Changing Your Own Oil And Coolant
Every car owner knows that car maintenance can be costly especially if you drive your car to work everyday. Car maintenance rates have been rising steadily for the past years and the upward trend is set to continue. Not to mention the complicated process of some tasks may result to bigger labor costs. Being on a budget doesn’t mean you have to skip on some of your car maintenance duties. To save money, here are some of the basic car maintenance tasks you can do at home.
Changing Your Car’s Oil
This is the most straightforward car maintenance task there is and it?s pretty easy as long as you have easy access to the oil filter. If your car sits close to the ground, use jack stands to raise the front of the vehicle. Remember to make sure that the car is secured before going underneath to get to the oil drain plug.
If you’re ready to drain the oil out of your vehicle, make sure to have a pan to catch the oil that comes out of your vehicle. Open the oil drain plug and allow the oil to flow out of the vehicle. Once most of the oil is drained, you need to remove the oil filter. Most oil filters are found on the top part of your engine but it depends on the kind of vehicle that you have.
Replace the filter with one that you get from the auto supply and check if all the oil has been drained before installing the oil drain plug. Depending on the replacement filter that you bought, you may need to purchase a separate drain plug washer. Remember not to use the old washer again to avoid oil leaks.
You can now replenish your engine oil according to what your car needs. Check with the manufacturer or the manual that came with your car before doing this. Run the engine for a minute and check the dipstick if the oil level is enough.
Changing Your Car’s Coolant
Another car maintenance task that is safe to do at home is changing your car’s coolant. Make sure that you have an access to the drain point found on your engine block. The first thing that you need to do is to drain your radiator. Place a catch pan below the radiator and open the lid of your coolant reservoir to begin, making sure to remove the lower radiator hose. This process drains most of the coolant found outside of the block.
Next, you need to get a radiator hose-threaded plug to access the remaining coolant inside the engine. If you don’t have a plug, check all the hoses that is connected to the engine block. There should be a hose that you can disconnect to drain the coolant that’s left inside.
After draining most of the coolant out of the vehicle, you can reconnect all the hose and start replenishing the system. Try to find a screw that serves as a bleeder to let the air out as you fill it up. Fill up your system slowly while running the car and adding a little amount each time until the system is full. Allow your car to heat up to enable the coolant to circulate through the core and avoid air pockets from building up.
Although you can save money on car maintenance, this doesn’t mean that you can skip on your car insurance policy. At Velox Insurance, we aim to make our client’s life easier with policies that are tailored to their needs. You can get more information about our products and services by calling our agency at (770) 293-0623. Get your free quote today by CLICKING HERE.
