Get Comfortable Under Your Hood Maintaining Your Fluids

Getting Under the Hood of Your Car

Harry Lloyd

Get your hands dirty

Maintaining your vehicle is critically important if you actually want your car to last. It's not just a one time thing either, you need to be consistant and make sure you always keep up. Depending on how often and efficiently you check and upkeep your fluids, you could be racking up serious mileage numbers or standing on the side of the road with smoke pouring out of your hood, so it's time to learn how to get under the hood of your car.

There are many different components that are crucial to your vehicle's health, but we will highlight some of the ones that anyone can check and maintain themselves. This is even more important when dealing with used cars, like $10000 cars or less. Every aspiring mechanic needs to know their limits however, and know when to call in an expert. You can click on any of these pictures and enlarge them to get a better feel for how your engine is laid out.

Engine oil

Oil is hands down the most important fluid to your vehicle. It's basically the car's blood; it gives the complicated components the ability to actually function. Without it, your car won't make it out of the driveway.

You need to regularly check your oil. You do this with the oil dipstick, which is usually yellow or red. This is regularly done by pulling the dipstick out and wiping it down, putting it back in, then pulling it back out and observing the level. There are two marks on the dipstick, one to indicate that it's low and another to say it's too high. You will need to consult your owner's manual on how exactly to check it and whether or not you need the car to be running or stopped.

If the dipstick says you need some more oil, check to make sure what weight oil you need. Most new cars recommend 5W30. The oil cap is nearby where the dipstick is found, and you will need a funnel to carefully put in more oil. Here you can see the dipstick circled in red and the oil cap in yellow.

Radiator coolant

Your coolant is very important to keeping your car in working condition. Overheating can lead to serious problems in your car, and sometimes it can be very avoidable if you keep an eye on your coolant. You should never check the coolant or radiator when the car is hot or has recently ran; you should only check it when it is cooled. The heat and pressure could cause serious injury and burns.

Your radiator is located at the front of the engine, and the cap is usually easy to spot. You can see the radiator cap circled in yellow and the coolant reservoir in red. Again, do not touch this if the car is hot. When you unscrew the cap, if the fluid is near the top, you are in good shape. There is also a larger plastic reservoir for the coolant that is also easy to spot. It should be about two thirds full.

Coolant comes in many different colors, from green to red, and some vehicle's manuals recommend only using specific types. It is a 50 50 mix with coolant and water. You can either buy the concentrate which you would have to dilute yourself, or you can buy premixed coolant. This is especially important when preparing your car for summer.

Wiper fluid

While not quite as critical to the vehicle's health as some of the other fluids, window wiper fluid is still important to car safety and the well being of the driver and passengers. This is probably the easiest of the fluids to recognize and replace, it is the large container seen here. Get in the habit of filling this up periodically, you don't want to be caught without it. Here you can see the wiper fluid reservoir circled in red.

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