Eight habits that can affect the performance of your car

You need to check your car everyday before you leave home to rule out issues such as leakages, low oil and coolant levels. You also need to know your car so that when any of the lights on the dashboard (R) go off, you can tell what the problem is. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

While some people do everything possible to ensure that their car is in perfect condition, others don’t fuss that much. Juliet Kigongo writes about some of the habits that affect the performance of your car.

Many times you see a car with a new number plate on the road but it either looks old or sounds so. Whereas others might be registered when already old, others are as old as six months and this makes you wonder what shortened the life span of such a car.
Samuel Katwe, the proprietor of Auto Scan garage, blames the short life span of such cars mainly on the owners and their handling of the cars. He identified the reasons below as responsible for shortening the life span of your car.

1. Driving fast on bad roads
Katwe says one of the main reasons your car will easily get spoilt is driving very fast especially on roads that have potholes.
“This is mainly for low cars. A car is a machine which needs special attention just like a human being and if not done, you will always be visiting the garage. The more such a car is driven fast on bad roads, the more it affects most of the parts such as the shock absorbers which loosen, tyres wear out meanwhile the brakes soften and the bolts loosen. So with time, such a car starts making funny noises.”

2. Not servicing your car
Not servicing your car will also shorten its lifespan. Katwe says every after at least 3000kms make sure your car is serviced. He explains that during servicing, they will check if the bolts are still tight, if there is still oil and coolant, among other things. Servicing includes other things such as checking the spark plugs, air cleaner, fuel filter, among others.
Katwe says whenever your car travels for long distances, “Make sure that you give it a good service so that you can give it a long life span.
Vicent Lutaaya, a mechanical engineer and the managing director of Triangle Auto Repairs garage at Kavule, explains that when oil stays in the engine for long, dirt will accumulate in it. The filter will remove the dirt for a while, but after some time, the filter will clog and the dirty oil will automatically bypass the filter through a relief valve thus causing more wear.
Lutaaya adds, “additives in the oil like detergents, dispersants, rust-fighters and friction reducers will wear out, so the oil will not lubricate as well as it should.”
Additionally, Katwe says it is also during servicing that you will determine if you need to change the fuel filter which has to be replaced every after 30,000km just like the timing belt which is supposed to be changed at 100,000km.”

3. Using fake or ill-fitting spare parts
This affects so many things and since the vehicle components are meant to last longer, when you put fake spare parts, it also spoils other parts for example when fake brake parts are used, they do not only make noise, but also affect the capability and braking system of the car which may cause an accident in the long run.
“When clients are told the price of spare parts, they always think you are cheating them so they go out and buy them, thus ending up with fake parts which do not last long and at times might affect other parts of the car,” Katwe explains.
Lutaaya adds that in the case of spark plugs, there are different types that go with different cars. “So if you use a type that does not match with the car, the car will shake until the right plugs are used.”

4.Careless parking
Where you park your car also matters. If you park it under sunshine, it affects it. This can make the car paint fade. More so, the heat that results from direct sunshine also leads to the wearing of the car seats especially if they are made of leather and during the rainy season, cars parked in open space tend to rust. “If you have no garage, you should buy a cover for your car,” he advises.

5.Pimping your car
What people may look at as beauty (pimping) may end up messing your car in the long run because the fiber used when pimping it breaks off at some point thus leaving your car with patches or small holes in the area where it had been placed.

6.Lack of knowledge about your car
Wilson Tamale, the Chief instructor/ director at Country View driving school, says while driving, anything can happen to your car if you do not follow the basic necessities thus leading to the short lifespan of your car. He explains, “Some drivers lack technical knowledge, training in basic information about the vehicle.”
He says if you do not have knowledge about the car you are driving, you will not be able to sense danger even when the lights on your dashboard are trying to warn you.
“For example, if you do not know the engine light on your dash board, you will not be able to tell that it has a problem even when the light blinks until the car stops running or refuses to start.”

7.Not paying attention to washing and maintenance places
Tamale adds that some people do not pay attention to the places where they take their cars for either maintenance or washing. He says before you zero in on a mechanic, you need to ascertain if they can do a good job with your car.
The same applies to the person who washes your car. Lutaaya says if they pour water in certain car parts such as the spark cables or the vacuum sensor while washing it, “the car will shake until the water completely dries out of these parts. In case the water gets into the alternator and the owner drives the car before this water dries out, the alternator will have a short circuit and this will prevent the battery from charging. So you will have to repair the alternator.

8.Not checking your car before driving
Tamale says if you want your car to last, you must do pre-driving checks routinely before leaving home.
This involves checking for the water or coolant in the radiator and if it is not enough, you refill it, you need to check the engine oil, hydraulic (transmission oil), tyre pressure, brakes, brake fluid, side mirrors and for leakages.
Such checks may seem like a wastage of time, but they help you diagnose a problem before it becomes worse.
Among these checks, checking for the coolant is very important because it helps in cooling the engine .
Therefore, if you want your car to have a high performance and a long life span, you need to pay attention to the above mentioned checks.