Monthly maintenance is the key to the longevity of all engines, no matter the degree of performance (if you have a high output street rod or a slow four cylinder economy sedan), year the engine came off the assembly line. The bottom line here is simple… if you keep up with your oil changes, you will greatly improve your chances of keeping your car for a long time. Now you might be asking yourself, what do I have to do, and what do I do with all that oil and the messy oil filter? It’s OK, one thing at a time… first of all let’s identify some of the basic needs of your car. First you have oil in the engine. That oil gets old and must be changed regularly. Depending on whom you ask, regularly means every three thousand miles or six months, whichever come first. Now believe it or not, some people don’t drive that much, and if you let any engine sit for a long period of time that oil will get water in it from condensation, and if that does occur, the water in the oil will cause the inner parts to rust. When that rust begins to form, you will start to notice oil coming out of your tailpipe (not always, but more time than not) and if you do let your car go this long your rings on your pistons are not going to be happy with you and your pocket book will let you know just how important monthly maintained really is. Along with regular oil changes, you must change your oil filter. Dust gets into it and will block the flow of air into your engine intake. When that occurs, you are starving your engine of air, which is a very important element that is required for an internal combustion engine. Look at it this way, your engine is an explosion that happens in every cylinder so many times per minute I cannot count them on my fingers or toes. For the sake of argument, take my word for it, there are some real fireworks going on under the hood that you cannot see, and the bigger the engine the more the fire, and it all takes air… so change that air filter regularly. How often is regularly when it comes to the air filter? Well that is not as clear cut as the oil because you can’t see the oil and the oil is a fluid and you cannot see the water. On the other hand you can open up your air filter housing and see the dirt. If you see dirt, small rocks, leaves, grass, etc. chances are you need to change it. Look, it all depends on your driving habits, if you drive near the beach every day, you are sucking up sand, and sand is an engine killer, and the same damage with dusty roads. But if you are one of the lucky ones and hardly drive at all, you may not want to change your filter as often. Let your eyes be your guide. Don’t forget to check your tire pressure, check it for excessive wear and dry rot (those tiny little cracks in the rubber). Now if you allow your tires to get low, this will cause excessive tire wear, and is NOT safe. In fact, low tire pressure is a common cause of car rollovers, which can lead to motor accidents and even fatalities. You combine low tire pressure with a rotten tire you are just asking for trouble. So keep those tires properly inflated, most tires require 32 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure. If don’t know how much pressure you are needing, you look on your tire’s side wall (the side of the tire near the valve stem you will see this information). When you are changing your oil, make it a point to check your tires, besides you are under the car anyway, just take a glance at your tires it could just save your life.
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