Contents: Introduction ↡ Current care ↡
Introduction
This Chapter is designed to help the amateur mechanic maintain his vehicle in a state of maximum performance, economy, safety and reliability. Later in the Chapter you will find a complete schedule of routine vehicle maintenance procedures, as well as Sections describing the maintenance of individual vehicle systems. The Sections include descriptions of visual inspections, adjustments, component replacement and other useful tips. The location of individual components can be determined by the illustrations of the engine compartment and underbody. By servicing your vehicle in accordance with the mileage and time schedule and following the detailed notes below, you will have a clear maintenance program that will ensure long and reliable service for your vehicle. Remember that this plan is exhaustive, and following individual items and neglecting others will not produce the expected result.
Current care
As you service your vehicle, you'll soon discover that you can - and should - combine many procedures because of the similarities in the steps involved. For example, if the vehicle is raised off the ground to lubricate the chassis, you should inspect the exhaust system, suspension, steering system, and fuel system while you're underneath the vehicle. If the wheels are off for other work, it's a good idea to check the brakes. Finally, suppose you have to borrow or rent a torque wrench. Even if you only need it to tighten the spark plugs, you might as well check the torque on as many critical nuts and bolts as you have time for.
The first step in carrying out a vehicle maintenance program is self-preparation. Carefully study the materials of all Sections related to the upcoming procedures, then prepare all the necessary materials, equipment and tools. If you are afraid of encountering problems when performing some specific work, consult a specialist or a person who has already carried out this work.
Note. During each service, the service station additionally reads data from the fault memory of the electronic control units of the engine, ABS, airbag and anti-theft system using a device for interrogating the fault memory. For this purpose, it is recommended to contact the service station at certain intervals. It is necessary to keep in mind that some faults, such as failed sensors of the engine control system, do not lead to a noticeable decrease in the vehicle's performance. The control units have an emergency operation mode or operate on averaged parameter values stored in memory, which cannot be detected by the driver. The fault memory is interrogated via the diagnostic connector.
Maintenance is carried out in accordance with a certain period and mileage of the vehicle.