AA Newton
Posted 34 minutes ago: February 21, 2023 at 03:00 a.m
The odd accident may be out of your control, but the vast majority of “stuck on the side of the freeway with no cell service” scenarios can be prevented with a simple, thorough home inspection. Here’s what to look for before you hit the road.
Check belts and hoses for damage
A serious belt or hose malfunction will leave your car reeling, and neither part is easy to replace. If you’re planning a long trip and your car hasn’t had a proper tune-up in a while, it’s imperative to check your belts and hoses for damage.
Different engines use different types and numbers of belts and hoses; it is important to know what the car has under the hood and how to check it properly. Searching YouTube for inspection tutorials for the make and model of your car is definitely a good idea here – you don’t want to miss anything, and a video is easier to follow than your owner’s manual. Checking the belts for signs of damage and wear is fairly simple. Here’s what to look for:
- Bright spots: Worn belts can slip dangerously at points, causing them to slide out of position. (This type of wear is also called “glazing”).
- Cracks or cracks: This one is self-explanatory, but a cracked or broken belt is much closer to breaking than one with no structural damage.
- Voltage drop: Wear and tear can cause belts to stretch, reducing their tension and making them more likely to slip.
If your belts pass the three spot checks, you’re good to go; if not, take your car to the shop and have them replaced.
Hoses break down in many of the same ways, but the signs of damage are slightly different. Grab a flashlight and look for these indicators:
- Cracks and bumps: A cracked or bulging hose is more likely to leak. Look carefully for cracks and splits, especially around bends; The bumps may only be visible when the engine is warm, so be very careful.
- Glass spots or scratches: Heat damage can partially melt the hoses, causing them to appear shiny and glassy when hardened. Abrasive damage (rubbing) can leave visible crack marks.
- Soft Points: While the engine is cold, squeeze the hoses near the calipers and look for soft or soft spots. This is a sign of electrochemical degradation (ECD), which breaks down the hoses from the inside out.
Check your car’s tires
The second most important part to check is the tires. Make sure they are inflated to the correct pressure (which you can find in your owner’s manual or with a quick Google search) and have plenty of tread left. The quarterly test makes it easy to measure tread wear and whether tires need to be replaced.
Inspect the brake pads
You may not be able (or willing) to replace worn brake pads on your own, however tin check if they need to be replaced. The brake pads on most cars are visible through the holes in the hub cap, so you don’t even have to take the wheel off to see what’s going on. Grab a flashlight, get down to the level of the brake pads and see how thick (or thin) the pads are. Generally speaking, if they’re less than 1/4 inch thick, you need new bearings, and if they wear unevenly, there’s a good chance your alignment is bad.
Check your fluids and top them up
Depending on your transmission situation, your car needs five or six main types of fluids to run smoothly:
- engine oil
- brake fluid
- Transmission fluid (if you drive an automatic)
- Coolant/antifreeze
- Power steering fluid
- Windshield wiper fluid
Knowing how to check the fluids in your car is very important and, luckily, quite simple. The first and most important step is to make sure the engine is completely cool before you touch anything; a hot engine pressurizes certain fluids, and you don’t want a face full of hot ethylene glycol. The reservoir for each fluid should have an easily accessible cap under the hood, along with visible fill lines (or, for oil, a dipstick) to help you see if it needs a top-up. Find each cap, open it, take a look and add more liquid if needed.
This is one of those maintenance tasks that you should be doing regularly. Checking fluid levels is quick, easy and can help you spot leaks early – if you have a certain type that’s consistently low, you probably have a leak somewhere and it’s a good idea to take it to a mechanic.
Check your headlights (and wipers, while you’re at it)
Finally, before you load up your car and head out, make sure your headlights and windshield wipers are in good working order. There’s nothing worse than realizing your car’s visibility aids have broken in the middle of a surprise rainstorm, snowstorm, or fog event. (Honestly, if you’ve had your blades for more than a year, just go ahead and change them – it’s cheap, easy, and will make the unit that much better.)
For extra preparation points, collect spare bulbs and blades and keep them in your car. They don’t take up much space and you never know when you’ll need them. Even if your headlights need an actual mechanic to replace them, which is often the case with newer cars, having the part on hand means you don’t have to wait for an order to arrive.
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