Routine Maintenance
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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