Keep Your Car In Good Shape By Maintaining These 6 Fluids

Proper car fluid management is one that is needed for all cars. This is essential to keep your car in good running shape between major tune-ups. It’s an inexpensive and simple way to prevent engine wear or damage, and save money at the auto shop. While checking the fluids in your car is a fairly straightforward process, it does take some know-how.

Fluid management is critical to keeping costs low in vehicle service applications, as it can help track the dispense of oils, coolant, antifreeze and other fluids.

Effective fluid management in automotive, heavy truck, heavy equipment, and municipality and fleet vehicle service shops can reduce costs and improve operational efficiency, while generating helpful data about dispense history. Complete engineered systems most effectively deliver these benefits, as components are designed to work together to deliver the greatest amount of accurate data possible.

One benefit offered by fluid management systems is that metering can ensure the dispense of precise volumes, avoiding costly, unnecessary overfills. With an increasing number of vehicles on the road today requiring expensive synthetic oils rather than conventional ones, precise dispense and inventory management is key to keeping costs down.

Here are six fluids you should pay attention to to keep your car running right:

1. Oil Fluid

Your engine needs oil to keep the moving parts lubricated. To check the oil, first take your car for a short drive, then wait about five minutes so it can cool down. Under the hood, the dipstick in the oil tank should be close to the front of the engine, near you. It’s usually pretty easy to find. Pull out the dipstick, wipe it with a cloth or towel, and then dip it all the way back into the oil tank. Pull it back out and see where the oil line is. There should be a notch in the dipstick to show you where a safe oil level should be. If it seems low, check the cap or your car manual for the type of oil you should use and then add some yourself.

2. Brake fluid

It’s no doubt that the owner’s manual will indicate how often it’s necessary to check brake fluid. (It’s generally recommended you check brake fluid once a year.). Locate the brake fluid reservoir, on- top of the engine. Use an approved aerosol cleaner to remove any particles of dirt around the cap, before removing the brake fluid reservoir. Remove the cap and check the brake fluid level on the dipstick attached to the cap’s underside. If the dipstick indicates the level is low, have your vehicle serviced by an automotive professional as soon as possible.

3. Power steering Fluid

 Power steering fluid is a type of hydraulic fluid that transfers power in modern vehicles with power steering. It is an important part of your steering system, and it makes turning your steering wheel easy. Replacing power-steering fluid generally is not listed among the regular maintenance items that should be performed, so on most vehicles, replacing it is at the owner’s discretion.

4. Radiator Fluid

Radiator fluid is the antifreeze coolant that is used in your radiator to help cool your car engine. It is important to ensure that your vehicle has adequate amounts of the correct type of radiator fluid will help keep your car engine cooler and allow your car engine to last longer. A frequent and occasional check on the level of  the coolant in your car’s radiator and cooling system is advised, as well as a replacement when due.

5. Windscreen Washer Fluid

Windshield washer fluid is a brightly colored liquid made of methanol, poisonous alcohol. Sometimes, small amounts of other toxic alcohols, such as ethylene glycol, are added to the mixture. The washer fluid is a lubricant for the parts contained, including the washer fluid pump and the hoses. If there is no washer fluid in the fluid reservoir, internal parts of the pump can corrode and the plastic parts can degrade.

6. Transmission Fluid

A car’s transmission fluid is to be properly managed. Transmission refers simply to the gearbox that uses gear and gear trains to provide speed and torque conversions from a rotating power source (engine) to another device (wheels). Transmission fluid is used to lubricate the components of a car’s transmission for optimum performance. It is important that the fluid in your transmission is at the proper level to avoid significant wear.