Like the subject says, what are some of the easier/smaller maintenance issues we often overlook but shouldn't?
easy maintenance often overlooked
- Thread starter lobo11
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I measure the alternator voltage at each tune-up in addition to checking the electrolyte level.
Lubricate the door pins once a year. That's why they sag or loose alignment.
eyeball your fluid levels and also pull the dipstick to check for oil level every weekend.
Also check your tire pressure and look for any sharp objects lodged.
Also check your tire pressure and look for any sharp objects lodged.
I think changing the power steering fluid is something I have neglected in the past. Some use a turkey baster, but I found that my oil sample vacuum and an old sample bottle work better for me. Way too easy.
How about flushing the brake lines?
How about flushing the brake lines?
Since neither my truck or car uses much oil, I get sloppy about remembering to check them. Tires too.
Testing/surveys what-have-you show that the cooling system is the one most likely to be ignored, followed by tires.
An easy item not often enough recommmended is to replace all exterior lamps. They wear down before they wear out. Cheap and easy.
An easy item not often enough recommmended is to replace all exterior lamps. They wear down before they wear out. Cheap and easy.
Pull electrical connectors off and make sure there's grease in the terminals.
You can actually induce wear by over maintaining a vehicle. Other than the serivce items called out in the maintenacne schedule, anything else runs the risk owner induced faults. Many subassemblies like electrical connectors are only designed for so many cycles of off and on before something will break.
If it is not broke, do not screw with it.
Hootbro
If it is not broke, do not screw with it.
Hootbro
Generally, you only need to unplug a connector once to make sure there's grease in it. Once applied, it stays. If unsure about how to do it, or that you can get it off without breaking it, then don't mess with it.
On the other hand, if (for example) it's a wiper motor connection that obviously isn't sealed, and it's pretty obvious how to unplug it, then there's no problem with checking it and applying grease if there is none (often there isn't, they didn't always apply it at the factory).
The grease will prevent corrosion which will prevent you from having to disconnect that connector a second time...possibly to replace it if the corrosion is really bad.
On the other hand, if (for example) it's a wiper motor connection that obviously isn't sealed, and it's pretty obvious how to unplug it, then there's no problem with checking it and applying grease if there is none (often there isn't, they didn't always apply it at the factory).
The grease will prevent corrosion which will prevent you from having to disconnect that connector a second time...possibly to replace it if the corrosion is really bad.
I prefer to maintain things so that they don't break.
Cleaning the EGR valve,remove bolts and clean ground connections,changing power steering fluid(I made a end fitting using 3/8" I.D air hose for my old shop vac and suck it out)underbody wash after winter to remove salt and road chemicals,remove wheels and clean brake dust out of drums,oil undercoat,check air pressure,check ends of vac lines for cracks.
Along those lines is greasing the battery terminals and assorted grounding wires.
1. This might be a little obscure. Pull your wiper arms off their splines and apply some antisieze. Reinstall wiper arms.
I'm currently having to take extreme measures because my wiper arms are basically welded by corrosion onto the splines. 5 minutes 5 years ago with some antisieze would have prevented all this.
2. If your car has aluminum cylinder heads and has platinum (long life) plugs that only require replacement every 60 - 100k miles.....remove and install antisieze on the plugs at least every 30K miles.
By the time you reach 60-100k miles, there is a very good chance the spark plug threads will be galled, and will strip out the threads in the aluminum heads. Ask a corvette owner about it.
I'm currently having to take extreme measures because my wiper arms are basically welded by corrosion onto the splines. 5 minutes 5 years ago with some antisieze would have prevented all this.
2. If your car has aluminum cylinder heads and has platinum (long life) plugs that only require replacement every 60 - 100k miles.....remove and install antisieze on the plugs at least every 30K miles.
By the time you reach 60-100k miles, there is a very good chance the spark plug threads will be galled, and will strip out the threads in the aluminum heads. Ask a corvette owner about it.
Kestas
Staff member
Jim, you can take this thought even further. On some new cars (for the family, when we used to keep cars a long time) I used to spend a couple evenings undoing as many fasteners as I could reach and adding neversieze to the threads... especially on the exhaust system (pipes, manifold, egr system). This can potentially save many hours later on when undoing fasteners during repair on a car that is driven in the salt.
I personally disagrees with the application of anti-seize on spark plug threads, citing a few incidents in the past (I served a couple of import dealerships before) that home DIYers applied too much anti-seize with lead in it, thus damaging O2 sensor(s) down the road.
To properly prevent galling of spark plugs esp. platinum or iridium, you shall always consider pulling the plugs every 30k kms interval so as to break free of the combustion deposits trapped within the threads.
Also: a properly applied, torqued spark plugs rarely seized up inside an alu head. The only time I see this happening would be x-threading and improper torqueing of spark plugs. Last but not least: leaving your long-life plugs inside alu heads for too long, no matter how you look at it, will seize up on you due to the deposits trapped between the spark plug threads over time. Anti-seize cannot guarantee that you will be able to break free from those deposits though...
To properly prevent galling of spark plugs esp. platinum or iridium, you shall always consider pulling the plugs every 30k kms interval so as to break free of the combustion deposits trapped within the threads.
Also: a properly applied, torqued spark plugs rarely seized up inside an alu head. The only time I see this happening would be x-threading and improper torqueing of spark plugs. Last but not least: leaving your long-life plugs inside alu heads for too long, no matter how you look at it, will seize up on you due to the deposits trapped between the spark plug threads over time. Anti-seize cannot guarantee that you will be able to break free from those deposits though...
I vote for a little anti-seize on the spark plug threads.
I've seen a lot of damaged aluminum threads, but never when a thread lubricant is used.
I've seen a lot of damaged aluminum threads, but never when a thread lubricant is used.
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