Recommended maintenance reduces repair costs

By Brian Klaubert and Brian Warbington

We continue to see people come in for expensive repairs that probably could have been avoided. Frequently they say they didn’t know what services they were really supposed to do on their car. The best source of information is usually right in your glove compartment – your owner’s manual. We will summarize the most common items below.

Change your oil every 3,000 miles. Your owner’s manual may say every 7,500 miles. If you wait for 7,500 miles on conventional motor oils, you will accumulate sludge inside the engine and begin experiencing problems at 70,000 miles or sooner.

Rotate your tires. Passenger cars can rotate the tires every other oil change. SUV’s and cars with expensive performance tires should really rotate them every oil change. Failure to rotate your tires leads to uneven wear. It can also lead to cupping or other abnormal wear patterns that cause excessive tire noise or incorrectable imbalance.  You should also balance your tires every other tire rotation or whenever you feel vibration above 50 mph.

The interval for front end alignment is quite variable, between different models and the condition of the roads you drive on. A good rule of thumb is every 12,000 miles, or if uneven wear is noticed at the time of tire rotation.

You should have your radiator and cooling system flushed at least every two years. The extended life coolant from the Asian and European manufacturers is very good, though about twice the cost of regular anti-freeze. American vehicles will do better with the traditional green coolant. GM owners should strongly consider using the green coolant after they are out of warranty rather than the GM recommended Dex Cool.

Vehicles with automatic transmissions should have the transmission flushed every 30,000 miles. This service is frequently overlooked because you will rarely experience a transmission problem before 70,000 miles. If, however, you never have your transmission flushed it will generally be beyond repair after 100-120,000 miles.

Vehicles with more than 70,000 miles frequently become difficult to start in cold weather. An “Air Induction Cleaning” will frequently improve cold start performance. This service is also one of the most driver perceptible services. Most vehicles will have renewed acceleration after this service. It also makes a dramatic improvement in vehicle emission levels – frequently cutting in half the pollutants emitted.

Brian Klaubert and Brian Warbington are with Christian Brothers Automotive on Braselton Hwy in Dacula.