The 10 best things you can do for your car this 2007 (and any year for that matter)

Happy new year, everyone!

Not only is this the first Backseat Driver column of the year, I write this on the very first day of the year, the 1st of January 2007! And you know what we do at the start of every year, right? (No, I’m not thinking of popping a couple of pills to fight that almighty hangover and spending half the day in bed.)

I’m talking about resolutions, of course! But I won’t be discussing going on new diets, exercising more, or not missing a single episode of Grey’s Anatomy on cable anymore.

This is a motoring column and, as such, we’ll be dwelling on our four-wheeled friends, particularly those who (take note, I used the personal pronoun "who" instead of "that") have been subjected to their fair share of abuse (shame on you!) all their lives.

It’s time to stop counting carbs and calories. It’s time to quit worrying about the number of times you get to hit the court. Starting this very day, it’s time to start counting months and kilometers. And it’s time to start worrying about the number of times you drove into a service station. Yup, it’s time for some tender loving care for your car.

But this is not as simple as opening your car’s owner’s manual and perusing its preventive maintenance schedule. (I can’t think of a single person I know who actually does that.) This is even simpler. Because if you can count to ten, then you should be able to find the essential things needed to keep your pride and joy your pride and joy.

The best thing is, this plan works whether you have a brand-new car or a veritable vintage. And I won’t even resort to that time-dishonored escape clause of "your results might vary." For the past 20 years, I’ve tried it on a variety of German, Japanese, Italian, French, Korean, American and Swedish cars, all to the same effect — the cars have all performed utterly reliably, save for the odd flat tire or dead battery, two things that can afflict even the most pampered cars. And most of these cars have been in my care for anything from 6 to 12 years, with not a single overhaul, and still running like racehorses when they were finally sold.

But first, a caveat. Not all car companies and dealerships (in fact, probably none of them) will take kindly to this somewhat radical but extremely budget-friendly maintenance plan. Every single one of them makes a ton of money on after-sales revenues. Some, especially those who sell their cars with razor-thin profit margins, only hope to turn a profit when you bring your car in for servicing. Which explains all the sales talk for extra rust-proofing, engine flushes and even extended warranties — all of which you won’t need with this 10-step Brake & Drivetrain preventive maintenance schedule. Here they are, arranged from most to least frequent:

1. Give your car a birthday or an anniversary date. As you will see from the succeeding steps, this makes it a lot easier to keep track of maintenance schedules as well as to give you a reason to give your car a "birthday" or "anniversary" treat.

2. Change the oil every year. You read right — every year. Regardless of your mileage (unless you’re a taxi or fleet operator). And you don’t even have to use synthetic oil. (I do recommend the much cheaper semi-synthetic oil.) Just make sure you change the oil filter as well. And forget those engine flushes! You don’t even have to suffer the agony of waiting in line at those dealerships as your friendly neighborhood gasoline station should do this job perfectly well. They’ll even let you watch.

3. Change the spark plugs every year. Again, no need for those hyper-expensive platinum, iridium or multi-electrode spark plugs — unless you count your home-to-office drive in the hundredths of a second. The good old OEM-type plugs from Bosch, NGK, or Denso will do just fine. This is best done at the same time as the oil change.

4. Rotate the tires every year to equalize wear and extend their life. This is more crucial for front-wheel-drive cars, as their wear-rate for front tires is more than double that of the rears. This is also the best time to check the condition of the brake pads and linings. A lot of brake discs and drums in prime condition have had to be replaced or refaced due to deep metal-to-metal abrasions caused by worn pads or linings.

5. Change the air and fuel filters every two years or 20,000 kilometers. Metro Manila air is one of the dirtiest in the world (no thanks to poor or corrupt emissions quality tests and enforcement). And I’m not going to vouch for the quality of our fuels — so this step is self-explanatory. Again, this is best done during the oil change.

6. Change the radiator coolant with a 50:50 mix of water and coolant every two years. Again, no need to use those overpriced radiator flushes. Just make sure the mechanic runs fresh water from a hose through the radiator’s mouth to flush away rust and dirt from the system. Do the same for the plastic coolant recovery tank which is connected by a small hose from the top of the radiator. This is the best time to check for leaks as well.

7. Change the timing belt every four years or 60,000 kilometers, whichever comes first. Some carmakers specify 70k or 80k intervals. Unfortunately, I’ve heard too many horror stories of prematurely snapped timing belts and untimely overhauls to let people wait that long. Too many otherwise perfectly healthy engines have had to be overhauled due to this. Remember even one broken tooth from the toothed belt is enough to do damage. A visual inspection of the outer edge of the belt is never good enough. This is best done at the dealership, as long as they do only what you ask them to do.

8. Change the drive belts for the fan, water pump, power steering pump and aircon compressor every four years or 60,000 kms. The drive belts of most modern cars seem to last forever, but a snapped water pump belt will lead to overheating — which will lead to a warped cylinder head if the car is driven for anything longer than five or 10 minutes. Result? Another expensive bill from an overhaul that could have been avoided. Why don’t we just change the water pump belt, you ask? Because snapped power steering or aircon belts have the habit of getting caught in the pulleys of adjacent belts, snapping them as well. This is best done with the timing belt replacement as all belts need to be removed to change the timing belt anyway.

9. Change the radiator cap and hoses every four years or 60,000 kms. This is for the exact same reason as No. 6. Aside from the usual upper and lower radiator hoses, make sure you don’t miss out on some cars’ smaller heater hoses that also run radiator coolant. More often than not, they’re first to spring a leak before the tougher radiator hoses. Remember, most cars won’t signal an overheating condition in their temperature gauges even with the loss of coolant. The temperature gauge measures the temp of the coolant, not the engine itself; so if you lose coolant, the sensor won’t know any better and will likely indicate a normal temperature.

10. Change the gear oil for manual transmissions and automatic transmission fluid (ATF) for, what else, automatic transmissions every four years. Again, no need for expensive synthetic oils for most cars; the factory-approved fills will do (higher end models might have OE synthetic oil applications, though).

Dead simple, right? Just three low-cost, quick-service things to do every year, two sub-P4,000 things (total) to do every other year, and four sub-P20,000 things (total) to do every four years. How simple and cost-effective can it be? As for rattles, paintwork and interior maintenance, well, that’s a different story. But follow these 10 steps and your car will keep running and stopping — trouble-free and without painfully expensive or unexpected expenses — indefinitely.

Here’s to worry-free driving this 2007!

Here are some of the Backseat Driver reactions that we had to forego for a while…

I agree with you guys regarding the Mitsubishi Strada as the most POGI truck today. Attention Nissan people, only the Murano emerged in the STAR Picks list, I was expecting your Titanium to be chosen.— 09284222225

Something must be done about Araneta Avenue. Too much time is given to slow-moving Quezon Ave. and E. Rodriguez traffic. — B. Y. Sison, QC

Here in Commonwealth Avenue, we are still suffering because of the lax action of the LTO regarding the daily vehicle accidents. — 09192488686

Please send me an email address where I can forward my letter to Mr. Andy Leuterio. — 09177952069 (We’ll gladly forward your message to him if you send it through [email protected])

Why do gas station owners allow beggars and "istambays" to loiter around their stations? They damage our cars! — 09162322347 (Yeah, actually, they do!)

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