How to Make Your Car Last Forever: Avoid Expensive Repairs, Improve Fuel Economy, Understand Your Warranty, Save Money

Lift off the metal lid. ...

Remove the filter element. This one is plenty dirty. Dirty filters reduce engine efficiency. Carefully wipe ...

Newer vehicles typically have an air box, like this one, off to one side of the engine bay. You ...

DRIVERS ASK, TOM ANSWERS: LUBRICATION PROBLEMS SOLVED Dear Tom, Q I own an ‘05 Honda Pilot. The manufacturer ...

A I’ll never understand why people ask this question. Are you trying to save money? If this is the case, ...

attention to the monitor, and it called for an oil change after 17,000 miles. There is no oil dipstick. What ...

On a side note, Toyota did have a sludging issue with its engines due to restricted cooling system pass ...

Chapter 11 Reading the “Tea Leaves” of Fluids Nothing can tell you more about the health of the human body ...

ENGINE OIL The engine oil is the lifeblood of the engine; it must deal with harsh factors in its environment, ...

In summary, the demands made on the oil are draining (no pun intended). The oil eventually loses its ability to ...

Note the color of the engine oil on the left is black and dirty. I guarantee if you smell it, it will ...

ENGINE COOLANT The engine coolant ensures that the engine operates at safe temperature levels. The 50-50 mix of ...

This is a coolant reservoir containing Dexcool. Dexcool is orange. If the coolant is dark orange or rust, ...

TRANSMISSION FLUID The transmission fluid lubricates, cools, and creates hydraulic pressure within the transmissio ...

This picture shows new automatic transmission fluid. Clean, fresh automatic transmission fluid is usually ...

rebuilt or replaced. In summary, on transmissions where the fluid is dark brown or black, proceed with ca ...

POWER STEERING FLUID Like the transmission fluid, the power steering fluid lubricates, cools, and creates hy ...

Here we have the power steering pump. If you could see inside, you’d note the color of the fluid: It’s ...

When power steering fluid gets worn out, it loses its ability to lubricate, create hydraulic pressure ...

consistency indicates either dirt or wear material. Smell If the power steering fluid smells burnt, then ...