Regular Car Checks will increase your road safety and vehicle reliability

Making regular car checks is a good idea because you'll often spot things that could cause problems if left unchecked.

You don't have to do thorough car checks each and every time you drive, however relatively often is advisable.

Tire Checks

You can be surprised when doing this what you pick up. I've found nails and bits of metal wedged through the tire without air leakage.

This obviously gets worse the more you drive generally beginning with a slow puncture. Eventually it's going to mean the tire deflating and is a safety risk on the car.

Watch out particularly when visiting refuse centers to dump off your unwanted garbage. This is usually where your tires will pick up this sort of thing.

As part of the car checks regularly check tire pressure also. Most standard vehicles with standard tires would have a normal tire pressure anywhere between 29 PSI (pounds per square inch) – 35 PSI.

It's well worth a quick read in your particular car manual for the exact figure for your car.

The right pressure will help in a number of ways.

Fuel saving
When a tire is correctly pressurized the right amount of tire rubber is touching the road.

Friction is caused by the tire rubber touching the road and to much rubber touching will increase friction.

The result - your engine works harder to push the car along and uses more fuel.

Handling and safety
The tire maintains shape better and keeps the optimum contact with the road during cornering and braking.

They are also safer and less likely to suffer from tire wall damage, punctures or blowouts.

Over or under inflating can cause handling issues and the risk of a blowout.

Brake Checks

You can run your nail to the outer edge of the disk and there should not be much of a lip there. If there is a big lip the disks are worn and you'll need to think about changing.

To check brake pads you can look round the shiny disk for the brake caliper (large piece of metal which wraps round the disk). There you will see the pads closest to the disk itself. There should be plenty of pad left. It's a bit harder to see this so if you're not sure, get your mechanic to check and advise.

This car check needs to be done less regularly, once every 3-4 months or so obviously depending on how you drive.

Fluid Checks

Further car checks are to test oil, water, brake, power steering fluids regularly. Generally, you get a feel for your car and a car in good condition shouldn't need much in the way of top ups between services.

Engine oil
This is one the more regular car checks to make and there's a good rule of thumb here for engine oil. If the oil's black, the engine needs an oil change with new oil and air filters. This applies to petrol engines not diesel. Diesel oil will generally turn black pretty quick due to soot from the diesel.

On a decent engine oil usually only needs checking once a month or so. On a bad engine - every day!

Check the oil on level ground and leave the car standing for a good 5 minutes or so.

When topping up oil and other fluid levels try to use the same grade and make as used when the vehicle was serviced.

For example if your car is serviced with synthetic oil, top up with synthetic oil, rather than non synthetic oil.

Why? because true synthetic oil as opposed to non-synthetic oil is made from chemical compounds which are artificially made. Non synthetic oil derives from a conventional petroleum base.

It is therefore not wise to play chemist with your engine by mixing up these compounds which may break down or impair their protective properties.

Another definite no is overfilling the engine with oil. Considerably overfilling will cause internal pressure from the oil pump and internal crankcase windings to build up against the main rear bearing seal and bearing itself.

The result - the seal ruptures way quicker than it ever would do normally and your engine decides to become a leaker.

From then on in it just goes downhill for the engine and repairs to the bottom end of an engine are serious work and money.

Engine water
When topping up levels, use de-ionised or distilled water rather than tap water on a healthy engine. Doing this as part of your car checks will help reduce internal engine corrosion.

To appreciate the value of this you just need to look at the deposits left in an ordinary household kettle.

Also as part of this car check make sure the engine has got plenty of antifreeze and is one which is recommended by the manufacturer.

For the exact ratio it's best to check the user manual for your vehicle or with the manufacturer directly but more generally it's deemed to be about 50-50 water-antifreeze.

In extreme cold conditions up to 70% - 30% water can be used. Using to much antifreeze reduces the engines ability to carry heat away from itself so never go above this ratio.

*When the engines been running the water system is pressurized so don't try to check the radiator levels when hot as you may get scolded.

If the engines playing up let it cool down some and then use a rag and open the cap slowly whilst allowing any pressure to escape.

How often should you flush and replace all the radiator fluid?
This does depend on the vehicle and the type of antifreeze used. Manufacturers recommendations will vary, however if an engine has been filled with the correct type of fluids and not been not been topped up with bad poor quality fluids, it is necessary very seldom.

Brake and Power steering fluids
As part of your car checks these are the most important for your safety. Even if new, your car could get a split pipe very quickly and then lose fluids.

The important thing to note about brake and power steering fluid is it's a hydraulic fluid. This means it is not compressible and as such needs to remain pure from moisture and other substances inside the hydraulic lines of the braking systems.

This fluid also has to have a very high boiling point to withstand the high temperatures generated from within the brakes.

Problems can arise when moisture builds up inside the hydraulic system which can and does happen. This can compromise the hydraulic pressure leaving you with spongy dangerous brakes.

To help prevent any moisture build up replace all the caps to your filler bottles and on the vehicle itself quickly.

Don't store brake fluid for extended periods and then use as it could have some moisture built up over time.

Gearbox oil
This is an occasional but necessary additional car check, mainly on automatic gearboxes. There's usually a separate test stick for this on automatics, however, it should be covered when the car is serviced.

It is again important not to over fill gearbox oils as doing so will cause pressure build up on the oil seals resulting in leakage and expensive repairs.

Quite often there is a hot and cold indicator on the stick. I recommend testing the oil level when the car has not been running overnight and on level ground.

Transmission fluid should be a reddish brown color. If you have any major discoloration it could indicate a problem like the oil got too hot or contaminated.

A dark brown is usually from overheating any other color is likely to indicate contamination.

Again if topping up or replacing only go with good quality transmission fluids recommended by the manufacturer.

Generally loss of transmission fluid will mean you've got a compromised seal somewhere and best advice it to get your mechanic to check it out.

General Servicing

Essentially this is - oil filter, air filter, oil change on a small standard service.

Generally doing this makes a big difference to your cars reliability, longevity and safety - usually every 6000 miles (older cars) or 10,000 miles (new cars with synthetic oils).

Bigger services tend to involve changing the following engine parts. Spark plugs, camshaft timing belts, brake pads and disks. Multiple peripheral drive belts may also be changed. These are often referred to as Serpentine belts and can drive the alternator, power steering pump, water pump, A/C compressor, air pump etc using one wider drive belt.

Larger services will also include hydraulic fluid changes. Plus engine water/radiator fluid changes as talked about earlier and any other general maintenance required.

The car checks talked about will prove invaluable over time as will finding and sticking with a trusted mechanic/service center to carry out the necessary work required.