Car Articles

Get yourself a real tyre gauge, the dial type with bleed valve and rubber armor. You'll sure have a solid, accurate gauge for the rest of your life. Learn to check your tyre pressure cold and inflate to the pressure recommended in your owner manual or on your door sticker. Your car load is going to alter the Inflation pressure, so take care to pay attention to this. Even if you have tyre pressure sensors on your car, check your tyres at least once a month.

You need to know where the oil dipstick, transmission dipstick for automatic transmissions and coolant reservoir are located. Oil and transmission dipsticks or your coolant and windshield washer reservoirs should never get mixed up.

When you car is warmed up, check the oil. Turn the car off and wait for some time for the warm oil to drain back into the oil pan. Open the hood to locate the oil dipstick. Wipe the oil off, re-insert the dipstick, pull it out and hold it in a horizontal position. If the oil level is below L (low), add oil until the level reads F (full). Low oil is very bad, but overfilling too can be equally bad. Do it just right.

While checking the oil, take a look at the coolant reservoir too. You needn't worry if it's between the "Min" and "Full" markings. If it's not, add distilled water to the coolant tank, and never the radiator, until the level is above "Min".

Transmission dipsticks are generally at the back of the engine. The transmission dipstick can be really long. So, be careful while pulling it out. Read your owner manual. Most manufacturers want the transmission fluid checked while the vehicle is running and while parked. Find the transmission dipstick, remove it, wipe it clean and reinsert it. Remove it again, and check the level of fluid.

As halogen headlights long last, you won't be doing this often. Bring the right replacement bulb. Open the hood and find the back of the bad headlight. Take off the rubber boot, disconnect the electrical connection and then remove the existing bulb and mount by turning it. Press the new bulb into the mount. Reinstall the mount, reattach the electrical connector and put the rubber boot back in place.

Locate your jack, lug wrench and spare tyre. Your car's handbrake needs to be firmly engaged. If your car has a manual transmission, put it in first or reverse gear, and then make sure your handbrake is fully engaged. Put something underneath the wheel diagonally away from the one you're changing. Remove the wheel cover on the wheel you're changing. Break the lug nuts free with the lug wrench. If they don't come off, stand on the lug wrench to provide the maximum force. Insert the jack under the car and turn the turn the jack screw clockwise to raise the car. Let the tyre to be changed be an inch off the pavement. Now remove all lug nuts, pull the flat tyre and wheel off the car. Replace it with the spare one. Now, replace the lug nuts, lower the car by turning the jack screw until the jack comes free. Finally, tighten the lug bolts with the wrench.

Make sure the dead battery isn't frozen, cracked or damaged to avoid an explosion. Find another merciful driver with a good car battery. Pull the two cars as close as possible, battery to battery. Both cars need to be turned off and parked with the handbrakes on. Connect the red jumper cable clip to the positive terminal of the dead battery. The other red jumper clip needs to be connected to the positive terminal of the good battery. One black jumper clip needs to be connected to the negative terminal of the good battery and the other black jumper clip can be connected to any exposed metal on the engine. Start the good vehicle first and once it's running, start the one with the dead battery. The car will probably start right up. If it doesn't start in the first thirty seconds, it probably won't. Call a tow truck.