There are many different fluids and lubes in your car to make the different parts and systems from under its hood work splendidly. Most of these vehicular fluids are made to catch dirt and debris within your vehicle, from carbon to other waste products, in order to avoid damage within your vehicle.
They have a translucent quality to them at first but they're soon tinged with some sort of different color. In the case of amber oil, it turns to brown or black sludge. Transmission fluid starts off as pink.
Power steering and brake fluids start off as clear. The idea of fluid maintenance is to make sure the fluids are kept as clean as possible when push came to shove.
Keeping Tabs on Your Fluids
- Keeping Fluids Clean: You should make sure the fluids are clean by knowing when to flush them down and put in a fresh supply. This will ensure they can do the job they're made to do. Sludgy oil tends to slow your car down rather than lubricate, clean, and cool down your vehicle. Don't wait until they're dark or super filthy to have them finally replaced altogether.
- Fluids in the Engine Cooling System: The only liquid that's not translucent is the one in the engine cooling system. Depending on the make and model of vehicle you have, it could come in a rainbow of colors like clear, blue, pink, gold, green, and the like. Don't mix your vehicle's coolant with a different type of coolant. Only use the recommended coolant type for your type of vehicle to avoid a gel effect within the mixture.
- Fluid Maintenance with Chain Auto Dealers: When having your fluids or liquids maintained, you should go to franchise auto dealers. This is because they deal with different vehicles and their respective coolants and lubricants every single day. They also offer more choices in spare parts in case your car systems start to fail due to mileage or damage. Since the recession, auto dealers no longer specialize on specific makes and models to make ends meet.
- Fluid Maintenance with Family Mechanic Shops: The non-franchised auto repair shops are the Mom and Pop VHS Rental Stores of the car repair industry. They're not like blockbuster when it comes to helping you determine the state and age of your inner car liquids, but they were the first ones to deal with multiple types of vehicles before dealerships followed suit. Before the recession, franchise auto dealers mostly dealt with the make and model of vehicles they sold. They have more experience being jacks-of-all-trades.