16051 Deerfield Pkwy., Prairie
View, IL. 60069
CAR CARE MANUAL
The
following is a Car Care Manual to help you understand some of the regular
maintenance services that are necessary to keep your investment (vehicle)
safe and running dependably for many miles.
If maintained properly, most automobiles built today will run well over
100,000 miles with very few problems.
But it is hard for the layperson to know what the proper the maintenance
schedule is. Your owner’s manual says
one thing, yet George, the guy next door says another. Who do you believe? Even if you trust the owner’s manual, it
makes vague and misleading statements like: “up to 22,500 miles”. Kind of vague, since 15,000 miles and 22,498 miles are both in the
range of “up to 22,500 miles”. It
gets worse as you
read: “Maintenance intervals may vary under severe service conditions.” What the heck is severe service? Most people don’t realize that: Grandma Millecent, driving her car 3 miles,
3 times a week to Church meetings is much more severe service than Leadfoot
Harry, cruising 80 Mph on the freeway while late to his sales meeting. Mother Margaret can put more wear and tear
on her car when running 5 blocks to the White Hen, than her 16-year-old Son does
while cruising chicks for 2 hours on Saturday night. We need to clear up some of these mysteries, if you are going to be
able to maintain your car properly.
Parts
of the following text may occasionally sound like techno-babble, but keep in
mind that this information may save you thousands of dollars in a very few
years. Cars and trucks are probably not
going to get any cheaper, so unless you can afford to throw them away after
36,000 miles, this is going to be very valuable reading.
Definitions:
Lets take a minute
to go over these definitions of vehicle usage.
Normal Service:
All
outside air temperatures are above 50 degrees and below 80 degrees. All or most trips in the vehicle are 10
miles or longer. No stop and go
traffic. No operation in dusty or salty
areas. Acceleration rate is “normal”
and no trailer is being towed. Those of
you who live in Hawaii and commute daily to either side of the Island, can
follow the recommendations of Normal Service Intervals. All others should read on.
Hard/Severe Service:
Read
the small print in the owner’s manuals:
“Vehicles operated in temperatures below freezing or above 80
degrees. Frequent trips of less than 10
miles at a time. Traveling in dusty or
salty roads. Operation in stop and go
traffic, and/or hard acceleration and/or trailer towing.” I think you will agree that most of us live in this world.
Well,
yes and no. (Shall we dance?). Most of
the world falls into the “Hard Service” category. By putting the “normal service” category in big print, the Auto
Manufacturers’ marketing departments get to post double the intervals on the
service recommendations. Why do
that? Because it looks better on the
bottom of the window sticker where the projected annual maintenance and
operating costs are posted. As long as
one manufacturer does it, they all probably will. Read the fine print in your owner’s manual, and you will usually
confirm that you are in the hard or severe service category. If you live in the world of severe service,
and follow the “easy service” recommendations, the manufacturer can turn you
down for warranty work during the warranty period. If you have purchased an after-market extended warrantee, the
warrantee company can and will turn down your warranty, if the proper service
levels have not been maintained for your area.
Why
not? Everyone else does! Seriously, we are discussing a condition
that occurs with anyone who lives close to work, takes the train, or for any
reason drives largely in short trips.
Lets compare this vehicle’s first trip of the day to you getting up in the
morning. When you first start your car
on a cold morning, it is not real happy to get moving. It may be a little cold, stiff, and even
cranky. Even a mild 50 degrees ambient
temperature is cold to an engine that is designed to run at a normal
temperature of 200 to 220 degrees. Start
out at 20 degrees below 0, and things really get stiff. To get it fired up, your engine receives
extra fuel from the fuel system (like you waking up with a cup of strong black
coffee) and some extra ignition timing (a little morning music) to get it going. That helps the situation, but some
components of the vehicle are still not very happy.
Various parts of the engine and driveline have accumulated moisture (a
little morning stiffness) and condensation left over from the last time it ran
(water is a natural byproduct of the engine’s combustion process, and
accumulates everywhere). Under “Normal”
conditions, that’s O.K. The designers
of these cars know that the engines will load up with extra fuel and moisture when
they are cold. They know, that after
the car has been driven for a while, the normal leaner fuel mixture of a warm
engine is going to burn out the residue left by that rich initial warm up
period. The engine and drive line will
also get hot enough to boil out the excess moisture. BUT, what if your car is not driven long enough each time to
complete this cleanup process? What if
you got up every morning, gulped a couple of cups of strong coffee, took a
shower (without drying off), walked out to the driveway for the newspaper, and
then went right back to bed? Now
imagine doing that every day for months on end. You’d be coffee’d to death, have an ulcer, and look like a
prune. That’s a lot like how your car
feels after months and years of short trips.
Change driving habits.
If
you own two cars, and one of them usually goes farther than the other, your
drivers should trade cars once in a while.
Let the long distance driver drive the short trip car and stretch it’s
legs occasionally. It’s sort of like
rotating tires. If you only have one
car, take it out occasionally for a longer cruise and exercise run. An hour cruise will save much more in repair
expense than it will cost in gasoline.
You also must increase the frequency of your maintenance. This is not an either/or situation. You must both exercise AND watch your diet!
What follows is a good set of maintenance recommendations for most of us in this
area and environment.
Recommended Maintenance Intervals.
Oil Change and Lubrication 3 months or 3,000 miles (which ever comes first)
Front C.V. Boots
Inspect
@ 3,000 miles
Front Suspension and Steering Inspect @ 10,000 miles
Shocks or Strut Check Check every 10,000 miles.
Coolant Flush
2
years.
Tune Ups
24
months or 30,000 miles (with exception of long life plugs)
Transmission Service 30,000
miles
Brake Check 35,000 miles RWD, 20,000 miles FWD.
Brake
fluid
flush
2 years
Wheel Bearing Repack 3 years or 40,000 miles
Belts and Hoses
5
years or 50,000 miles or as necessary
Differential Oil Change 60,000 miles
Timing Belt Replacement Replace @ 60,000 miles (most
vehicles)
Reasons for specific service intervals.
Oil Changes
Why
do we constantly push the need for frequent oil changes? This is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT and
CHEAPEST maintenance you can do for your car.
Your oil is the medium in which your engine operates. It is the life’s blood of your engine. Engine oil cools the engine by nature of its
circulation. Oil operates internal
hydraulic engine devices at pressures of over 100 P.S.I. Oil cushions the major engine bearings under
pressures of over 1000 P.S.I. Oil
lubricates and separates metal from metal at gaps measured in tolerances
of .0005”. Your oil flushes and cleans vital engine parts and holds the dirt
in suspension, until it is changed.
Additives in the oil counteract the acids formed as the byproducts of
the combustion process (carbonic acid and sulfuric acid). More additives help the oil flow freely when
cold (when it wants to flow like molasses), and maintain viscosity (thickness)
when hot. Anti-foaming agents keep the
oil from foaming and developing destructive air pockets. Additives account for 20% of the oil by
volume. Finally, your oil must perform
all these duties at temperatures ranging from -30o F to over 5000o F. That’s not asking too much, is it?
Contrary
to popular belief, most engines manufactured today will operate free of
internal problems for well over 100,000 miles if its life’s blood is kept clean
and fresh. If not, you can do serious
(translate: expensive) damage to your engine in as little as 15,000 miles. We have seen it happen all too often! It’s the old “ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure.” New cars aren’t getting
any cheaper. If you do this now, you
will thank yourself 50,000 to 100,000 miles from now.
How often?
A
Lube, Oil and Filter change should be done every 3000 miles or 3 months,
whichever comes first. The less driving
you do, the more severe the wear on the engine and the oil. During short trips, the acids and
condensations that form are never burned off, leaving them free to attack your
oil and engine parts. Longer intervals
allow the dirt to build up and form sludge.
This sludge blocks the path of the oil to the necessary lubrication
points. There are no second chances,
once those deposits are formed; there is no really effective way of cleaning
them out, short of an expensive engine overhaul. High oil consumption with frequent adding of oil is not a valid
substitute for oil changes.
What kind?
Most
of your major brands conform to stringent specifications set down by the S.A.E.
(Society of Automotive Engineers). We
do not advocate the use of Graphite or synthetic oils unless specifically called
for by the manufacturer for your model. While the synthetic oil itself can withstand
the abuse of an engine longer than regular oils, you must remember what we said
about additives and cleaning. Extended
oil change intervals do not replenish the additives and do not remove the dirt
that accumulates in every engine. Since
regular oils are more than up to the task when changed frequently, we feel
synthetic oils, unless called for, are a waste of money.
However, we have them available if you insist. (There are rare specific occurrences of special high performance
applications that ask for this special oil.
If the manufacturer calls for these oils, then they should indeed be
used.)
What weight?
We
normally follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. On older engines with more wear, we sometimes go heavier in
weight. Most often these cars call for for 10W30 or 5W30, with some newer
models calling for 5W20.
Additives?
As
part of normal maintenance, the additives already contained in the oil are up
to the task at hand. Any more money
spent in additives is usually a waste. There
are some one-time durability treatments we can recommend and, in rare problem
solving situations, we will recommend a special additive. Other than these special situations, we do
not recommend the regular use of additional additives.
Summary
People
say, “They just don’t build cars like they used to.” Mechanics agree that people are not maintaining their cars like
they used to. As soon as we open an
engine up, we can tell how frequent the oil changes have been, and we see very
few clean engines. Of course, that
could be because we rarely have to open up the clean ones.
Tune Ups?
New
engines are a lot harder on the tune-ups than the older engines were. New engines are a lot easier on tune-ups
than the older engines were. “Well,
which is it?” you ask? Both!? Newer engines are smaller, run hotter, and
run closer to their design limits than the engines of past. On the other hand, with unleaded fuels,
increasingly more powerful ignition systems, and computerized
control of fuel and emission systems, deposits building up inside the new
engines are much less. This is not to
say that modern engines are maintenance free!
First we will discuss the heart of the tune up, the spark plugs. In 30,000 miles, an average engine can fire
each spark plug 50 million times or more.
These plugs operate in temperatures ranging from -300 to 40000
F. and under pressures exceeding 5000 PSI..
These guys live in a tough neighborhood! By 30,000 miles, standard plugs are getting tired and worn. You might say: “my car still runs fine”, but
are you sure? The average driver is
unlikely to notice a 10% to 15% decrease in performance while driving,
especially when that loss comes gradually over a period of 30,000 miles. Even a trained professional is unlikely to
notice a gradual increase of 10% more gas pedal to cruise at 55 MPH. Meanwhile, the computer system is bending
over backwards to compensate for the poorly running engine. If the lack of pep doesn’t bother you, a 15%
loss in gas mileage can get pretty expensive at today’s gasoline prices. If the extra gas money doesn’t bother you,
how about where all that extra gas is going?
Some of it is going out the exhaust pipe as pollution. Even if you don’t care about the
environment, there is the not so little matter of increased carbon deposits,
from partially burned gasoline in the cylinders. These deposits shorten the life of your engine and can force you
have to use premium fuel (at +$.30/gal. more) to stop that annoying pinging
sound your engine makes when accelerating or climbing hills (which, by the way,
is trying to eat a hole in your pistons).
If all that doesn’t bother you, being stuck in the cold wet dark parking lot with a car that doesn’t
start probably will. Some of today's vehicles are equipped with platinum
and double platinum tip plugs that resist wear and can last 60,000 or 100,000
miles. However, be carefull about going over 5 years on those 100,000 mile
plugs, since they often will not want to come out.
How
about the timing? Some cars still require
periodic ignition timing adjustment.
Timing chain or belt stretch can retard the timing as much as 10
degrees. A loss of 10 degrees timing
can affect efficiency by a factor of 30% or more. We have to reset the timing on ¾ of the cars we tune (excepting
those cars with crankshaft sensor computer timing). Some of these cars requiring adjustment had just come out of a
$49.95 tune up elsewhere, (where the price is not enough to justify setting the
timing, using a procedure that can take up to ½ hour).
How often?
Every
30,000 miles or 2 years, whichever comes first. Again, short trips are harder in some ways than long drives. 10,000 highway miles can be easier on an
engine than 4,000 city miles.
Enough
of facts and figures, let’s run through a recommended tune up checklist with
some comments.
Tune up Checklist:
Spark Plugs
See
explanation above.
Points and condenser
Pre
electronic ignition (pre 1975) cars need
these every 10,000 to 12,000 miles.
Vacuum Lines
Check
for heat cracked, loose, collapsed,
or brittle vacuum lines.
Air Filter
Replace
if dirty, causes engine to run rich.
Fuel Filter
Ever
known of someone stuck on the road
with a clogged fuel filter? Also, leading
cause of failed fuel pumps costing up to
$600
PCV Breather
Important to
keep the inside of the engine
clean.
PCV Valve
If
Dirty, a leading cause of oil consumption
and leaking gaskets or seals.
Check and Adjust:
Ignition Timing
See
above.
Idle Fuel Mixture
Affects idle quality,
emissions, and gas
mileage if adjustable.
Idle Speed
Too
low can cause stalling; too high can
cause poor mileage, brake and excessive
transmission wear.
Choke and Choke Pull
off
A
leading cause stalling, rough cold starts,
black smoke when cold, and poor gas
mileage.
Inspect and Test:
Distributor
Cap
Source
of rough running or no start.
Distributor Rotor
A
leading cause of no start.
Ignition Wires
Causes
engine miss, bucking, surging, and
No starts.
E.G.R. Valve
Leading
cause of pinging and need for
premium gas.
Belts
Check
for cracking and tension, ever been
left on road by a broken belt?
Hoses
Check
for cracking, brittleness or
ballooning and leaks.
Battery
We
still have to check the water and
terminals.
Engine Oil
Low
oil can mean the worst possible
disaster.
Engine Coolant
Poor
protection can leave you on the side
of the road with freeze up in the winter or
boil over in the summer.
Power Steering Fluid
Low
fluid can ruin an expensive P.S. pump.
Brake Fluid
A
loss of brakes can result in a personal
tragedy.
Automatic Transmission
Fluid Low
fluid can ruin an expensive
transmission (getting more so every year).
W/S Washer Fluid
You can’t drive safely if
you can’t see.
Emissions Tests?
These
tests serve more than just the environment.
We repair many cars that have failed the emissions test. In 90% of these cars, we make repairs that
greatly improve gas mileage and reliability in the bargain.
Gone
are the days of temperamental and touchy cars.
Almost any car built after 1975 should start readily, and be fully
drivable after a 30 second to 1 minute warm-up, in any weather down to 0
degrees. If your car doesn’t perform
in these conditions, then it
probably has a malfunction that can be corrected. Sometimes these problems relate to tune up, sometimes they
don’t. If you have a special
drivability problem, don’t assume that a tune up will fix it. Alert us to the problem when you bring in
the car. You will save the mechanic’s
time, and your money.
Check Belts and Hoses:
There are many “experts”
that feel belts and hoses should be replaced every 50,000 miles. However, we tend to subscribe to the
principle: “if it ain’t broke, don’t
fix it”. We have seen some belts that
need changing at 20,000 miles, and have seen other belts that are fine at
60,000 miles. The same applies to the
hoses. The key is to make sure that
they are inspected regularly. There is
no substitute for a hands on inspection.
Regular inspection, every 3,000 miles, is the best deterrent to getting
stuck on the side of the road with the hood open.
Battery inspection:
Inspection of the
terminals and fluid level is important.
I know many of you think that batteries today are “maintenance
free”. That was the trend for a while,
but is not generally true today. Most
of today’s batteries do need a level check and can be refilled. A good time to do this is during every tune
up. Cleaning of terminals, as
necessary, is part of this inspection.
Transmission Service
Newer
transmissions are more complex, more expensive, and more delicate than they
used to be. Overdrive, extra gears, and
locking converters have been added to increase gas mileage and overcome smaller
engine sizes. However, these units must
be made lighter and smaller to reduce weight and fit in the smaller chassis’ of
downsized cars. Durability has suffered
in many cases. Yet these units can
still provide long service if maintained properly. The leading cause of transmission failure is old transmission
oil. Changing the transmission fluid is
one of those services that is often forgotten because of the long interval
between changes (30,000 miles).
Unfortunately, forgetting this service in today’s age can cost you a lot
of money. The price of rebuilding many
of these more complex units can run up to $2,500, or more So, what can you do to prevent this? First: avoid transmission-overheating
situations. Your trans. fluid wants to
run between 175 to 195 degrees. Towing
a trailer, driving in the mountains on a hot day, or running with low
transmission fluid, will each cause overheating. A 20-degree rise in temperature cuts your transmission life by
50%. If your transmission sees
heavy-duty service, a transmission cooler and/or more frequent changes may be
in order. If you have any questions as
to how severe your service is, call us for advice. Second: keep your engine in a good state of tune. What does the engine have to do with it? Transmission shift patterns are controlled
by some engine functions. I have seen
many a transmission destroyed by the sliding shift induced by a poor running
engine. Last, but not least, change the
fluid when necessary. Some manufacturers recommend 30,000 mile intervals,
some longer, but these are average recommendations. Have the fluid checked
frequently and change it when it starts to get dirty. In
some cases
this involves removing the transmission pan, changing the internal filter, and
replacing the pan gasket, but this method only changes half the fluid.
In most cases we recommend a total total transmission fluid flush.
Cooling System Flush:
Today,
more than ever, the cooling system flush is an important part of your regular
maintenance. Most cooling systems need
to be flushed every 2 to 3 years. Some types
of coolant are designed to last longer. Coolant is a fluid that deteriorates more with age than mileage. With the abundant use of aluminum next to
steel and iron in today’s engine, it becomes much more important to maintain a
fresh supply of corrosion inhibitors in the cooling system. Coolant will also turn acidic and start to eat away
at hoses and rubber seals. Most of you know that if the antifreeze
concentration is not right in the winter, it can freeze and ruin your engine. Many people don’t realize that the
concentration of coolant is just as important in the summer. Engines today run normally at 1900
to 2200 F, sometimes up to 2400 in severe conditions. Our
science teachers taught us that water boils at 2120. The proper 50/50 mixture of antifreeze
raises that boiling point to 2400.
The 15 psi pressure of a properly sealed cooling system raises that
boiling point to about 2600, a thin and necessary safety
margin. The bottom line is that the coolant
should be tested periodically for protection level, cleanliness, and acidity,
and then flushed when necessary.
Brake Inspection:
It’s
very simple; “If your car doesn’t
start, you call a tow truck; if it doesn’t stop, you call an ambulance!” You need to have your brakes done by someone
who knows what they are doing. This is
not the time to experiment on your own.
Safety is the #1 priority. The
second consideration is expense. Worn
brakes is one failure that frequently doubles or triples in expense, when
driven “just a little bit too long".
Unfortunately this is also one area of repair that is least predictable
from a regular maintenance standpoint.
There are a few models of cars that normally go through front brakes
every 15,000 miles. Other cars, driven
primarily on the expressways, can go as long as 70,000 or 80,000 miles. A loose average would be about 40,000 miles. So what do you do? A good rule of thumb is to check the brakes at every tire
rotation @ 10,000 miles. At that time, we can
check the percentage of brake wear relative to your mileage, and establish a
wear pattern.
Just
because we stress the need for careful attention to maximum safety, does not mean
that we advocate throwing every dollar you own at the brake system. There are chain stores that make their
fortunes by taking advantage of your concern in this area. Years of experience tell us that it is not
necessary to replace or overhaul every component in the braking system at every
brake job. A thorough inspection of the
braking system will usually reveal those components that need to be
replaced. Calipers and wheel cylinders
do not normally need to be replaced at every brake job. Careful attention and regular inspections
will keep your car safe for you and your family.
CV Boot Inspection:
With
the majority of cars today being front wheel drive; we have to learn some new
buzzwords. All front wheel drive cars
have front drive axles. These axles
must be able to flex and still transmit the driving force to the front
wheels. This flexible transmission of
power is performed by the CV (Constant Velocity) joint. The CV joint is a more precise and complex U
joint. These CV joints are packed in special
grease and encased in a rubber boot.
Over the years, the flexing of that boot can force it to crack or
tear. A torn boot lets the grease out,
and water and dirt in. If the boot is
not replaced, the CV joint can be ruined.
Since these CV joints can run $200 to $350 each, it is a good idea to
catch this failure early. CV boot
inspection should be done at every Lube, Oil, and Filter (i.e.. every 3000
miles)
Shocks and Struts:
We
are about to enter the twilight zone of auto repair sales. This is probably one of the most abused
areas of unnecessary sales in your
automobile or truck. Shocks do not
determine ride height; they determine ride control and quality. When shocks are leaking oil, they need to be
replaced. They can also be bad without
leaking oil. There is no specific time
or distance for regular shock or strut replacement. If the vehicle starts to float and wallow (like a boat on the
waves), or bumps feel too harsh, it is likely time to replace the shocks. Struts are shocks that do double duty as
part of the suspension. A Strut
normally takes the place of the shock, upper control arm, upper ball joint, and
spring housing. The result of this
design is less weight and more precise control. Unfortunately, the counterpoint is that it requires more
disassembly (translate more labor dollars) to replace, and more expensive
parts. We have seen bad shocks and
struts as early as 20,000 miles, and shocks still functional at 80,000 miles. Some cars are designed to ride soft, while
others are designed to ride stiffer.
Listen to a trusted mechanic, and/or the seat of your pants to determine
if your shocks/struts are failing. Poor
ride control is not only a comfort concern.
Ride control also determines how the vehicle will behave during sudden
stops or changes of direction. This
makes it a safety concern as well.
Suspension and Springs:
Springs
control ride height. Weak or broken
springs can affect the level and overall height of the suspension. If springs are weak and level ride height is
disturbed, the angle of certain suspension components and alignment can
change. We feel that springs are sold
more often than necessary. A trusted
mechanic should examine them whenever a question of ride height arises. On the other hand, other front suspension
components such as ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arms, etc. are not examined
often enough. These parts must be
greased on a regular basis (if so equipped with lube fittings), and inspected. Many of these parts are of a ball and socket
design. When the socket becomes worn,
the ball can pop out of the socket and separate. If any of these components wear out and break, complete loss of
control can result. Many of these
components can be inspected easily during a lube job. Some ball joints require special procedures to unload the
suspension in order to check for play.
Timing Belts:
Timing belts connect and synchronize the upper half of your engine (where the valves move up and down) with the bottom half of your engine (where the pistons move up and down). Timing belts are a lighter, cheaper, quieter version of the timing chain, and commonly used on most vehicles today. This belt is hidden behind covers that are behind your "fan belts". They cannot be easily inspected and wear more structurally than on the surface of the belt. There are specific recommendations for each model, ranging from every 60,000 to 105,000 miles. Because the interval is so long, they are often forgotten. Unfortunately, on some models (interference engines), they can often cause much more expensive damage when they break and allow pistons to hit valves. If you are in doubt, you can call us to look up the interval for your year and model, and/or if your engine is an "interference engine".
Summary:
We are not trying to dip
into your checkbook more often. When
you doctor suggests a regular check up on your child, he is not trying to get
your money, he is promoting good health.
There is plenty of repair work to be done, without having to make any up. With all of the confusion, variations, and
complexities involved in car maintenance, your most important step is to take
advantage of what we have have always offered our customers in the past: a good friendly relationship of
trust between the mechanic and the car owner.
That means that you get the good service and honest recommendations you need at a fair
price. You get a good value for your service dollar and
we get to sleep nights. The
recommendations above are arrived at through years of repairing the
cars that have not followed these maintenance schedules. Proper maintenance will greatly reduce the
chances of those sudden and expensive catastrophes. It will also keep your car more dependable for you and your
family.
