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Basic automotive care

Basic automotive care begins with a car wash. You must thoroughly wash the wheels, wheel wells, tires, exterior, windows, and also vacuum the interior of the vehicle. On an average you must wash your car every two weeks. Once your car had a complete detail it is important to give it a regular wash to keep it in that condition.

When you are washing the painted areas you should not use dish soap. In fact, you should stick to soap that is designed for washing cars. Other types of soap often contain the wrong chemical cocktails that can remove the protective coating from the paint and expose it to all sorts of contaminants. The same applies when it comes to cleaning wheels. You must choose the right wheel cleaner. If you use a cleaner that is too strong then it will wash away some of the finish and leave the wheels looking dull and discolored.

A car wash puts the picture of a car being hosed down into the heads of many owners but a car wash is not complete without fixing the interior as well. Vacuuming the interior is a good idea and should be implemented for each exterior wash. The carpet and upholstery are quick to build residues of dirt and soil that are not visible but still deteriorate the material used. If you wish to remove any stains then use a spray that is suitable on the fabric right before vacuuming.

Streak windows are not hard to maintain if you can manage a little patience and buy the right streak proof window cleaner. You should use two towels in this process. First spray the streak cleaner on the glass and wipe it off with a towel. Then use the second towel to polish off remaining streaks and any residue.

Modern cars are quite capable of crossing 200,000 miles with proper maintenance and care. Since cars are not cheap, it is a good thing to provide regularly scheduled maintenance to ensure their longer life. The key thing is to learn to do most of these tasks on your own so you do not go about spending too much money. Get yourself a set of good tools and when you need parts make sure you buy the best and not the cheapest.

In case you want to really learn about basic maintenance then you should look for courses conducted in general repairs. You community center should have something in that line as should the community college and automotive technical school. Buying a good manual to help with repairs is also a good idea. You can also search on the Internet for getting great deals and free information on repairs and maintenance.

Besides maintenance you must also keep a good log of all the repairs made on your car. Use a notebook and write things down or maintain a file in the computer. There is even special software available that can help you to do this.

A good feature in such software is that you can create schedules and set reminders for dates when you car is next due for a quick check up, wash, or other maintenance and repair activity. Software also comes built-in with tips and features to help you with your tasks. There is also some software that includes diagnostic procedures to help you discover what is wrong with your car.

The owner's manual that you were given when you purchased the car is a good place to begin in gaining understanding about the car and its working. Simple tasks such as mileage to service ratios will be mentioned in there already.

Like all technologies, cars are also subject to periodic changes. This can sometimes create problems. For instance all new cars are said to be free from any "tune up" requirement but the truth is that they still need that tune up very much.

In the days when tune up was first popularized, it was associated with the replacement of the core ignition parts such as ignition points, spark plugs, and the adjustment that were known as "tuning" of the engine. However, ignition points were abandoned during the 70s as manufacturers switched to electronics due to increasing demands for more fuel efficiency and lower emissions through car exhausts. The carburetor was also put aside during the 80s. So most of the parts that needed replacement during tune up were not present in the car anymore.

Modern ignition and fuel systems are very complicated and often computerized for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. So tune up is now more a matter of making fine adjustments to the software of these small computers.

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