I have a confession to make: I have a history of treating my vehicles shamefully.

While my husband probably doesn’t want me blasting it out on my blog, I have to say, he isn’t any better than I am! (Sorry babe, it’s true.) Between the two of us we have burned out 3 (or was is 4?) car engines.

Between long commutes to work for Jonathan, and frequent cross country road trips, coupled with little to no regular car maintenance, it’s no wonder our cars live about 5 years before they give up the ghost.

With our recent home refinance, we did a cash out option and purchased TWO new vehicles – a Chrysler Town and Country and a Chrysler 200 – one as a family car and on as a work commute car for Jonathan. (If you are curious as to what we think of our new “mom van”, you can read my previous post on it HERE!)

Anyhoo, with brand spanking new cars on our hands, and a clean slate of sorts, I am DETERMINED to break our cycle of buy, abuse and trash when it comes to cars.

With Jonathan deploying soon, not only will I be solely responsible for the family car, but the care and upkeep of HIS car will ultimately fall to me as well. So I have been researching like crazy (I actually read the car manuals cover to cover!) and I have compiled multiple checklists of car care upkeep tips, tricks and to dos. Military spouses, it’s a good idea to use these tips on your husbands car while he is gone!

Below are six important car upkeep tasks that often get overlooked by lazy car owners like myself!

Clean your car battery and protect the contacts.

Most batteries these days don’t require much in the way of maintenance, but once you let a battery go, it’s no fun.

The dirtier a vehicle battery becomes, the more crud can interfere with the terminal connections and your ability to start the vehicle or keep it started. Summer heat is especially hard on the internal mechanism of a car battery. The heat can cause some of your battery fluid to evaporate, damaging the internal structure of a vehicle battery as the corrosive fluid makes contact with other components. This evaporated battery fluid then escapes through the terminal connections to cause corrosion.

Even slightly corroded battery connections hinder current flow and lower the effectiveness of your battery, eventually causing starting problems which will only get worse. If you have not checked your battery connections in a long time, it’s possible the corrosion will have stuck your cables in place or even fully compromised the structure of your connections.

Once when we were borrowing my dads truck and the battery died, and the connections were so corrode and crusty we couldn’t even get the connection off. It was a multi hour project just to get the battery out to swap it out.. trust me, when you let a battery go, it’s not pretty!

While this task is often overlooked until it becomes a problems, it is a great idea to add this upkeep tip to your regular under the hood fluid inspection routine.

While our cars are new and don’t look like they need much in the way of battery upkeep, I am starting the habit NOW of regularly using GUNK brand battery cleaner and battery protectant sprays as a one two punch to keep my battery connections sparkling clean. It’s crazy simple and easy to do.

First, be sure to use extreme caution whenever working with a car battery. Before you start, make sure your car is completely turned off and once you locate your car battery under the hood, DO NOT try to remove it.

Once you’re ready to start cleaning, disconnect your car battery. Remove the negative clamp first (marked “-“) and then the positive one. Make sure any metal tools you’re using don’t touch the car frame.

Spray the battery connections with GUNK battery cleaner, and (depending on how dirty your battery is) gently scrape the area with a cleaning brush, or rub clean with a damp rag will work to wipe the area dry. Follow up with GUNK brand battery protectant spray.

Replace the positive clamp, then the negative one, then cover the battery up. You’re done! It’s seriously that easy!

More Easy Preventative Maintenance Tasks For Your Vehicle

Learn to check your cars fluids.

While you are under your hood cleaning the battery, check your car fluids. This includes your antifreeze, power steering, coolant, wiper fluid, etc. This is a big ‘un. You NEED to learn how to check those fluid levels. In some cases, you can see the tank level directly, but most have gauges or dipsticks you can pull out to check current levels against a notch that indicates optimal levels. If you’re running low, add more or take it somewhere to get it changed.

Inspect your tires for air and wear.

It’s a good idea to check the air pressure in your tires every month. You can buy a cheap tire air pressure gauge at any auto supplies store, or just pick one up on Amazon. It’s insanely easy to do and keeping your tires aired up is great for the tires, gets you better mileage, and saves you money in gas if you discover that the pressure is off. Make sure your tires have enough tread and keep your tires clean. Look out for the wear indicators on the tire treads. If anything’s out of the ordinary, don’t ignore it. While inspecting your tires, give the hubcaps a wipe down and apply a tire shine and protectant to your wheels to keep them looking snazzy and protects against visable surface aging. We are using GUNK brand Tire Shine, and have found that it provides a long lasting “wet tire” look that makes the tires ultra black, which looks fan-freaking-tastic against our silver cars. (Yes, my husband and I got matching car colors.. dawwww, we’re so romantic!)

Replace your windshield wipers when streaks appear.

Wipers are cheap and easy to replace yourself! Don’t wait until you can barely see through your windshield. Visibility is important while driving!

Run your car through a car wash and give it a quick interior clean at LEAST once a month.

We recently got a monthly membership to a car wash that allows unlimited car washes and use of vacuums. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS, and I highly recommend it! Keeping your car body clean of dirt and buildup protects your paint job, and regular vacuuming protects your carpets. I am just now getting in the habit of getting my car regularly buffed and waxed, and keeping on top of my interior cleaning so I don’t have to pull out the heavy cleaners inside my car as often. As a general rule I try to limit the number of chemical cleaning solutions I use in my car, and when I do use them I usually allow my car to air out by opening all the doors for a few hours to air out the VOCs. But the nature of car carpets and vinyl dashboards usually require SOME degree of aggressive protectant treatments. So at least quarterly, it is a good idea to follow up your regular vacuuming with an interior dashboard / vinyl protector and a carpet cleaning spray for a deeper clean, just be mindful that if you don’t air out your car, you and your kids are breathing in car cleaner. Yuck.

Every spring, give your engine a quick clean.

Clean your engine with a foamy engine cleaner after each winter to keep your engine free from salt and debris that can cause corrosion on vital engine parts. The internet is swimming in video tutorials of how to do this safely for your particular type of vehicle, so it’s a good idea to watch a step by step visual guide before poking around with your engine if you are new to DIY car upkeep. After washing, follow up with a good engine protectant spray.

Looking for more great car upkeep tools and tips?

Check out more great GUNK and Liquid Wrench brand products by following any of the social media links below:

 

GUNK

www.gunk.com

www.facebook.com/GUNKOfficial

www.instagram.com/GUNK

www.twitter.com/gunk

www.youtube.com/user/rscgunk

LIQUID WRENCH

www.liquidwrench.com

www.facebook.com/liquidwrench

www.instagram.com/liquidwrench

www.twitter.com/liquidwrench

 

From carpet cleaners, to liquid wrench products (with attached guidance lights, saw whaaaaat?!) this brand has some cutting edge car upkeep tools suitable for car fanatics to DIY newbies like me.

[Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this review. I am an independent product reviewer. I only review products I am truly interested in. I don’t accept payment for reviews. The products I take the time to jabber on about are either items I have personally purchased, or the product has been provided for review after me initiating contact and incessantly nagging for a sample. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.]

Do you have any additional car upkeep tips? Share below!