A regular car maintenance schedule is an excellent way to keep the check engine light at bay, but it can be costly and inconvenient if only handled by pros. Shop rates, especially at a car dealership, can be quite high, and it can take them several hours to complete a job. But maintenance is vital; it keeps your car running and safe and helps preserve its resale value.
While you might not be ready to tackle major jobs, there are plenty of car maintenance items you can do at home that are cheaper and less time-consuming than going to a service center. You also have the added benefit of living in an age with a YouTube tutorial video for nearly everything, including many basic car maintenance tips. Below is a list of car maintenance tasks you can take on with minimal investment in equipment and some elbow grease, which keep your car road trip ready.
Changing your car’s motor oil is sort of the standard for DIY car maintenance, but some new cars make this task difficult because the computer needs to be reset or they no longer have a dipstick, have multiple drain plugs, or multiple oil filters. However, it’s not an impossible task as long as you are aware of the steps and take your time.
By and large, the steps remain the same. Drain the old motor oil, replace the old oil filters, fill with the right amount and correct type of oil, start the car and check the level. But the devil is also in the details. You may need to remove undertrays or bellypans to access the drain plugs. You’ll want to be sure that you have the right tools for this and that you reinstall it in the exact same way.
Changing the transmission fluid can be a similar type of chore, but you may also be removing the transmission pan and replacing a gasket in modern vehicles. Not impossible, but it can be intimidating if you’ve never done it. Research the process before hand and make sure you have everything that you need before jumping in.
You can likely purchase a complete kit for your vehicle from your local auto parts store or, if you have a specialty vehicle, from any number of online auto parts suppliers. Some of the more savvy parts suppliers have websites full of videos that walk you through the process of some of these more complicated oil changes.
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Wash Your Car
Most car owners know how to give their car a basic wash, but a small investment in some equipment can get you high-quality materials that can prolong your car’s paint finish. Get a couple of buckets, car wash soap, a stack of microfiber towels, car wash mitts, and some wheel brushes. Now you’ve got yourself a DIY car wash.).
Wash your car out of direct sunlight, starting from the top and working your way toward the bottom. Scrub the entire car with plenty of soap before rinsing it off. Wash the wheels last because they are likely the dirtiest part of the car. Dirt and grime from the wheels can stick to your sponge and then contaminate the rest of your paint. Considering the cost of a hand wash, this is an easy way to save money.
After drying your car with microfiber towels, consider applying a spray wax, which will protect the paint for a couple of months. To really make your car shine, clean and dry all the door and trunk jams and the glass both on the inside and out. If your car has cloudy headlights, consider buying a headlight restoration kit to improve safety and appearance. Remember, not only will a good car wash keep your car's paint in good condition, it's a key step in maximizing your car's trade-in value.
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Paint Correction
After you wash your car once or twice, you’ll start to notice all the paint chips and scratches. Besides creating an imperfect appearance, paint damage can spread, allowing rust to form if left alone.
You can buy touch-up paint online or at your dealership’s service center, and it’s easy to apply with a small applicator. For body panels showing a lot of scratches or fading, you can treat the panel with a rubbing compound followed by polish and wax. Doing this can improve your car’s appearance and stop the deterioration of its paint quality. Anything beyond that, however, you might want to hire a professional detailer to restore the paint to factory-new.
Check Your Tires
Your car’s tires are its literal connection to the road below. Maintaining the correct tire pressures promotes maximum tire life and road holding, but tires tend to lose air over time, so checking their pressure regularly is a really good idea. An added benefit is that at the correct air pressure, you have maximum fuel efficiency.
To do this at home, you need to buy a tire pressure gauge and tread depth gauge. They are small enough to fit in your glove box and cheap enough to fit any budget. Inside the driver’s side doorjamb is a label that will tell you the correct tire pressure for your car. If it reads low, you can top it off at your local gas station – or, better yet, buy a rechargeable tire inflator. We suggest checking tire pressure once a month.
When your tires are worn down to 2/32 of an inch, it is time to replace them, but you might want to consider it sooner than that. If you are feeling more ambitious and you have a jack, four jack stands, a wheel socket, a breaker bar and a torque wrench, you can tackle tire rotations yourself at home.
Replace Burned Out Light Bulbs
Eventually, one or more of your car’s lights will stop working. In most cases, this is a pretty straightforward repair. You will simply need to unclip the wiring to the headlight, taillight, or turn signal that has burned out, remove the bulb and install the new one. Some bulbs are held in with clips, while others are screwed in, so pay careful attention before you attempt to remove them. Be careful to keep the glass on the bulb clean of dirt or oil from your hands. As the bulb heats up, residue can cause it to burst.
While replacing the bulb might be easy, sometimes accessing it can be a bit of a challenge. You may have to remove a panel or other parts to get to it or unscrew the complete housing from the car. A service manual or YouTube will be your friend here.
Top Off Vital Fluids
Under your hood, there are typically caps for filling the radiator, engine oil, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield wiper fluid. Your owner's manual can help you identify the right one before you start filling up.
The fluids you need to keep an eye on in your car are the wiper fluid and the engine oil. The windshield washer fluid symbol looks like a windshield with a stream of water, and the oil cap symbol looks a bit like a teapot.
To check the engine oil, remove the dipstick, wipe it dry, re-insert it, remove it again, and see if the oil level is between the two marked lines. If it’s just past the first line, it’s low. Add half a quart at a time and recheck. Some modern cars do not have a dipstick, and you must park the car on a level surface and check the oil level via the car’s dashboard screen. Again, check your owner’s manual to figure it out.
You can check the engine coolant as well, but be advised that you should only do it when the engine is cool. If you notice that your engine is loosing coolant over time, it’s a sign of a bigger problem. You can look around for cracked coolant hoses or fluid under your vehicle.
Topping off the wiper fluid is straightforward—just remove the cap and fill the windshield wiper fluid reservoir with the correct type of fluid. (Unless you live where it never gets close to freezing, you’ll want something with an antifreeze additive.)
Swap the Wipers Before the Rain, Not During the Rain
When you top off the wiper fluid, it might be a good reminder to check your wiper blades. If they are cracked or falling apart, the time to replace them is now - before you are forced to do it in the rain in front of your local auto parts store. These can usually be replaced without any tools.
Change the Spark Plugs
Replacing your car's spark plugs may not be difficult, and doing it yourself can save you a sizeable amount of money compared to having this done at the dealership. You’ll need the right-sized spark plug socket, a ratchet, and potentially an extension to access the spark plugs if they are recessed into the engine. Spark plugs themselves are cheap. Figure $10 or less each for most cars.
You may need to remove an engine cover panel to access the spark plugs. Once it is out of the way, you will have access to the spark plug wires or coil wires, which need to be pulled off of the spark plugs. Once removed, unscrew each spark plug and install the new ones you’ve purchased from your local auto parts store.
Replace the Engine Air Filter
Over time, your engine’s air filter will slowly fill up with dirt and dust and will need to be replaced. A clogged air filter restricts airflow to the engine, which can have a big impact on gas mileage and performance. Replacing it is typically straightforward and can usually be done in a few minutes, often with little more than a screwdriver. In most cases, the air box is held on by a few clips that are easy to unfasten and give you access to the air filter. Once you get to the filter, you only need to remove it and replace it with a new one.
An auto parts store can help you determine what kind of replacement filter you need.
Replace the Cabin Air Filter
If you can handle the engine’s air filter, the cabin air filter will be a piece of cake since it’s likely located just behind the glove compartment.
The principle is the same — over time, the cabin air filter gets full of dust that you don’t want to breathe inside your car. Replacing it is good for everyone’s health.
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Check and Replace the Car’s Battery
Car batteries don’t last forever, and they seem to fail at the most inopportune time. You may not realize that there is some preventative maintenance you can do, such as inspecting and cleaning the car’s battery terminals. Any corrosion buildup on them can be scrubbed off with a wire brush or an old toothbrush and a solution of baking soda and water. So you don’t shock yourself, you’ll want to make sure to disconnect the positive (that’s the red one) terminal before you do this, though. And be sure that you don’t touch both terminals simultaneously. Even an errant wrench can create quite a problem.
If your battery is dead, you can purchase a new one and replace it at home, which saves the effort and cost of having your car towed to a repair shop. Many modern cars have a complex battery terminal and hold down that will take a bit of time to undo, so take your time and make sure you keep all of the parts in one place. Also consult your owner’s manual on the proper procedure for resetting your car’s computer after a battery replacement.
Efrain Olivares holds a Communications degree from California State Long Beach, and upon
graduating worked as a journalist for a publishing house that produced numerous magazines
and content for web properties such as Sportscar Magazine and RACER. Raised with a passion
for automobiles and motorsports, Efrain can usually be found tinkering with his small fleet of
vintage cars.
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