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Simple Car Maintenance to Prevent Expensive Repairs ｜ Anyone can prevent a trip to the repair shop.
Jan 8, 2024
Learn to fix and clean and inspect any car before buying it cash or leasing from a car dealer in the US. How to fix or check a motor ? How to fix or change a tire ? How to clean the outside and inside of a car ? We tell you everything about cars.
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one, two, three, four
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Rev up your engines! It's time for the Scotty Kilmer Channel
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If you want your car to last a long time like mine
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then stay tuned, because today I'm going to show you some critical maintenance items
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to perform on your car so it can last forever. Well, maybe not forever, but I'm trying to get
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a million miles out of my Toyota. Now, the first critical maintenance is changing
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your engine oil and filter regularly. Now, I use conventional oil in my engine
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when I change it, so I do it every 3,000 miles or twice a year
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Engines are very expensive, but oil is pretty cheap. And with modern variable valve timing engines
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it's even more important to keep the oil clean. If you let the oil get dirty and clog up
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these variable valve timing cams, it's going to cost you thousands of dollars to fix them
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Now, if you want to go further between oil changes, you can use fully synthetic oil
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Then you can go 8,000 miles in between oil changes. Synthetic oils are excellent oils
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but realize they cost three to four times as much as regular oil, so the choice is yours
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Now, when it comes to what weight oil to use, just use the oil that your engine suggests
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In this case, it's 10W30. All owner's manual tell you what kind of oil to use
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Now, the second most important thing is servicing your automatic transmission. Now, this is an older car
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It's a 94 Celica. It's a good idea to change the fluid in the transmission
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every 30,000 miles. Being a Toyota, it really doesn't have a filter in it
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so you don't have to change the filter. If your car has a filter, change the filter too
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But if you have a later model car like this 2007 Toyota Camry, check this out
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It uses fully synthetic fluid, and as it says, no need to change ATF under normal driving conditions
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So unless you live in a dusty desert, you can leave these transmissions alone
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Now, the next important maintenance item is the coolant in your cooling system
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You don't want dirty coolant, because it can ruin the whole system
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A poorly maintained cooling system can cause severe damage. It can cause the engine to overheat and blow up
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It can clog up the tiny fins inside the radiator. And believe it or not, in a modern car
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it can short out electrical sensors on the computer system. With conventional antifreeze, you
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want to change the coolant out every three years, once every 30,000 miles
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But if you're lazy and frugal like me, use extended life antifreeze
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And in that case, you can go five years or 150,000 miles
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before changing it. And the extended life antifreeze only costs $3 more than the regular stuff, so why not use it
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Now, the last important maintenance item I'm going to talk about today is the battery
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Check it every once in a while for corrosion. Pick up the terminal cover and see
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if there's any corrosion under there and clean it if there is. Just get a wire brush and brush off all the crud
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Then get a can of battery terminal protection spray and spray it all over to seal it
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Do both terminals. And lastly, have a mechanic check your battery with this machine once or twice a year
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It's a simple test that takes less than a minute. And in a modern vehicle, it's very important
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because everything is run by computers. And proper voltage is very important for computers
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to operate correctly. So a bad battery can cause all kinds of problems
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and sometimes even destroy electronic components. So you want to check your battery once or twice a year
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and replace it before it goes completely dead and does some serious damage
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So now you know, a little maintenance can help your car go a long way
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And remember, if you've got any car questions, just visit ScottyKilmer.com
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