As a vehicle owner, it is helpful to know a few quick fixes for taking care of your car. Being able to take care of the little things when they go wrong with your car can help you avoid bigger problems. It can also save you from having to go to the mechanic for simple issues you can take care of on your own, and reserve your mechanic time and money for when you really need some help.
1. Get Rid of the Fog in Your Headlights
Overtime, your headlights can become cloudy. When your headlights become cloudy, you don't have to replace the headlight, you can get rid of the fog. Instead, you can purchase a specially designed restoration kit. The kit will come with a special buffing material that you can use to remove the build-up on the headlights. A high-quality headlight restoration kit should also include UV Block Clear Coat to prevent your headlights from getting fogged up again.
2. Clean Your Battery Terminals
Your battery terminals should not have corrosion on them. This can happen though. If your battery terminals have corrosion on them, you are going to want to clean away the corrosion. To clean the battery, you are going to want to disconnect the battery. You may need to use a wrench to remove the terminals. You need to remove the negative terminal first before you use the positive terminal.
To get rid of the corrosion, mix baking soda with water so that you have a wet solution. Use a battery to apply the solution to the terminals and scrub away the corrosion. Use a cloth to remove the cleaning materials. Apply specially-formulated anticorrosion grease to the terminals before reconnecting them.
3. Change the Engine Air Filter
On most vehicles, the engine air filter is easy to remove. Your manual will let you know where the engine air filter is located. Generally, all you need to do is remove the screws holding the air filter in place or unclip the clips holding the air filter in place. Pull out the air filter and put a new filter in place. This will help your engine function more effectively. Your engine air filter should be removed if the filter is blocked more than 50% or looks really dirty.
4. Touch Up Your Paint
If you have a paint chip on your vehicle, you don't have to repaint the entire car. You can purchase touch-up paint, which is in a small bottle of paint that matches the paint on your vehicle. Use a fine tip paint application to paint and cover up the chip. This is an easy way to touch up light visual damage to your vehicle. You can then apply wax after a month to the touch-up to protect it.
These are just a few basic tricks you can use to fix up your vehicle. Never attempt a repair though that you don't feel comfortable doing. If you are not comfortable with a repair or don't know what is wrong with your vehicle, you are going to want to contact a company like Hillis 66 Service.
Share2 October 2018
After my car died and I was stranded on the freeway a few years back, I knew that I had to do what I could to avoid similar issues in the future. I began working hard to identify different issues with my car, so that I could prevent problems. I began working with a mechanic to get help, and he taught me a lot about going through my car and being able to evaluate different things that were problems. It was really interesting to explore the possibilities of different car failures, and before I knew it, I could tell when my car was struggling. Read more about the early signs of car trouble on my blog.