Caring for Your Engine's Cooling Fluids Yourself

Cars haven't become so advanced that owners can't do their part in maintaining the car themselves. Certain fixes will have to be taken to a mechanic, but others can be maintained by the operator of the vehicle.

Much of that maintenance comes down to the fluids in your vehicle. The following are a couple of important fluids that keep your engine cool, which you can watch over yourself.

Oil First up is your oil. Be sure to check that your oil levels are staying pretty steady between changes.

The best time to check is after the engine has fully warmed-up. Turn off the engine and give it five minutes to cool a bit before you reach for the dipstick.

When the five minutes are up, remove the dipstick, clean it with a lint-free cloth and replace it. Pull the stick out again and examine how high the oil came up.

Dipsticks come with a mark telling you when to add oil. If the oil comes short of that line, it's time to fill it up again.

Your oil is the bloodline of your car. Keep it properly filled and changed to ensure it has a longer lifespan.

Oil changes are a place that you can save money when you do them yourself as well. Stop spending $30 or more for a visit every three months when you can do it at home.

Your first time around will take some time, so you'll have to patiently learn the process. It will even cost you a few more dollars to purchase the right equipment to lift your vehicle and remove the old oil.

The more you do it though, the easier it will become and the cheaper it will be. Pretty soon you'll be rivaling the times of the people that do it every day for a living, for much less than they are charging you.

Learn to change your own oil and get into the habit of doing it every 3 months or so.

Anti-freeze Next, check your antifreeze levels fairly often. Antifreeze does two important things for your cooling system.

It drops the freezing point for your cooling water down to 40 below zero. Simultaneously, it raises the boiling point of that same water to well over 200 degrees.

Antifreeze prepares your cooling system to handle any heat your engine might put out, while keeping it from freezing in the bitterest temperatures. Few people will need a chemical stronger than anti-freeze.

Make sure you have enough in there to keep your cooling system doing what it's supposed to. All you have to do is remove the radiator cap from a cooled engine and checking its level.

The type of antifreeze you'll need is found in your owner's manual. Fill it up when it's low and that should be a pretty easy fluid to keep topped off.

When you keep your engine oil and antifreeze levels in check, you help ensure that your vehicle will run at cooler temperatures forever. The longer the engine stays cool, the better able it will be to take the abuse of years of use.

Just Insure It is reaching out to drivers to increase the life-span of their car by taking care of certain items at home. Although they provide car insurance to Weston residents to protect them from accidents, Weston car insurance can't be counted on to fix cars that break over time.

Watching out for your cooling fluids is an excellent way to extend the life of your vehicle. You'll become a better protector of your investment when you take an active interest in the maintenance.

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