I’m a female mechanic – six must-know car tips and why nail varnish needs to be in your kitbag
CAR maintenance and driving can feel like a huge expense, particularly in the current climate.
Keeping on top of services, MOT, and with petrol prices rising, it can feel costly to keep a car in the current cost of living crisis.
Which is why it’s so important to maintain your motor day-to-day, to help minimise the risk of something serious and costly going wrong.
Hannah Gordan has been a mechanic for over 15 years.
Here, she shares her tips, tricks and hacks that can help you look after your car as cheaply and efficiently as possible…
Wheely important
Tyres are hugely important, as they are the only piece of contact between the vehicle and the road.
There’s a simple way you can check the tyres.
Take a 20p coin and place it in the tyre tread – the band that goes around the outside of the coin shouldn’t be visible when in the tyre.
If it is, then the tyre tread is low and you need new tyres.
Check across the whole of the width of the tyre as it can be different.
The legal depth is on or above 1.6mm.
Also, check the tyre wall for any cuts or damage and ensure the pressures are correct.
Fuel efficiency
We all want to save money where we can, and this includes spending less at the pumps.
As mentioned, checking tyre pressures is something that will help.
Also, slowly accelerating away instead of hammering the pedal to the floor will help you drive smoother, and planning your braking and accelerating with plenty of time.
Getting your car serviced at the correct intervals will help the engine run at its most efficient.
De-clutter your car too, as added weight will always mean a bigger fuel bill.
Keep cool
With our summers getting warmer, it’s essential we have our vehicle’s air conditioning working correctly.
But did you know that air con is also needed in winter?
The dryer air that air conditioning pumps out helps to defrost your windows quicker in the winter.
If you are finding that the air blowing out of your vents isn’t as powerful you may have a blocked cabin/pollen filter.
These are often overlooked in a service as some vehicle’s filters are in a difficult to reach location.
If your air con has lost its ice-coldness then it may need re-gassing, and plenty of garages now provide this service.
A polished finish
Nail polish can be a really handy piece of kit!
Clear nail polish can be used on chips and cracks on the windscreen, it will fill the gap up between the glass and wont obscure any of your vision.
Make sure you dab a small amount onto the outside of the windscreen.
Another use is for wheels.
Damage can occur when hitting pot holes or kerbs, and this damage can be really noticeable – especially on black wheels.
Suspicious smells
Odours within a car can come from a whole host of issues such as having animals in the car or food and drink being spilled.
A smell of damp though can mean you have a water leak inside or the cabin/pollen filter is getting wet.
Check floors for water ingress and use a dehumidifier bag to help.
In a dash
Don’t ignore warning lights on the dash, sometimes they may appear due to a non serious fault which can be rectified quickly, other times you may be putting your engine at risk.
If the car still drives normally get it to a mechanic as soon as you can, if the light has made the car drive with reduced power then find somewhere safe to stop.
The car’s computer is protecting the engine from any further damage.