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Simple Maintenance Tips
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| How To Save Money At 30-Minute Oil Change Places |
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| Updated |
Jun 10, 2004 21:20:25 |
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 85 ( -5 -5.88% ) | | Author | Bruce Caldwell |
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Regular oil changes are one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to insure an optimum life span for your car with minimal mechanical problems. Check your owner's manual for recommended time/mileage intervals. We suggest following the "heavy duty" schedule even if you don't drive your car under "severe" conditions. An extra twenty dollars or so a year for an additional oil change is, essentially, incredibly cheap engine 'insurance.'
Few people will argue the value of frequent oil changes, but not many people enjoy the often-messy physical act of changing your own oil. There are many businesses and dealership service centers designed specifically for quick, efficient oil changes and other minor maintenance work. They change oil and oil filters all day long so they're extremely proficient. The oil change facilities have to charge more than what it would cost you to do the job in your driveway, but when you consider the speed, convenience, and the fact that you and your driveway stay completely clean, we think these facilities are a great deal.
Most oil change franchises make the oil change even more attractive by performing a variety of free maintenance checks. Items like checking the differential gear oil level and lubricating the chassis are things the average car owner would never do herself (or himself!). It's easy for the oil change company to do these tasks when the vehicle is up on the hydraulic lift. Many of these maintenance points are included in the price of the oil change, which is another good reason to patronize oil change facilities.
The maintenance checklist and visual inspections are an excellent service. They provide you with a computer print out of what items they serviced and the status of the items they checked. As a convenience to you, and, of course, with an eye to their own profits, they will gladly install the needed parts or add the fluids that aren't included in the basic oil change. The bad news is that these extra parts and services can easily double or triple the cost of the original oil change. You can easily perform most of these tasks at a substantial savings. Our suggestion is to let the shop change the oil, filter, and messy items like differential fluid. Let them perform all the tasks that are included in the basic oil change price, but do the other easy jobs yourself.
'Clean Hands' Auto Maintenance
The goal of these basic maintenance tasks we've outlined below is to save you money--without turning you into a professional grease monkey. The majority of the simple tasks we will discuss involve very little, if any, mess. We suggest you buy a package of disposable, single-use latex examination gloves to keep your hands clean. These gloves are available at auto parts stores for a very nominal cost. Another way to make cleanup easy is to apply a thin coat of special protective hand creams such as DuPont's Pro-Tek or Evercoat's Glove Coat. These hand creams are available at auto parts stores. Cleaning your hands is simple if you apply one of these hand creams before you start to work on anything greasy.
The do-yourself maintenance tasks that we suggest are basically 'remove and replace' procedures. For example, changing the air filter involves removing the top of the air cleaner (usually a wing nut or a couple snap-clips), lifting out the old dirty filter element, dropping in the new filter, and replacing the air cleaner top. It's a two-minute job, and if you buy air filters when they're on sale, you can easily save half of what the shops charge.
Deals On Auto Parts
Whether you change your air filter element this week or next week isn't any big deal. That means you can watch for sales on filters. Unless you plan on selling your car in the very near future, buy a couple filters when they're on sale. This saves money and eliminates extra trips to the store. National auto parts chains usually have quite competitive prices every day, and they often run sales or coupon deals on common maintenance parts. Large general merchandise stores such as K-Mart, Target, and Walmart often have excellent deals on basic auto parts such as filters and windshield wipers. Watch for their sales flyers in the Sunday paper. These big stores don't have the selection that auto parts stores have, but they do a good job of covering the most popular makes and models. Many of these department stores have a self-serve computer near the oil and air filters that will help you find the correct part for your vehicle.
Another source of some incredibly good prices on basic maintenance-type auto parts is the big warehouse/club stores. They typically carry only products that have the fewest possible variables such as headlight lamps, wiper blades, and automotive batteries. As always, it pays to shop and compare.
Free Help
Affordable parts prices with free installation help are a tough deal to beat. Many of the national auto parts stores will help you install items like windshield wipers if you ask the salesperson. These people can also point you in the right direction if you're having a little trouble figuring out how something like a tail light bulb comes out of the light socket. They want you to be a regular customer, so don't be afraid to ask for help or advice. If you ever decide to do your own oil changes, many auto parts stores are equipped to recycle your used oil and old oil filters.
An invaluable source of information that's not quite free (unless you can find a copy at the library) is a repair manual for your specific vehicle. Auto parts stores and big bookstores carry these excellent books which are basically condensed versions of the official factory shop manuals. Two of the best-known repair manual publishers are Chilton and Haynes. These manuals usually retail for twenty dollars or less.
Easy Maintenance Tasks
As we've mentioned, automotive maintenance doesn't get much easier than changing an air filter. The PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve is an item mentioned on oil change checklists. The PCV valve is usually a simple 'remove and replace' item. The repair manual will show you the exact location. They usually plug into the top of a valve cover and have a rubber hose attached to the other end. The valve should rattle freely if it's in good condition. A stuck valve needs to be replaced.
Tail lights and turn signal lights are another simple 'remove and replace' task. Some bulbs are accessed by removing the lens while other are removed from the backside via the trunk. Usually a quarter turn to the left releases the socket from the light assembly. Most bulbs have two little prongs on the sides of the bulb base. The bulb needs to be turned slightly counter clockwise to release the bulb from the socket.
Modern headlights can be expensive depending on the style and design. The older sealed beam type headlights are easy to replace. The retaining bezel or part of the grille usually needs to be removed for access. These parts are often secured with Torx fasteners. These unique six-point fasteners require a special Torx screwdriver, which can be found at auto parts stores, hardware stores, and Sears tool departments.
Headlights with quartz bulbs are accessed from the rear in a manner similar to tail light bulbs. When changing quartz bulbs, take care not to touch the bulb with your fingers. The oil on your hands can damage the bulb.
If fluids such as brake fluid or antifreeze aren't covered by the basic oil change fee, you can add these products at home. When topping off the brake fluid, take care not to spill any on the painted body parts. Brake fluid will dissolve paint. Antifreeze is also bad for paint. Also, make sure not to spill antifreeze where pets might ingest it--it is toxic to animals. Remember that your antifreeze/coolant mixture should be 50/50 antifreeze and water. Either add equal amounts of antifreeze and water or pre-mix them in a separate container before adding it to the radiator reservoir. Only service the radiator when the engine is cold in order to avoid injuries from scalding water.
Figuring out which maintenance tasks you can do, and which ones are best left to the pros, can yield a well-maintained car with savings for you. |
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