Preamble:
Today’s
Cars are a far cry from yesteryears’ and yet, remarkably user friendly
and maintenance free – especially the Mpfi ones. Inspite of it all,
most owners continue to face reliability and performance related problems
which at the end of the day, atleast in my opinion, are self-inflicted out
of sheer ignorance about what makes then tick and how to keep them that
way.
For starters, a vast majority of Car owners never bother to read their Cars’
Owners Manuals which necessarily come with each new one – thinking
it’s nothing more than comprising the initial/free Warranty Services
Coupons and having gone through that, it’s usually a good-bye to regular
‘preventive maintenance program’/PMP given in each – in
terms of time and mileage.
At best, the more conscientious ones will have it’s Oils and Filters
changed by the friendly neighbourhood mechanic/FNM – completely overlooking
the fact that a Car is a complex ‘System’ and it’s each
constituent needs regular tweaks at the prescribed intervals by its maker.
Besides, to do full justice to such ‘tweaks’, one requires sophisticated
Test Eqpt AND Servicing Equipment, which the likes of FNM’s can never
dream of owning.
In the following pages, I have tried to cover the Art and Science of Servicing
a Car – such that it’s always at the peak of its performance
AND reliability……
Scope of Works to be covered in a 'Routine/Paid Service’
1)
Under chassis, engine and body wash/shampoo.
2) Interior cleaning and vacuuming.
3) Body wax polish and dash board/bumpers polish.
4) Engine tuning, including spark Plugs’ cleaning/gap adjustment/replacement
if due, distributor points’/condensor cleaning/adjustment/replacement,
air filter cleaning/replacement, fuel filter replacement, carburettor
adjustment, ignition timing reset.
5) Wheel rotation/tyre pressure check.
6) Brakes’ service and adjustments (MUL Omni) and Hand Brake adjustment,
if required.
7) Engine/Gear Box Oil, Filter, Coolant, change/top-up. Brake fluid top-up.
8) All electrical check/bulb replacement, wherever required.
9) Battery distilled water/windscreen washer bottle top-up.
10) Various control cables’ adjustment.
11) Body rattles/suspension fasteners check/adjustment.
12) Road Test.
13) Report on Items requiring Owner’s Attention, for immediate/near/future
action. |
