Car Care Tips From Don Foshay’s Discount Tire & Alignment in Maine

Here are handy tips from Don Foshay that will help you extend the life of your vehicle, as well as its safety and performance. Keeping your car well maintained will prevent small items from becoming bigger and more expensive items to repair. Understand why and how tires wear, how to get more gas mileage, and when you should consider replacing your tires are all important. The time when things tend to go bad is of course when you need the car the most, so keep ahead. Proper maintenance will save you money, and time.

Car Maintenance and Care

• Change your fluids on time, every time.
• Change your oil every 3,000 miles for regular, 5,000 miles for synthetic oil
• Change antifreeze fluid every 30,000 miles.
• Change brake fluid every 30,000 miles.
• Change transmission fluid every 30,000 miles.
• Schedule a maintenance check every 15, 30, 60, and 90,000 miles.
• Replace your air filter every 12 months or 12,000 miles (whichever comes first).
• Replace your fuel filter every 2 years or 24,000 miles (whichever comes first).

Tire Maintenance and Care

• Rotate your tires every 5,000 miles or every 6 months.
• Check your tire pressures approximately once a week. Low tire pressures can affect fuel economy, handling and comfort. To accurately measure your tire pressure, check tires when they are cold. Wait at least three hours after driving.
• Always make sure that your wheels are properly aligned. Badly aligned wheels will again lead to dragging of the car on the road.
• Check your spare tire each month and keep it properly inflated so it¹s ready to go when you need it most.
• Use the penny trick to determine if the tread on your tires is worn to low. Take a penny and put Abraham Lincoln's head into one of the grooves of the tread. If part of his head is covered by the tread, you're ok. If you can see all of his head, it's time to replace the tire. When the tread is worn down to 1/16 of an inch, tires must be replaced.

Gas Mileage Tips

• Check and/or change your air filter every 6 months to improve fuel economy and keep your engine running smoothly.
• Don't top off. Don't bother topping off when filling your car's gas tank. Any additional gas is just going to slop around or seep out.
• Tighten up that gas cap. Gas will evaporate from your car's gas tank if it has an escape. Loose, missing or damaged gas caps cause 147 million gallons of gas to evaporate each year.
• Go for the shade. The hot summer sun that makes the inside of your car feel like a sauna also evaporates fuel from your gas tank.
• Use the right oil. You can improve your car's gas mileage by 1 percent to 2 percent by using the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil.
• Fill your tires with Nitrogen

And most important of all……

• Always check for potential problems before they happen.