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How to Repair Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop Series)

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Under the Hood of Your Car

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The Roadside Tool Kit

Car Care Maintenance Schedule

The purpose of car care is to catch whatever might go wrong before it actually does go wrong. The best way to do that is to bring your car in for a yearly tune-up and follow a regular car care schedule.

Part	Maintenance	Frequency
Tires	Check pressure	Once a month
	Check treads	Once a month
	Rotate tires	Every 5,000–10,000 miles
Battery	Clean battery	Once a year
Battery	Check water level	Once every three months (accessible-maintenance batteries only)
Motor oil	Check level	Once every three months or every 3,000 miles
Motor oil	Change oil	Once every 3,000–6,000 miles
Coolant	Check level	Once every three months
Transmission fluid	Check level	If you see an oily residue under your car
Transmission fluid	Change fluid	Every 25,000 miles
Brake fluid	Check level	Once every three months
Brake fluid	Change fluid	Once a year
Washer fluid	Check level	Once every three months
Power steering fluid	Check level	Once every three months
Belts and hoses	Check belts and hoses	Once every three months
Belts and hoses	Change belts and hoses	Once a year
Filters	Replace air filters	Once a year
Filters	Replace fuel filters	Once a year
Windshield wipers	Replace wiper blades	Once every six months

At first glance, this schedule may seem a bit overwhelming. However, very few of these steps take much time. In fact, it probably won’t take you more than 15 minutes to check on the car parts that need to be looked at every three months.

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