Automotive Maintenance Tips: 10 Things You Should Know How to Do Yourself

You love your car and want to keep it traveling on the roads for a long time to come. Obviously, maintaining a good automotive maintenance schedule is important to extending the life of your car. But you don’t need a professional to do all the maintenance. There are several simple things you can do yourself. We at Don Franklin Auto like to share useful automotive maintenance tips with our customers. So, let’s talk about things you can do yourself to keep your car running in great shape.

10 DIY Tasks to Include on Your Automotive Maintenance Schedule

• Keep your tires properly inflated.

Most gas stations have machines that can inflate your tires. Even portable air compressors that plug into your car’s power outlet can be found pretty cheaply. Learn how to find the correct psi for your tires and how to read a tire gauge, and you’re good to go!

• Check the tread of your tires on a regular basis.

Your tires wear down over time, so checking the tread is essential. You don’t want to be stranded somewhere because of a flat tire. Speaking of which…

• Change a flat tire.

Everyone who drives should know how to do this.

• Check your oil.

The dipstick is easy to find on most cars, and reading it is usually pretty intuitive. Of course, if your car needs its oil to be filled repeatedly between oil changes, take it in to be serviced.

• Change your air filter.

Changing the air filter on most cars is often the easiest task that can be done under the hood.

• Fill your windshield wiping fluid.

This is as simple as removing a cap and pouring in the fluid.

• Change your windshield wiper blades.

The blades are sold at most large retail stores.

• Change headlights, brake lights, and signal lights as needed.

This one is probably the DIY automotive maintenance tip that requires the most skill. Depending on the make of your car, this can sometimes be tricky to figure out. But once you figure it out, it’s quite easy.

• Check your engine coolant.

Note: NEVER open your radiator cap while the engine is hot.

• Change the battery.

This is pretty simple on most cars. But if your car is still under warranty, you should make sure that taking care of this yourself won’t void your warranty.

Schedule Service at Don Franklin Auto Today

You don’t need to try to do everything yourself. Trust the experienced technicians at Don Franklin Auto to help you with your automotive maintenance schedule. We have convenient locations throughout Kentucky, so contact our service department today. While you’re here, check out our inventory of new vehicles. And if you liked this article, check out our other service tips and tricks. We can show you how to fix dents and scratches as well.