You don’t want to, but you’ll inevitably have problems with your car at some point. Every machine has problems. And when you least expect it, on that day when you need the vehicle, are late, or have no money at the end of the month, the car decides to break down. Is it possible to do something to alleviate problems? Yea! It’s called preventive maintenance. We have separated a list of drivers’ most common problems in their cars. Read more (อ่านต่อ which is the term in Thai) on how you can help your car have a longer and more economical life.
1) Take Good Care Of Your Car Tires
That tires will wear out with use is a fact. But some precautions make it wear out more slowly. The way the driver drives, the type of street on which he drives, and periodic maintenance is crucial. An essential practice to balance tire wear is to rotate between them. This means: moving the front tires to the back and the rear tires to the front. This exchange evens out tire wear. That’s because the fronts usually work harder and wear out faster than the rears, especially on popular cars. Doing the rotation, there is a wear relay between them.
That way, the tires are level, giving the car more stability and safety. But watch out! This practice is efficient when the tires on the same axle (front and rear) are the same model. Manufacturers recommend rotating tires between 5,000 and 10,000 km or when you have your vehicle serviced. But watch out again! This practice is not a substitute for changing tires in any way. When they start to go bald, it’s time to change them. Don’t risk your safety.
2) Align And Balance Regularly
Alignment and balance of wheels and tires are equally important for proper car functioning and avoiding significant headaches. When you take the vehicle to the mechanic to have the tires straightened, he measures and adjusts the wheels’ angles to the floor and the center lines of the car. This ensures that the tires are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the road, balancing all the forces that work for the car’s movement. Consequence? This process gives more stability to the vehicle and safety to the driver and passengers. This avoids accidents and possible significant damage.
Alignment and balance are like rice and beans: they always go together. However, they are different things. While alignment corrects wheel angles, balancing ensures that weight is distributed evenly around each axle. It also ensures that the wheels turn without causing unnecessary vibrations. Keeping tires and wheels aligned and balanced prevents tire wear, steering problems, and reduced braking capacity. Important.
Having said all that, the next question is: when should I do wheel alignment and balancing? The recommendation is that they are done every 10 thousand kilometers or when a tire is changed, repaired, or you install new tires.
3) Change The Oil And Filter Regularly
Oil is an essential element for the proper functioning of a car. He is responsible for lubricating the engine parts allowing them to slide and work more easily. In addition, lubrication reduces the risk of parts failure caused by friction between them. Equally important is the oil filter. It blocks the microparticles that come off the engine parts because of the friction between them and the impurities resulting from fuel burning. All this prevents them from contacting the lubricant and engine parts, preventing damage. Now, if you are one of the people who change the vehicle’s oil but not the filter, know that the cleaning is incomplete. And more: that it can harm your car engine. So every time you change the oil, change the filter as well. But when should that be? The indication of the replacement frequency must be consulted in the manufacturer’s manual.