NORTHERN IRELAND’s

Maintaining
YOUR CAR
If you don’t want your car to
conk out, you have to give it
some TLC every so often...
Many drivers wait until something goes wrong with their
car before they spend any money on it, but such a
strategy can be catastrophically expensive.
Once something starts to wear, if you fail to replace it,
it’ll fail altogether - and that’s when things get a lot
more costly. So once you start hearing that annoying
clicking or whining, do something about it; fail to act
and you could find yourself staring at a huge bill.The
problem is modern cars are so complex, that even the
smallest task has to be performed by a qualified
mechanic. As a result, with garage costs so high,
maintenance is put on the back burner - and that can
be disastrous.
The thing is, it’s possible to save cash without cutting
corners. Through recommendation, track down a good
independent mechanic, or you could trim your
maintenance budget to the bone and do some of the
work yourself. Each time you get your car serviced the
biggest cost is for the labour - and there’ll be a mark
up on the parts too. But you could go to your local
motor factor and buy the parts more cheaply, then do
at least some of the work yourself - potentially saving
hundreds in the process. We’re not suggesting you
rebuild your car’s engine or gearbox, but there are
things you can do yourself, and by doing them you’ll
save a bundle of cash. Dig out your car’s handbook, buy
a workshop manual or check out some of the numerous
podcasts and online videos that are available.
You could go even further; think about signing up to
some evening classes to learn more about how your car
is put together. That way you can tackle some slightly
more ambitious jobs like changing the brake pads or
brake fluid, or maybe even swapping the cam belt - this
latter job can often cost over £300, even though the
parts are rarely more than about £30. If there was a way
of shaving 90% off the cost of any other necessary
expenditure, you’d be mad not to look a bit more
closely. Wouldn’t you?
Coolant
Lights
Your engine and radiator contain coolant (a mixture of
water and anti-freeze), to prevent overheating. Most cars
have a transparent plastic coolant expansion tank
containing a coloured liquid, with the level between the
minimum and maximum marks. If it needs to be topped
up, add anti-freeze so it doesn’t get too diluted so it
freezes up in winter. However, the system shouldn’t ever
need to be topped up as it’s sealed. If the level drops,
get it professionally checked for leaks.
Lights aren’t there just to see by - they help other road
users see you, and help you communicate with them. If
a brake lights fails, or a headlamp, one more bulb
failure means you could be invisible at night, so
regularly check everything. Put the gearbox in neutral,
handbrake on, switch on the ignition, then the
headlights. Check the headlights and rear lights work,
including main beam. Do the same for the indicators.
Check the brake and reversing lights by reversing
towards a wall and looking for the reflection.
page # 34