Did you know that constant car washing not only makes the car clean, it also protects it from the natural elements that harm the finish? Yes it does! The Car Care Council recommends the following so that you would know what to do and don’t when you wash your car by yourself.* Don’t wash cars in direct sunlight. Do wash cars in shade or in cooler temperatures in the early morning or late afternoon.* Don’t use dish detergent. Do use a formulated car wash.* Do fill your bucket with warm water.* Do use a soft terrycloth towel or washing mitt.* Do spray the car often with water.* Don’t scrub the car all at once. Do complete one section at a time, rinsing repeatedly to prevent the soap from drying on the paint.* Do use soft terrycloth towels or scratch-free fabric to dry the vehicle.* Don’t neglect waxing the vehicle. Do prep the car for waxing using cleaner/polish to remove contaminants.

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Things You’ll Need:

• Hand Soaps
• Brake Fluids
• Car Manuals

Step 1:
Find the brake master cylinder. This is usually located under the hood on the driver’s side of the car, toward the back of the engine compartment. Imagine where your brake pedal would end up if it went all the way through to the engine. The brake master cylinder is a small (about 6-by-2 inches), rectangular piece of metal with a plastic reservoir and a rubber cap on top, and small metal tubes leading from it.

Step 2:
Check your manual if you aren’t sure that you’ve found the master cylinder. The rubber cap will usually read “use only DOT 3 or 4 brake fluid from a sealed container.”

Step 3:
Note that on most newer cars the reservoir is translucent and you can see the fluid level without removing the cap. There will be a “full” line, the brake fluid should be at this line.

Step 4:
In older cars (pre-1980) the brake master cylinder reservoir may be made entirely of metal so that you must take the top off to check the fluid level. The top is held on by a metal clamp, use a screwdriver to pop off the clamp and lift the lid.

Step 5:
Add brake fluid to the “full” line. Use the correct brake fluid for your car: Check the rubber cap and your owner’s manual to find out what grade of brake fluid your car requires. Most cars use DOT (Department of Transportation) 3 or 4. If the reservoir has 2 parts, fill both halves.

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Pic Links

via Honda Cars DIY

If your car is well maintained and tuned-up properly, it will go a long way and you will be saving a lot in your gas budget. At the same time, it is equally important that your tire pressure is maintained properly and it must be one area that should not be overlooked. It may not seem so but a slight difference in the tire pressure can generate resistance. This will cause the engine to exert more work. As a rule, tire pressure should really be checked on a regular basis to avoid further damage to the vehicle. Actually, it is not just the tire pressure but the all areas as well.

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• Park your car on level ground along the shoulder, or somewhere safe, and apply the hand brake. If it’s a manual transmission car, put it in gear (first gear is good). If automatic, put it in Park. Turn off the engine and activate the hazard lights. You can open your hood to help people see you’re fixing your car. If you have an early-warning device (EWD), place it at the rear and front of your car. This lessens the likelihood of people mistaking your car for a moving vehicle, and possibly hitting you.

• Place a wheel chock or a large rock behind (if facing uphill) or in front (if facing downhill) of the wheel with a flat tire to prevent the car from rolling. You can now get out the spare wheel, a lug nut wrench (tire iron) and the car jack.

• Remove the hubcap or wheel cap, if necessary. Some brand cars have a special tool for doing this. Before jacking up the car, loosen (but don’t remove) the lug nuts, by placing one end of the lug nut wrench over a lug nut. Use a hollow pipe as a lever by slipping it over the end of the lug nut wrench. Lug nuts are loosened with a counter-clockwise turning. Loosen the lug nuts in a star pattern–first loosen one a few turns, then loosen the one opposite. Do this until all the nuts are slightly loosened.

• Carefully jack up the car. Check your owner’s manual for the correct and safe place to put the jack. You can usually put the jack somewhere below the car’s underchassis (and not under the body, as you might dent it. Check your manual for correct jack usage. Pneumatic and screw-type jacks may have different instructions. Jack the car up until you have about four to six inches ground clearance, so you have room to put the new, full tire on.

• Remove the lug nuts all the way and set them aside at a safe place where they can’t roll away. The flat tire should be hanging from the studs now.

• Remove and set aside the flat tire. Set it underneath the car, just in case your jack fails.

• Lift the new tire onto the wheel studs. If you’re confused about which is the right way, check for the valve where you add air–it always faces out.

• Replace the lug nuts the same way you loosened them. Tighten them first, and then give each nut a few turns–first one, then the one opposite, working around the wheel in a star pattern. Try not to tighten adjacent nuts consecutively, as this might result in an unbalanced tightening.

• Slowly lower the jack and remove it.

• Tighten the lug nuts again as much as you can, again in a star pattern.

• Put the hubcap or wheel cap back on, if necessary.

After this, you can already stow your flat tire in the trunk. Be sure to have it checked at the nearest service station.

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These are some of the symptoms which may lead to brake problem although this is not the complete list you have sufficient info on what symptoms to watch out for.

Below are just a few most common symptoms that indicate a brake system problem:
- brake warning lights comes on while driving
- brake fluid level is low
- ABS warning light comes on while driving
- the vehicle pulls to one side during braking
- the brake pedal pulsates and (or) the vehicle vibrates during braking (mostly you can feel it from the steering wheel)
- the brake pedal is too hard or too spongy
- the brake pedal goes down too far
- any kind of noise while braking (e.g screeching, squeaking, grinding)
- the brakes drag (the car does not roll freely)
- smell of burnt brakes

Parking brake operation
Many people who drive automatic transmission vehicles rarely use parking brake. This may cause parking brake mechanism and cables to seize up. To check, try to set the parking brake – it should prevent vehicle from rolling. Once released, the vehicle should roll freely.
Regular mechanical inspection
For your safety, We recommend to have your car inspected regularly, at least once a year, by a qualified mechanic in a garage. I mean not just visual inspection by one of the fast lube places, but by a professional mechanic that can lift your car and check major components such as brakes, suspension, etc., while having your tires rotated, for example. This is because many components (e.g ball joints), can not be inspected visually.

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Via Honda Cars DIY

This is a real-world scenario that causes many accidents year after year and as with many other car troubles, totally avoidable (most of the time that is, there is the 1% in the 99% reliability of your brakes that it can fail without any apparent reason).

The key is maintenance, for if there has been sufficient maintenance on the vehicle meaning all safety and vital systems are inspected on a regular basis, there should not be any problems like this. Maintenance gives owners a chance to find problems as they begin as with brakes, yoi can see fluid from the brake system on the pavement or on the wheel rims. Hoses might be cracked or for the unfortunate few, that rock or piece of steel you ran over might have severed a brake line (actually hose) and your car is bleeding vital brake fluid needed to stop safely. Enough of the sermon and back to the point,

What do you do?
First, any sign of trouble whe in a car, hit the flasher lights to tell everybody that something is wrong. Check the area in front of you if there are any vehicles in the way, if there are then you have to find spot to go to without hurting anybody else. If you are on open road like the interstate or highway, you can try pumping the brake which might give you some stopping power and use the hand brakes intermittently till you get to a full stop, ideally off the road on the shoulder. Using the handbrake is effective, but do it slowly for pulling hard can cause the rear tires to lock and spin you in many ways than one.
The point is, to keep you calm for panic causes you to loose your objectivity. Most modern cars have dual brake systems where the front driver’s side wheel and the rear pasenger’s side wheel are connected and so are the opposite two. You can brake (but you might have to push a bit harder on the pedal) even with one system down and use the handbrake to augment them. For some more important information check out the NSC fro more details
Keep safe, drive carefully and get home safe.

Source : Study Driving via Honda Cars DIY

The Visual Check service will give a fast and free 29-point test to all key working parts of the vehicle. It means checking all vital fluid levels like brakes and coolants, and also checking the tire treads and lights condition.

The Warm-up Package includes a number of services including car wash and vacuum, battery condition check among others. These two services are just part of the company’s commitment to provide excellent customer care.

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Adac annually presents the “Yellow Angel” for the car with the most exceptional performance and this is one of Europe’s most desired motoring awards. To qualify, cars are judged according to the following criteria: price / performance ratio, practicality, economy safety, and environmental compatibility. There were 36 cars who were up against each other and 340, 000 people placed their votes and awarded the first place to the C-Class Mercedes. As the C-Class has established new standards since its launch at March 2007, it had an addition to its already appealing design, which also was a characteristic refinement of the Mercedes: a set of the latest technical advancements. Some examples are the Intelligent Light System and the anticipatory occupant protection system called PreSafe.

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Know what to look for. Problems can arise at any time and for inexplicable reasons. So it helps to get in the habit of opening the hood and looking, listening, and smelling what’s happening in your engine bay. Look for fraying or cracks in belts, and cracks or bulges in hoses. Investing in a vehicle service manual, available at car dealerships and most auto-parts stores, will help show you what to look for and assist you with minor repairs.

Maintaining a Clean Car. Get out the cleaning products periodically. Regular cleaning inside and out can make the car a more pleasant place to be as you roll up the miles, and washing and waxing can help preserve the paint and keep the sheet metal below it from rusting. Vacuuming sand and dirt out of carpets and seats can minimize premature wear that leads to tears and holes.
Reliability. Buy a car with a good track record and that which is reliable. Consumer Reports offers comprehensive reliability ratings. Buy a car that has performed well in government and insurance-industry safety tests and has the latest safety equipment, like electronic stability control and curtain air bags. If you’re going to live with a vehicle for a long time, you will want it to provide maximum safety protection.

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