operate. These belts are essential for many different parts of your vehicle’s engine from the steering to the electronics system to cooling fans and water pumps.

The timing belt is what keeps everything in the engine is doing just what it needs to at the right time. It balances out the timing of all the different parts and allows them to run smoothly together.

These belts are made of a metal band covered in rubber, and over time, the rubber begins to deteriorate. When this happens, you can see cracks forming on the rubber’s surface. This is a sign of extreme wear, and you should think about replacing it.

Another issue is on the inside edge of the belt. There are rubber teeth that keep the belt in alignment. If one of these teeth break, it can offset the timing between different parts of the engine, and your vehicle will run terribly.

Some signs that it may be time to replace your timing belt are:

• There is a ticking sound coming from your engine

• You see there is some oil leaking in front of your motor

• You hear your engine misfiring

• Your engine won’t turn over

Keeping up with belt maintenance ensures the parts of your engine are moving together in perfect synch, allowing your vehicle to run healthy while giving you a better performance from your engine.

 

Take Time

Taking the time to have these things checked is extremely important for the health of your vehicle. With simple preventative maintenance, you can ensure you will not be stuck on the side of the road from unseen engine trouble, and your vehicle may be on the road for a few years longer.