Fall Car Care Tips for Your Vehicle: Exhaust and Braking Systems

After this long and very hot summer your vehicle is due for some maintenance work going into the fall season. After numerous trips down the highway, this has put a lot of strain on your car's engine and brakes. It's time to gear up for the upcoming rainy and cold season that fall seems to bring us every year. Some items that need to be serviced and inspected are your car's coolant, have the fluid levels topped off and an over all inspection of your car. Let's find out what else needs your attention.

Have your car's cooling system tested for the fall season. A pressure test is the best thing to do for this. Your vehicle's cooling system is pumped up to around 15 to 20 pounds of pressure. Then while your car is in the air using a drop light you look for minor leaks that can become larger leaks. The places to look is your car's radiator, both upper and lower radiator hoses, the engine block, and of course your floor board for possible coolant loss at your heater core. Part of your fall car care maintenance is to have your coolant flushed and filled with a 50/50 antifreeze and water mixture if no leaks are detected.

With the hot season leaving us it is also time to check out the condition of your brakes. The very hot highways and paved roads will take its toll on your braking components such as your brake rotors. During the fall season would be an excellent time to get a free brake inspection and see what the summer months has done to your braking components. If you feel a pulsation while trying to brake this could mean your brake rotors have warped during the summer months Keep in mind if your brake fluid is contaminated from the heat it may cause your cars brake fluid to boil. If this is the case with your car then ask the technician if he would recommend a brake fluid flush and fill.

Another part of your fall car care maintenance is to have your vehicles exhaust system inspected for leaks. Not only is this a bad smell entering your passenger compartment it is also very dangerous to breath in. With us going into the fall season we will be spending a lot of time with the windows closed and the car running. A lot of vehicles out there are running with out tail pipes installed on their cars. This is not only against the law in some states it is also very dangerous.

Some other fall car care tips is checking your tire pressures and your wiper blades that will keep you safe in the upcoming rainy season. For more car care information please visit my blog at, "Auto Repair Savings And My Special Links."