Although car repairs are inevitable, it is possible to keep many parts from wearing down or failing prematurely. You just have to commit to completing regular maintenance tasks on the schedule recommended by the carmaker. Without that commitment, big trouble could come your way.
Which car maintenance tasks can help prevent costly repairs?
With help from #savagescotty, it’s clear that certain tasks have the power to prevent expensive repairs, like:
- Oil changes
- Transmission service
- Coolant flushes
- Battery cleanings
When you complete all these maintenance tasks as directed, it’s possible to keep your car on the road for longer between repair appointments. To help you understand what to do, mechanic Scotty Kilmer spells it all out.
Scotty’s Must-do Maintenance Tasks
With more than 230,000 miles on the clock, Kilmer’s car is a prime example of what regular maintenance can do for a vehicle. Although he’s a mechanic by trade, he didn’t keep that car going with repairs alone. A lot of maintenance went into keeping it reliably chugging along, including the following services.
1. Change Your Oil and Filter Often
Scotty urges you to make it your mission to change your oil and filter regularly. Since his car uses conventional oil, he changes it every 3,000 miles or about twice a year.
Even when done that often, the money you spend on oil changes simply doesn’t compare to how much engine repairs or replacement might cost if you skip that important service. This is especially true on engines with variable valve timing. If their cams get gummed up with thick oil, it could cost you thousands of dollars to fix.
You can extend the time between oil changes with synthetic oil. With that switch, you can delay this service to every 8,000 miles. Synthetic oil costs up to four times as much as conventional formulas, however, so it might not save any money in the long run. Either way, remember to use whatever oil weight your owner’s manual or oil cap tells you.
2. Replace Transmission Fluid
Kilmer says that it’s also wise to replace the fluid in your transmission. For most cars, you need to perform this service every 30,000 miles and change the filter, too. If you drive a Toyota, however, then you might not have a filter to change.
If you drive a later model car, like the 2007 Toyota Camry shown in the video, you can likely skip transmission fluid changes altogether. Look at the dipstick to see if there’s a sticker saying there’s no need to drain and refill the fluid in normal driving conditions.
3. Check Coolant and Flush it out
Dirty coolant is a big problem since it runs through the engine, radiator, and many other components in the system. If filthy fluid is left circulating through the system, it could cause the engine to overheat, clog the radiator, or even short out electrical sensors.
If your car uses conventional coolant, think about changing it every three years or 30,000 miles. You can use extended life antifreeze instead if you want to stretch out the service interval to every five years or 150,000 miles.
4. Inspect the Battery for Corrosion
When left to their own devices, batteries like to develop corrosion on their terminals. So, you’ll want to inspect yours every time you do any auto maintenance.
You’ll need to come at it with a wire brush and just scrape off all the corrosive bits around the terminals. Once that’s done, liberally spray the terminals with battery corrosion protection spray.
Don’t forget to use a battery checker to test the voltage a couple of times a year. If the voltage is lower than normal, change it out for a new one. That way, you can keep the car’s electrical system from acting up.
Invest in Maintenance to Keep Your Car on the Road
You can either do all these maintenance tasks on your own or have a mechanic complete them for you. Either way, the timely completion of these services is sure to keep your car running right without costly repairs.
For an even better understanding of what your car needs to stay in peak condition, make sure to take a look at its Vehicle History.
