Car Maintenance | Teen Ink

Car Maintenance

May 12, 2017
By Austin12 BRONZE, Circleville, Ohio
Austin12 BRONZE, Circleville, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Your car is a very important tool that plays major roles in our everyday lives. You see them everywhere and more than likely your parents have a car.  Much of you reading this probably are driving or just about to get your license. Having a car and driving it is a enormous responsibility and there are several things every driver should know how to do. One important thing you should do when  you get your car is, read the owner's manual. The owners manual is extremely important to read. It includes all information you need to know about your car from, tips, what gas you should use, type of oil, oil filters, how to refill the fluids, and what can void your warranty as well as what your warranty covers. All of this is basic information that you should know about your car.
Battery maintenance is the next thing to know about your car. It only takes a few minutes once every couple of months to check your car's battery and by doing this, it can prevent many problems and much frustration. When you check your battery you should look for any corrosion covering the terminals. The corrosion can cause your car not to start and eventually damage your battery. To fix this you can simply remove the terminals of your car’s or truck’s battery and use the proper cleaner from your local auto store to remove the corrosion. Just remember, your car can’t start without your car battery so always be prepared and keep some jumper cables in vehicle.


The next thing you should have some knowledge of is your vehicle's brakes. These are very important to check up on and it is recommend to take them in to be checked about once every year just to be safe. Your car or truck should as well have its brake pads replaces about every 20,000 miles (Check owner's manual for information specified for your vehicle). If your brakes are squeaking then you should probably take your car in for an inspection.


Another key thing a driver should do is learn how to change their own vehicles fluids and how to check them. In the long run this will prevent you from being scammed at an auto repair shop and will save you lots of money. Antifreeze, power steering, coolant, oil, and  wiper fluid all can be checked with a dipstick located near its reservoir. Your vehicle's manual will tell you what types of fluids to use and the amount as well as where to put the fluids in.


The last thing you should have some basic knowledge of is your tires. It is important that you learn how to change a tire if it were to go flat. In some cases the tire can be salvaged with a tire patch kit that you can pick up just about anywhere. Tire Patch kits include all the things needed to patch the tire and instructions on how to do so.The process is not very complicated and can be done fairly quick. Its recommend that you have a spare tire and jack as well as a tire iron for your car stored somewhere in your vehicle. 


Knowing all these things about your car will prevent much money loss and stress, making your driving experience a lot better. It will also make you a safer driver. Driving is an enormous responsibility, one mistake could cost you your life or someone else's life so knowing this information might help.


The author's comments:

I noticed a large amount of teen drivers who don't know much about their cars, so I felt it was important to write this.


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