Car Care Tips

Care Care 1

At Grilliot Alignment Service, we want our customers to know they can always count on us to handle any maintenance issues or automotive repair services that they may be in need of. That being said we also want to inform our customers on ways that they are able to properly take care of their car, in hopes to reduce any major work that neglecting your vehicle signs may cause. To get the information on the most common routine car maintenance, how to increase the life of your tires, and how to gain better gas mileage keep reading!

Car Maintenance and Common Practice

We suggest keeping a log of all your services to help you keep track of all your maintenance.

Make sure to always change your fluid on time.
Change your standard oil every 3,000 miles and if its synthetic changes every 5,000 miles.
Antifreeze needs to be changed every 30,000 miles.
Transmission fluid needs to be changed every 30,000 miles.
We suggest to make sure to have routine maintenance scheduled at 15,000 miles, 30,000 miles, 60,000 miles, and 90,000 miles.
When you go in for an oil change make sure that we check your air filter, this should be changed every 12 months or 12,000 miles.
Same with fuel filters this will need to be changed every 2 years, 24,000 miles.

Tire Maintenance and Common Practices

When you go in for an oil change it’s recommended to also get your tires rotated or every 6 months.
Once a week you want to make sure your tires have the right amount of tire pressure for each tire, inside your owner’s manual of your vehicle it tells you the correct amount of pressure each tire requires. Low tire pressure can mess with how your vehicle handles and how it affects your gas mileage. They get the most accurate result, make sure they haven’t been driven for the day, or have had enough time to cool down.
If you notice your vehicle is pulling one side to the other it's possible your vehicle is off alignment. If you notice this make sure to get it into us ASAP. If it continues to get worse it will eventually pull your vehicle off the road.
Make sure to always have a spare tire, we suggest monthly to make sure that the spare is still inflated and no sign of damage. If you need help checking your tire make sure to ask us!
The oldest tire trick in the book, a penny to determine the wear of your tire. What you will need to do is take the penny to the groove of the tire with Lincoln’s head. If you notice his head is covered by the tread you’re good to go if you can see his entire head replaced as soon as possible.

Gas Mileage Tips $$$

Check or change that air filter every 6 months oddly enough this keeps your engine running smoothly. If your vehicle has to compensate for working harder it burns more gas.
Don’t top the gas tank at the gas pump, your tank can only hold a certain amount of gas so when it hits the point of being full it will let you know. The additional gas will eventually seep out.
Make sure to tighten the gas cap, if not all the way sealed the gas will evaporate from your gas tank.
During the summer try to park in the shade, if you have ever sat in a hot car it makes you feel like you’re sitting in a sauna. It also evaporates the fuel from your gas tank, so not only are you hot but you lost gas.
Make sure you’re using the right oil, improving what type of oil you use can increase your gas mileage. Check your vehicle's manual to see the manufacturer-recommended grade of motor oil.

Most importantly if your vehicle starts to make weird sounds, smells you’ve never noticed before, or isn’t driving like it typically does get it in to us as soon as possible. For more Car Care Tips stop and see us at Grilliot Alignment Service we will get you started in the right direction!