Tips for Spring Car Maintenance

Winter is without a doubt the hardest season of the year on your car or truck. If you are like me you try to take care of all the routine maintenance before the cold weather hits and hope it all holds together until Spring arrives.

Well, Spring is almost here and there are a number of things the shade tree mechanic will want to be doing the very instant the snows clear away. Maintenance on the old jalopy. It needs it very badly by now. For the last three to four months your car hasn't had an oil change or a chassis lubrication or a number of other things that badly need doing. In this article we will look at some of the things that need routine maintenance.

First, that oil in the oil pan. By now it is ready for a change. For several long months now it has endured the very worst treatment an oil can receive at the hands of bad weather. The oil we put into our cars really isn't even oil you know. It is a combination of refined oil, plasticizers, detergents and other additives that give it the capability to lubricate, clean and protect our engines. Oil has several duties most people may not be aware of. It is first and foremost a lubricant and without it your engine would soon turn into a very expensive piece of scrap metal.

But in addition to lubrication, engine oil is also a cleanser. Each time a cylinder fires there is some of the exhaust gas and even raw fuel that gets past the piston rings and into the crank case. This "blow-by" as it is called is mostly pulled out of the engine and re-burned via the vacuum action of the p.c.v. or positive crankcase ventilation system. But not all of this blow-by gets pulled out and now you have partially burned fuel, carbon waste and even a small amount of raw fuel contaminating your precious engine oil. It is the job of the oil to sequester this mess and suspend it so that it does not get sucked into the oil pump and spread through out the rest of the engine. Because this stuff is the beginning stages of sludge. And sludge will block oil passages, trap more contaminants and will lead to over heating and poor performance.

Oil also helps cool your engine. Friction builds heat and the lubrication of an engine with clean oil will greatly extend it's life. And as stated previously winter is the very hardest season there is for wear and tear on your vehicle. Unless you start your engine and drive several hundred miles weekly, then your engine oil is receiving what is called severe duty. Starting the engine and driving a dozen miles to work and then back home is severe duty. The oil never really has a chance to get up to operating temperature for long enough to boil off any raw fuel or circulate enough times through the oil filter to trap contaminants. Change your oil soon and use a good quality oil from an auto parts dealer. Replace the filter each time as well. And through the coming year arrange the oil changes so that with the start of another bad winter your oil is fresh and doing it's utmost to protect that engine.

Chassis lubrication should be the very next item on your maintenance agenda. Road salt, ice crystals, cinders, dirt and water have all been getting into your ball joints and tie rod ends all winter. Water as you know will expand as it forms into ice. So if moisture has been getting into the steering components and then freezing overnight, and therefore expanding that joint opening... then who knows what else has been getting in and doing damage? Grease up those joints and if you have anywhere from say 50 to 75 thousand miles, you may want to have a trusted mechanic check out the steering for wear.

Belts and hoses. These guys take a beating all year long anyway so it is probably time to swap these out too. And while you are at it put in a new air filter and a gas filter as well. Now this gas filter is probably buried up in the frame where it is at it's most inaccessible. So have your mechanic cut it out and replace that piece of gas line with a piece of gasoline approved flexible hose. And then have him place the a new disposable filter in a secure location under the hood where you can get to it next time. Then change that filter each year. They can get incredibly dirty. A dirty filter is a tow truck ride waiting to happen.

We aren't through yet. When,if ever, was the transmission fluid changed? And the filter? And you might as well check the fluid levels since you have the hood up already. Brakes, power steering, radiator coolant and windshield washer fluid.

You can start the Spring and Summer season off right with all thee routine little jobs out of the way.