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Lovert Mafukure
Many car owners have been asking the same question for a while now, when to service their vehicles.
This guide is a rough guide for those DIY enthusiasts and meant to help most of us Japanese used car owners. It is worth your while however, to check with your manufacturer’s recommendations on when to service your vehicle.
This guide is for cars that have no known defects as some defects can affect when you should service your vehicle.
For every 500km that you drive there are simple things that need to be checked like engine oil level, coolant level, brake fluid level, washer fluid level and you may need to check for tyre pressure as well. The fluid level shouldn’t drop drastically within this period or it may point to leaks in the system.
For every 10 000km or 6 months that you drive you need to change your engine oil and oil filter. Change intervals may vary according to the quality of engine oil that you use.
Synthetic oil may give you more mileage before there’s any need to change the oil. That is why you find some high performance cars like Porsche only go for service at 15 000 or 30 000km. That’s because they use high quality synthetic oils.
Tyre rotation is necessary as well. Many people tend to neglect tyre rotation because they don’t even know why it is recommended or they don’t see its importance.
The reason tyre rotation is necessary is to allow for even tyre wear.
Most cars are front wheel drive and there is a lot of stress on the front wheels than the back. There is therefore more wear on front tyres. Every six months you can rotate the tyres back to front if your car has the same size of tyres so that you can have even tyre wear right round.
It is good to check also the ATF level in your automatic transmission but it does not need changing yet. Check all drive belts and hoses for wear.
Replace them if necessary.
Rubber boots on drive shafts and steering racks also need checking for wear and tear. Make sure they are not broken in any way because debris, water and foreign matter are the last things you need inside the driveshaft or steering components.
Every 20 000km or 12 months there is need for a couple of things to be checked. First of all, batteries have a warranty of about 12 months, good brands however, last way longer than that. There is need to check or service the battery every 12 months. Battery maintenance is essential if you’re going to keep your battery for long. Spark plugs also go out at about
20 000km and that is for copper plugs.
Other types of plugs like platinum/iridium plugs can push way over 100 000km. While you are at it, you should also check the condition of the HT leads, distributor cap and rotor for the older cars.
For those cars that have manual transmissions and or differentials you need to top up the gear oil if there’s need in both the gearbox and the differential. Air filters and fuel filters need to be checked and replaced. It also depends on the driving conditions and type of fuel used.
For every 40 000km or 2 years of driving there is need to change Automatic transmission fluid. This is very important and it’s the major reason why most automatic transmissions prematurely fail. People neglect transmission maintenance and end up stuck with dead transmissions.
When you change the ATF also change the filter or risk contaminating new fluid.
It is also important to drain, flush and refill coolant in your cooling system.
Tap water is not good for your cooling system as it causes rust. Add coolant in correct ratios with distilled water.
Usually its a 50/50 mixture of coolant and distilled water. Always read instructions on the bottle as some of the coolant is pre-mixed. You can now also inspect all drive train components and brakes.
When you eventually reach 100 000km, it is time to change that timing belt.
This is one of the most important things you can ever do on your car to prevent engine damage. It is recommended that you also change the water pump when changing the timing belt, it saves you time and money to do it all at once. Till next time, happy motoring!
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Disclaimer: This material has been prepared with the intent to provide reliable information; no warranty either expressed or implied is made to its accuracy or completeness. No liability is assumed for any loss, injury to persons, property or other damage resulting from either the use of or reliance on the material presented. Always consult the professionals
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