The Ultimate Car Check Guide – Mercury Cars

 

The Ultimate ‘Car Check’ Guide

You should always be vigilant and check your car is working properly and make sure everything is safe. This doesn’t have to be done every day but should be undertaken every month perhaps. This ensures you keep on top of any repairs that may need completing. These may be anything from your tires needing replacing to having a full engine rebuild. So next time you’re planning a drive, be sure to perform these simple a car check!

Navigation

Chapter 1 – Engine Oil

Chapter 2: Wheels/Tires

Chapter 3: Lights

Chapter 4: Water & Antifreeze

Chapter 5: Spare Tyre

Chapter 6: Toolkit


Engine Oil

Oil is like the life blood of your engine and it needs taking care of. It will also give back to you with better fuel economy and a long running life. Engines burn oil naturally and as the vehicle gets older it will burn more oil. Before you go on a road trip you should take a few minutes to check the oil. When checking your oil you want to look out for two things, one of these is a colour change, if the oil is very dark, you know you’ll either need to change the oil soon or change it now (while you’re looking). The other thing you’re looking for is the level at which the oil is sitting, if you notice this is very low then you might as well top the oil up now, if this become a frequent occurrence then it might signal that you have a leak in the system somewhere, best take it to the garage if this is spotted. Use these resource and you’ll have your oil topped up and perfect in now time!

How To Check And Top-up Your Oil Level

How to Check Your Vehicle’s Oil Level

Why you should check your oil?

How Often Should You Check Your Engine’s Oil?


Wheels/Tyres

Your tyres are as important as anything else, you don’t notice them as much as they usually require much less maintenance than the rest of your car. But they too need checking every few weeks. When your tyres get worn from all the driving you do the tred on them starts to wear away, this reduces grip on the road, which in turn can reduce things like stopping distance, likelihood of picking up punctures and flat tyres & at high speeds (if very worn) the potential of the tyre bursting! But what exactly do we need to keep an eye out for? What does it matter? Well these resources will tell you everything you need to know!

Tyre Safety – Tread Depth

Tyres and the Law

Tyre Checking Timeline

Ten Tyre Care Tips

Why it pays to check your tyres

Taking Care Of Your Tyres

Tyres – Safety First


Lights

 

For obvious reasons your lights are important to the car, yourself and pedestrians! Without them, driving at night or in bad weather conditions would become even more difficult that it already is. Your lights are also a warning to other drivers of your intentions on the road, for example, you have break lights to signal you’re braking, if your brake lights didn’t work, you’d probably have a pileup! Here’s are a few resources to help you with your next car check!

Do you know the rules on your car lights?

How to Use Your Car Lights to Stay Safe and Legal

How To Check Your Lights

Car Care – Lights

Never Underestimate the Importance of Your Car’s Lights

Changing a Headlight


Water & Antifreeze

Your engine running during a long journey will cause a considerable amount of heat, this need to be solved with coolant, usually water. Yes, just your everyday tap water, is a great engine coolant used in most combustion engines, along with antifreeze, because well, it wouldn’t be very good at cooling the engine while frozen! The antifreeze stops the coolant freezing during those harsh winter months, so that when you start her up, the engine stays at the optimum temperature and stays running efficiently

Check Your Coolant Regularly

Car Care – Water

How to Check Water & Oil Levels

How to Put Water In a Car Radiator

How to Check a Vehicle’s Coolant/Antifreeze

Prevent Overheating


Spare Tyre

A spare tyre. Possibly one of the most useful things you could have in your car! Well, maybe. If you get a puncture, you’re stranded, with nothing to do but call out and pay for a tow to the nearest garage! We’ll not if you have your spare! You can pull over and simply change the wheel! It’s as simple as that! Here are some resources to help you next time you need to change!

Spare Tyres

Why You No Longer Get A Spare Tyre

Spare Tyres

How Long Can You Really Use A Spare Tyre?


Tool Kit

A toolkit, is a very very valuable thing to have in your car, a toolkit doesn;t even need to be used with your car! Perhaps, you need to unscrew something on your person while you’re out, toolkit. Perhaps you’re camping and need to use a knife of some kind but don’t have one, toolkit! A toolkit is for everything! But let’s make sure that before you pack it into the car, you have the essentials! These resources should show you what you need!

30 Essential Things You Should Keep in Your Car

5 Tools You Should Keep in Your Car

22 Tools You Should Keep in Your Car

The 9 Tools Every Man (And Woman) Should Have In Their Car

The 5 Most Common Tools You’ll Need for Home Auto Repair