Common Car Myths and Tips

Everyone has their own opinion regarding car repairs and general maintenance tips.  Whether you learned how to complete an oil change from your father in his garage or spent time working in a repair shop observing mechanics; everyone has their own tricks when it comes to car repair and maintenance.  These are a few well-known tips regarding maintenance and cleaning of your vehicle to keep it performing for many years.

Vehicle Maintenance and Braking Myths

Changing the motor oil in your car means changing the lubricant that keep the car parts moving smoothly.  By changing the motor oil, you are preventing the engine from ceasing and this will keep the pistons rotating.  Motor oil does not have to be changed every 3,000 miles as you will commonly hear when taking your car to any car care garage for motor oil replacement.  Due to the efficiency of newer cars, you will find that modern cars can have upwards of 5,000, even up to 10,000 miles, before an oil change is necessary.  Anti-lock brakes were introduced as a safety alternative to traditional brakes that the driver needed to pump to prevent locking up to build traction.  Whether you are driving on ice or slippery road conditions, your natural instinct will be to lift up your foot from the odd grinding of the anti-lock brakes. When the anti-lock brake system is engaged, you don’t have to pump the break; but you actually keep your foot locked on the break pedal for quick stopping despite the feeling to release your foot from the break. When driving on ice or snow, you don’t hit the brakes to stop; you take your foot off the break to slow your car and reduce your speed to a natural stop.  Also, if your back tires skid on the ice or snow, you are supposed to steer in the same direction as the back tires.

Cleaning Tips and Tricks

If you walk through any car shop, you’ll find sponges, cleaning sprays and more to keep your windows clean.  Gas station window cleaner always leaves residue from other cars in the solution, and you’ll end up with streaks and dirty windows.  A good tip for cleaning windows is to crumble newspaper and use standard window cleaning spray you would use in your house for streak-free windows.  Battery acid forms around the terminals of your battery, so using a wire brush to remove the corrosion with a good orange cleaner will easily remove debris from the area.  Removing excess grime from the battery will maintain a good connection from the terminals to the starter and engine.

Car additives and Oil Changes

There are ample commercials that promote additives that clean your car, purify gasoline, enhancing your car performance and much more.  Car additives do not always increase performance, but additives can actually corrode your engine by adding impurities to car parts. There are some additives that are necessary, such as a fuel system cleaner or a gas-line antifreeze and water remover. A fuel system cleaner will remove carbon build up in your engine to increase gas mileage.  A gas-line antifreeze and water remover is used during the winter month to eliminate water from your tank and keep your gas from possibly freezing in the below freezing temperatures.