Undertaking a road trip car maintenance helps you to avoid breakdowns in places that you’re new to.
Because often times, most people take road trips to places they haven’t visited before.
Before you hit the road for a long trip, you need a road trip car maintenance checklist.
So that you don’t miss out on important areas that could cause time wastage when the car breaks down.
It is wise to make sure that your car qualifies to take on the mileage for a continuous amount of time.
There are a lot of unseen scenarios that could happen on the road.
Even if everything is in place, remember that things tend to breakdown.
Hence the reason you should include emergency preparations on your road trip car maintenance checklist.
Below we will go through a short list of what you need to look into before driving off to a fun time.
Engine Oil.
An Engine oil check constitutes of removing the dipstick and looking at the oil levels and the oil’s color.
Simply doing this will ensure that the engine’s moving parts are well lubricated.
First, before going under the hood, start the car and let the engine run for some minutes.
This allows the engine to circulate the present oil.
Then you can check under the hood to get the correct amount of oil that remains in the reserve for the engine to use.
There are many different types of engine oil.
The right one entirely depends on your vehicle’s engine. Ensure that you use to right type of engine oil.
Engine Coolant.
Engine coolant is a very important part of the cooling system for all vehicles.
Manufacturers make it in a way that it should last for a specific amount mileage.
Most are made to last up to 100,000-150,000 but this depends on how you use your car. Some coolants last up to years.
If you don’t check the engine coolant you are just begging for your engine to overheat.
Do not use water for cooling purposes. It doesn’t work.
Transmission and differential fluids.
The transmission and drive axle are essential to the movement and control of your vehicle.
For this reason, the transmission and differential fluids must be sufficiently available.
The transmission and drive axle have different oil supplies found in different reservoirs.
It takes a longer time for these fluids to require any changing.
That is in comparison to engine oil changing intervals.
Brake system fluids.
Once brake fluid ages, it changes color.
This is not for all brake fluids. If you notice this change in brake fluid color, this is the time for a brake fluid change.
Because the brake fluid will start causing rust on your brake parts.
Hence making them inefficient and that’s why you should have this on your road trip car maintenance checklist.
If you are wondering, I’ll let you know that it’s safe to top up new brake fluid on top of old fluid.
Battery.
There are many reasons why the car battery runs low. Sometimes the battery will run low as you are driving.
So, make sure that your battery is okay as you run through your road trip car maintenance checklist.
If you have used your car battery for a while, check the terminals to ensure they are set tightly.
Also make sure that they are not corroded. You can pass through a gas station and request them to check the electrolytes.
If there is a whitish precipitate on the terminals, clean with a wire brush.
