May 29, 2011. Paul Hixon
Most people are only too familiar with what it feels like to be short on cash, more so now than ever. When it can save a little bit of money is to do your own car maintenance.
Cars can be a huge expense, usually the biggest expense household has after paying its mortgage. But this reason if you can look after your car yourself and save some money on servicing costs then it can all add up. This is especially true as taking good care of your vehicle and its systems can prevent costly maintenance. An ideal example of that is your car’s engine oil.
Check your oil level frequently. If you have to change engine oil then do it yourself. It’s quite a straightforward job to do annoy many articles describing in detail how to do it. One thing is for sure, do not be tempted to compromise on the quality of engine oil you use. Always choose the best engine oil you can afford.
One good skill to have is knowing how to stop oil leaks. There are several different kinds of oil leak. Internal oil leaks occur when oil seeps into the combustion chamber. This causes the smoke coming from the exhaust to turn blue. Sadly, there is not much you can do about this as it is a major mechanical repair requiring you to strip the engine right back to replace the head gasket.
However, for external leaks if you can source the problem by carefully cleaning and inspecting beneath the car (sometimes spraying talcum under the car can help trace the path) then even if you are not able to fix the leak yourself you can save the mechanic time, and therefore money, by telling him exactly where the leak is occurring. If it saves the mechanic half an hour then you’ve saved yourself a good few dollars.
Updated May 29, 2011. Published February 1, 2011. Paul Hixon
