Melbourne best car service

How important is your car to you in getting around the urban sprawl of Melbourne? Depending who you are the replies will vary but the chance is high that the answer will be very important for as good as the public transport system is here in Melbourne it still does not make getting around as easy and convenient as your car. So, it is common sense to look after your vehicle with regular servicing and maintenance based on your recommended maintenance period or kilometres driven between the last service. 

In the long run, regular car servicing and maintenance will save you a lot of money and keep you safer on the road rather than neglecting. 

The Car Maintenance Basics 

The basics of car maintenance are, of course, something you can undertake yourself however here at Monteltham Auto Electric we are here to help you with a first-class car service wherever you are in Melbourne. 

Car Manual

A good start with knowing all about your car is the car manual which is usually kept in the cubby or glove box. You can learn a lot by giving it a read. If you don’t have one you can usually find one online to download. Inside the manual, you will find a section which deals with servicing, maintenance, and the time period needed between servicing.

 Checking the car servicing basics

Some of the things you will have to check will be water hoses, belt drives as the fan belt, check the oil levels and colour and the condition of your tyres. What everybody thinks of first when they consider a car service is the oil change. Your engine health depends on the level and condition of your oil. Dirty oil will contain contaminants such as worn metal grains and dirty oil and an abundance of these dirty oil contaminants will cause more of the same, wear out all moving parts, and degrade your engine mechanics. The message here is changing your oil, regularly, check your manual for the period between oil changes. It will usually be measured in months or miles/kilometres between the last service.

 Car Oil

Oil Change – How Often: 3 months or 3,000-5,000 miles or 4828/8046 kilometres. The oil filter will also require replacing. 

Other fluid checks 

On the subject of oil changes, there are other liquids that need to be checked and topped up. Consider other fluids such as brake fluid, radiator fluid, windscreen wiper water and detergent. You may also be able to check transmission fluid which you do by checking the dip disk associated with the transmission. Safety first and remember let the engine cool down before you start opening fluid caps, as radiators, for example, may contain very hot water under pressure. Scalding is possible unless you let the motor cool and open the cap carefully allowing any pressure to escape first. 

Hoses and belts 

Essentially hoses wear out over time and may show bulges or cracks and may be ready for replacement. If you find you engine is overheating it may relate to a split hose and a leaking radiator. Check all your belts, fan belts and the like. You may have heard a car screech when the car is started and the engine turns over. A terrible sound but probably indicates a loose fan belt where undoing a couple of nuts will allow you to tighten up the fan belt tension and cure the terrible screeching sound. 

Windscreen wipers 

Other filters needing replacement is the air filter and should be replaced at least one a year. Check you windscreen wiper blades, you will probably notice them wear down when in a storm they just do not wipe the windscreen free and clear with each wipe leaving distorted lines of water remaining on the screen. Change your wiper blades. 

Car battery
Check your car battery and connections or terminals. The positive and negative connection points can accumulate with white or discoloured deposit. Remove this deposit with a wire brush or with a little water and baking soda. Winters can really drain a car battery, you can check the health with two tools, a multimeter and a battery hydrometer. 

Using a multi-meter, you can find out if the battery has enough charge to run your auto system. A healthy battery will have a multimeter reading of around 12.5 volts. With the headlights on the battery voltage will drop to around 11.5 volts. Using the battery hydrometer, you can check the specific gravity of the battery fluid is between 1.27 and 1.30 

These checks are all possible to do at home with simple tools however there are other systems that require a little more in dedicated system tools to check and optimise complicated systems such as performance engine tuning or air conditioning services. Based in easy reach of Eltham, Greensborough, Templestowe and Diamond Creek, Monteltham Auto Electric is ideally placed to help you with all your auto and car servicing and repair requirements. Even if you want to do it yourself, we will be happy to give you advice, please give us a call and remember we also supply a range of spares include batteries, wiper blades, LED’s and other car electrical parts, bulbs, wiring kits, camping solar panels. 

Call Us: 03 9435 1198