CASSIA HAMILTON
Staff Writer
Girls. Women. Ladies. My sisters: I’m talking to you. (Although boys, if you continue to read, might surprise yourself and learn something as well.) As you know, we as a gender do pretty well for ourselves. We’re emotionally available, we have an uncanny intuition, we tend to have true, caring friendships and we can spell Manolo Blahnik’s last name. Feminism had a point: We are pretty cool. But, my friends, there is one area where we consistently fall short.
We just do not know much about cars.
Don’t try to deny it. (I’m not sexist enough to think that there are no girls who understand cars. But when it generally comes to automobiles, we tend to tune out, ignore or get frustrated with the entire situation.)This is not necessary. I don’t pretend to be a car expert, but after years of being surrounded by car people, I’ve picked up a few things. And I can help you save time, money and respect. I don’t want you to end up like the girl of Internet infamy who was told she would need to pay for “brake light fluid,” a new “reverse transmission,” and installation of her cigarette lighter.
Honestly, brake light fluid?
I’m not asking you to be able to explain how spark plugs work, what catalytic converters are or what equal-length half shafts do. But there is some basic car information to add to your knowledge base. Cars are not scary. Car mechanics are not all swarthy and sweaty. Car repairs do not always cost thousands of dollars. And good car maintenance is not hard.
When it comes to your automotive friend, here’s a basic starter checklist of what to do and how to do it.
1) Open the hood of your car. (There is a little lever, usually located below and left of the steering wheel. Pull it, then walk to the front of your car. Your hood should now be partially separated from the bumper. There’s a small latch in the dark space just behind the bumper; pull the latch and lift the hood.)
2) Find your car manual (unless you threw it out, it should be in your glove box) or a friend who knows what he or she is talking about. With your hood open, use one (or both) of these resources to walk you through the makeup of your engine. It’s always a good idea to have at least a basic understanding of what all those little metal and plastic parts do.
3) Learn how to check your oil. This involves pulling the dipstick (usually indicated by a bright plastic handle) out of the oil chamber and wiping it off when the car has cooled, replacing it in your oil chamber all the way and pulling it out once more to check the oil level. The oil on should fall between the two lines on the pointy end of the dipstick. (Believe me, there are two lines on the pointy end of the dipstick.) If it falls at or below the lower line, add a quart of oil to your engine, through the small cap with an oil pan icon on your engine cover. Do not add oil back into the small hole you pulled the dipstick from.
4) Speaking of oil, you should change it every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. I know that seems excessive, but when your car has 100,000 miles on it, it will really appreciate you for administering regular oil changes. They should cost between $20 and $30 at your local gas station, and just about any mechanic can do it.
5) Check the air in your tires regularly. Get an air pressure gauge and check each of your tires and your spare. Your owner’s manual will list the correct tire pressure. Find a gas station that has an air pump (like the Malibu Shell) to add air into your tires if they are low. Checking and filling your tires is a 10-minute process, but it can save you a dangerous blowout on the freeway and hours fixing it.
6) Speaking of flat tires, learn how to change your own tire. Don’t feel as if you have to rely on others for this. There’s a Web site that gives a very thorough, though cheesy, tutorial: www.cartalk.com/content/features/changetire. There are more things to learn — lots of them — but they’ll have to wait until my next installment. These six starter tips, if followed, are really helpful preventative maintenance. Take your car for regular tune-ups and mechanics will fix the bigger problems, but these small steps certainly help. For questions, comments or topics you’d like to see addressed in future columns, feel free to e-mail me. Remember, cars aren’t hard or scary. In fact, they can be quite cool.
09-08-2005
