Caring for your car: How to maintain & service your car

Introduction

Who the book is for

This book is for anyone who wants to carry out basic maintenance on their car and gain a bit of knowledge at the same time.

Somebody who doesn’t want to spend time going through a highly technical manual, and probably getting lost in the process, just to find out how to check the oil level!

Why buy this book?

It’s written in plain English and illustrated with full colour photographs.

The work is carried out with the most basic of tool sets, and not only will you have the satisfaction of doing the job yourself, but you’ll have learnt something on the way.

This book is not a full-blown, ‘take-off every nut and bolt’ manual. It covers the basic servicing and maintenance needed to keep your car safe and on the road. Doing your first oil change should save you the cost of the book, or more!

What’s covered

Fluid levels and topping up

Brakes: disc, drum, and bleeding

CV boots

Filters: air and oil

Tyres

Sparkplugs

Bulbs and fuses

Wheel bearing adjustment

Wipers

Windscreen checks

Safety checks

What’s not covered

Serious mechanical repairs

Thanks

The author wishes to thank Bosch for supplying the sparkplug information, and Unipart for making available new parts for him to photograph.

Important information

• If anything contained in this book contradicts what’s written in the vehicle manufacturer’s handbook (referred to as ‘handbook’ throughout this book), the official handbook will always take priority.

• The guidance in this book is general, so, whilst your car and its individual components may look a little different from the featured project cars and their components, the actions described will still be performed in essentially the same manner.

• Where general terms, such as oil, grease, coolant, etc, are used, always be sure that you are using the correct type for your car. Consult the handbook, and seek professional advice if you are in any doubt.

• All bolts, nuts and screws are turned anti-clockwise to undo, unless stated otherwise in the handbook.

• Inhaled dust from brake shoes and pads can be harmful to health, so wear a face mask when working on the brakes. It’s also a good idea to wash the brake assembly with water or proprietary brake cleaner before stripping it, to keep the dust down.

• Always use the correct size tools (spanners, sockets, screwdrivers, etc) or you risk rounding off nuts and the heads of bolts, or stripping the slots out of screws. Also, you increase the risk of injuring yourself if the tool slips when you’re applying pressure.

• When doing any maintenance always turn off the ignition and remove the key.

• Before attempting any form of maintenance ensure you can work in safety, that you have the required tools, enough room and ample lighting, and, most importantly, you know how you are going to do the task and that you are competent. If in any doubt, always seek professional advice.

• To jack up your car always follow the procedure shown in the book.

Items to familiarise yourself with

It’s recommended that you familiarise yourself with the positions of the following, all of which¥ are normally found in the engine compartment:

Fig 1. Coolant reservoir (for topping up the engine’s coolant) ‘COOLANT.’

Fig 2. Brake fluid reservoir (for topping up brake fluid) ‘BRAKE FLUID.’

Fig 3. Washer bottle (fluid for washing the windscreen) ‘WASHERS’ or the wiper symbol.

Fig 4. Typical canister-type oil filter (in this case low down and at the rear of the engine).

Fig 4a. Typical canister-type oil filter (this one’s at the front of the engine).

Fig 5. Power steering fluid reservoir (for topping up power steering fluid) ‘POWER STEERING.’

Fig 6. The oil filler cap. Engine oil is added here. ‘OIL’ (may be coloured yellow and/or depict an oil can).

Note: You may find the terms shown in capitals in the picture captions marked on the body, lid or cap of items in the engine bay (Figs 1 to 6a).

Fig 6a. The oil filler cap (arrowed) is located on the rocker box cover/cam cover at the top of the engine.

Weekly checks

Lights

All lights should be in working order, so check the following:

Headlights on high beam

Headlights on low beam

Sidelights

Rear lights, including poor visibility light/s (‘foglights’)

Stoplights (these are best checked by backing up to a garage door or other partly reflective surface)

Turn indicators

Reversing lights

Note: In cold weather the heat created by the bulbs helps to establish a film of dry dirt on the light lenses, which causes a decrease in intensity. Ensure that lenses are kept clean.

Check engine oil level

Figs 6 to 8. With the engine cold and the car on level ground, use the dipstick to check the engine oil level. The oil level should be between the minimum and maximum markers (Fig 8). If the level is low, top up with suitable engine oil (see handbook). Do not over fill. If there is evidence of an oil leak, find the source of the leak and have it repaired before driving any significant distance.

Fig 7. Oil dipstick (for measuring engine oil level). It may be coloured yellow.

Fig 8. Dipstick end showing minimum and maximum markers.

Screen washer level & wipers (front & back)

Figs 3 & 11. The screen wash reservoir in the engine bay has markers on it to indicate the level of screen wash. If it runs out, the windscreen can’t be cleaned effectively. The level can be topped up with clean water and/or screen wash and you can fill the reservoir right to the top.

Fig 9. Topping up windscreen washer reservoir.

Pull the wiper blades away from the windscreen and check for splits and tears along the leading edge of the wiper blades, and for signs of wear where the blade attaches to the main rubber; also that the blades are held against the windscreen by a decent amount of tension. Caution! Faulty wiper blades should be replaced as a matter of urgency. New arms will restore correct tension to the wiper blades.

Brake fluid

Fig 10. Doesn’t normally require topping up. The level only lowers as the pads gradually wear (there’s not normally any discernible fluid displacement with brake