Huwebes, Enero 25, 2018

10 Ways You’re Causing Premature Damage To Your Car

Crashing your car on that pole isn’t the only way to wreck your ride and spend thousands of dollars on car repair. You’d be surprised that sometimes even a seemingly simple mistake can drain your bank account. Here are some of those mistakes that you should definitely try to avoid.
Crashing your car on that pole isn’t the only way to wreck your ride and spend thousands of dollars on car repair. You’d be surprised that sometimes even a seemingly simple mistake can drain your bank account. Here are some of those mistakes that you should definitely try to avoid. 

1. Failing To Change Oil And Filters And Other Simple Maintenance
If you think you’re saving money by passing up on basic maintenance like oil and filter change, think again. Because what you refused to pay for now, means thousands of dollars in auto repair bills tomorrow due to major damage or malfunction. 

2. Driving On Bald Or Under/Over Inflated Tires
This means they shouldn’t be overinflated nor underinflated. Otherwise they’ll wear out faster than they typically should and will affect vehicle handling and fuel economy. To avoid this, check your owner’s manual for recommended tire pressure and always stick to that. It’s best to check your tires’ pressure at least once a month but do it more often if you always go on long trips or you carry heavy loads all the time.

We’re all guilty of this sometimes. It’s either we’re too busy or we simply assume it’s nothing serious. But this habit is actually the reason we get ambushed with major problems. If you listen to your car when it’s whispering, you won’t have to hear it scream. 

4. Driving On Fumes
When cars had carburetors, you could drive them until all the gas was gone, refuel, and drive again with no problem. However, cars nowadays are mostly fuel injected engines that rely on in-tank electric pumps that use the gas to cool and lubricate their components. With these kinds of cars, driving on fumes can lead to pump failure which can be a very costly repair.

5. Roaming Around With Burned-Out Lights
This may seem not as important but driving in the middle of the road with your horns or lights not working, or the signal transmission failing may lead to accidents and other problem. Do not take this for granted.

6. Attempting To Jump Start Without Knowing How
Putting jumper cables in your trunk doesn't mean you automatically know how to jump-start a car. If you don't use jumper cables properly, you can fry your car ... or yourself. Though the procedure is really simple, you should learn how to do it before you actually need to. Not standing on the side of the highway while reading this article on your phone. That's dangerous.

7. Haphazard Electric Work
You’d be wise to leave electrical repairs to the expert, except from replacing fuse or relay. Run-of-the-mill electrical repairs are so intricate that one mistake can make more things go haywire.

8. Sloppy Lube Job
Every latching, pivoting, suspension and locking component you find in your car needs to be lubricated. This is one important form of preventive maintenance that is often overlooked but should be a mandatory part of any routine service stop. Don’t wait until something is stuck and won’t budge because they’re already corroded.

9. Forgetting To Tighten The Oil Filter
It’s important to have the right size wrench to remove and replace your oil filter -- if the wrench wraps around the canister too loosely, it might feel like you're cranking hard without actually making any progress. If you switch filter types, your old wrench might not work anymore. Make sure you check the fit before you leave the parts counter.

10. Not Taking The Time To Inspect Your Car
Just do a run down once in a while, check how the tires, lights, is there any kind of strange sound when you drive it, or anything out of ordinary at all. Spotting irregularities early on could save your car from serious damage in the future and a lot of money on car repair. A noise or smell from your car may be trivial, but you should always get it checked out to be on the safe side.

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Top 9 Mistakes You’re Doing In Cleaning Your Car

Huwebes, Enero 18, 2018

Top 9 Mistakes You’re Doing In Cleaning Your Car

Sometimes, because people don’t know how to properly clean their cars, they end up damaging it. Remember that even if you do clean your car, it doesn’t count if you’re not doing it right.

Unclean car isn’t only unsightly but can also lead to unnecessary car repairs. While it’s easy to assume that this shouldn’t be an issue nowadays since there’s ample access to car polishing here in Singapore, a busy schedule and tight budget makes it more difficult.

On the other hand, just because you clean your car doesn’t mean you’re doing a good job  with it. Sometimes, because people don’t know how to properly clean their cars, they end up damaging it. Remember that even if you do clean your car, it doesn’t count if you’re not doing it right.

1. Using Dish washing Liquid As Cleaning Agent
You have to remember that your car is made of completely different materials than your dishes or clothes, etc. So don’t assume that the cleaners that you use to clean the rest of your house will also do with your car. Buy a car shampoo that works specifically well with getting stubborn dirt and grime off your paintwork without causing damage.

2. Using Abrasive Cloths
Always use microfiber cloths when cleaning your car. It only takes a rough towel or dirt on a towel to scratch your precious paint job. Do not risk it and make sure you’re always using clean microfiber cloth to wipe your car with.

3. Cleaning Under Direct Sunlight
If you think that cleaning your car under direct sunlight is a good idea because it will reduce drying time, think again. Yes it may help dry the car fast but it can also cause smears, water spots, and residue which are never a good idea for your car.

4. Removing Missed Patches With A Drying Cloth
It happens to the best of us: you rinse your car, only to find you’ve missed a bit. But, instead of reaching for the cleaning cloth (the recommended solution), you attack the spot with your drying cloth – a big no-no. By rubbing a mucky mark with a dry cloth, you’ll effectively work the dirt into the paint, or at the very least cause a stubborn swirl mark. Remember – never clean your car with a dry cloth.

5. Applying Products Directly To The Paintwork
The golden rule is to dilute and apply to cloth first. Dilute cleaning products to water and apply polishing products to cloth first. Don’t even think of cutting this process short by applying the products directly to the paintwork. The damage that over-applying of products may cause is not worth the seconds you may have saved on cleaning.

6. Thinking One Bucket Is Enough
Always use two buckets when cleaning your car, one for washing and one for rinsing. It just doesn’t make sense to use the same water filled with dirt and suds to rinse the car.

7. Cleaning The Wheels Last
Just because your wheels are at the bottom part of your vehicle doesn’t mean it should be the last part to be washed. If you do, you will end up splashing dirt and suds back into an already cleaned part which you’ll have to clean again.

Majority of people loves a shiny car. This is why it’s easy to get carried away with waxing. However, any more than 2 coats of wax can lead to over-buffing and removing earlier coats. This then not only waste time and effort on waxing, but can also risk damage on the paint you’re supposed to be applying protection to.

9. Skipping Towel Drying
Although it’s not always necessary to towel dry your motor, if you’re going to do it, at least use the right towel. Unless you want to scratch the paintwork, never use a standard household towel, or a chamois for that matter. Instead, use a dry microfiber cloth to quickly remove excess moisture.

Car repairs don’t come cheap. Actually they can really be hefty especially if it’s been awhile since your last maintenance and its condition is quite bad already. Take car re-painting for instance, when your paint gets damaged, you can’t just fix the damaged part, you have to repaint the entire car. If you don’t like to spend a huge amount of money trying to fix your car’s paint, better pay attention to this. They may seem nothing but could lead to serious damage in your vehicle if not taken care of.

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