If Its Not Broke, Maintenance It
As many of you may remember from an early posts, my wife and I commute into work together. We do this not only because of the substantial cost savings of only operating one vehicle, but we do this because we only have one vehicle. Our little car has been through a lot, to say the least, but it keeps on trucking. Currently our 1995 Dodge Neon has approximately 166,000 miles on it and our goal is to get at least 200,000 miles on it. In order for this to happen, we need to put money into it, even when it’s not broke. Proper vehicle maintenance is neglected by nearly all car owners, but is essential to milk the most from them. Because the majority of us think proper maintenance is just regular oil changes, I have put below a basic schedule of proper maintenance (other than the normal oil changes) we should already be doing. Try to get your car up to speed this weekend, you won’t regret it.
15,000 Miles
Adjust drive belt tension.
22,500 Miles
Inspect the front brake pads and rear brake linings.
30,000 Miles
Lubricate the front suspension ball joints
Adjust drive belt tension.
Replace the air cleaner filter.
Replace the spark plugs.
45,000 Miles
Inspect the front brake pads and rear brake linings.
Adjust drive belt tension.
Flush and replace the engine coolant at 36 months, regardless of mileage.
52,500 Miles
Flush and replace the engine coolant if not done at 36 months.
60,000 Miles
Check and replace, if necessary, the PCV valve.
Lubricate the front suspension ball joints.
Replace the drive belts.
Replace the air cleaner filter.
Replace ignition cables.
Replace spark plugs.
67,500 Miles
Inspect the front break pads and rear brake linings.
75,000 Miles
Adjust drive belt tension.
Flush and replace the engine coolant if it has been 30,000 miles or 24 months since last change.
90,000 Miles
Check and replace, if necessary, the PCV valve.
Lubricate the front suspension ball joints.
Inspect the front break pads and rear brake linings.
Adjust drive belt tension.
Replace the air cleaner air filter.
Replace the spark plugs.
105,000 Miles
Replace the engine timing belt. $
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I am SO bad at this. Definitely belong to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of thought which often translates to VERY expensive visits to the car shop. I am going to print this out – thanks.