Beginners Guide to Looking After Your Car - Part 2

Previously we looked at the underbonnet checks you might want to do between services to keep your car happy. This time we're going to look at the outside and the sort of checks you can easily do without having to get your hands dirty.

Tyres

You can't underestimate how important it is to keep your tyres in good condition - failure to do so can make the car handle like a pig on stilts, reduce your ability to grip in wet weather, make it harder to stop in an emergency, damage your fuel economy and might even result in your local police force having a quiet word and giving you an expensive piece of paper.

You'll need to keep an eye on your tyre pressures and make sure they're kept at the manufacturers recommended level. This information will be in your handbook, or you may find it printed on a sticker somewhere on the car (inside the fuel filler cover, under the bonnet, the edge of a door,e tc). Tyre pressures are usually given in PSI, or pounds per square inch. Typical numbers might be 32psi for the front tyres and 30psi for the back. You may even be given a table of different values based on what you use your car for - this doesn't mean that you have to constantly change them, but just that you might want to keep them inflated to a different pressure if you always carry three extra people and their luggage.

To top up your tyres, you'll probably use an air pump at a petrol station, so you'll need to pull your car up so that the pump is about in the middle of your car - that'll make it easier to reach each tyre. Unscrew the dust cap from each tyre valve before you start, and either put them safely to one side or in your pocket. Garage air pumps come in two types - ones with a pressure gauge on the pump handle, and ones where you set the pressure first and it beeps when you reach it. The second type are easy - just use the up and down buttons to set the pressure for the front tyres you got from your handbook, put the end of the hose firmly on the valve, and wait until it beeps. Change the pressure for the back tyres and repeat. If you have the other type of pump you'll need to squeeze a trigger to let the air in, and look carefully at the gauge to make sure you get the right pressure. When you're pumping air the gauge will rocket to one end of the scale, so you'll need to use short blasts and read off the value inbetween. When you're done all the tyres, screw the dust caps back on.

Now you can have a look at the condition of your tyres. Ideally they should have the same depth of tread across the whole width of the tyre. If both outside edges of a tyre seem to be nearly bald but the middle is OK then the tyre has been run for a long time without enough pressure in it. If the middle is badly worn but the edges are fine it's had too much air in it. If it's really badly worn on just the inside or outside edge then you might have a few worn out parts in your suspension or steering that need to be looked at - you may also find that the car pulls badly to one side if this is the case.

The distance between the surface of the tyre and the bottom of the tread grooves has to be 1.6mm by law across the 75% of the tyre's width, but by that point the tyre is probably dangerous. Most tyres will have what are called 'wear indicators' which are little rubber bars down in the grooves. If a bar is level with the surface of the tyre, then it's near or at the legal limit. Don't allow your tyres to get that worn, as they'll make the handling unpredictable and possibly dangerous - it's not worth the risk.

It's also worth looking at the sides of the tyres to make sure there aren't any splits, bulges or major cracks. These could cause your tyre to blow out which will be nasty, so if you find one you should get that tyre replaced. You can have a quick look for nails and other sharp objects stuck in the tyre too, which can often be repaired at little cost.

Windows and wipers

Lots of road repairs now seem to use that horrible cost cutting method of leaving loose gravel on the surface and waiting for passing cars to roll it flat, so stonechips in your windscreen are becoming more common. If you pick up a large chip or a crack in the drivers line of sight then your car might fail its MOT, but there's a far better reason for keeping an eye on these: the windscreen makes up a lot of the car's strength, and if it has a large crack in it then it could shatter without warning or offer less protection in an accident.

If you find a chip and you have fully comprehensive insurance then most window repair places will do it free of charge. If you haven't, don't worry - window repairs come in a lot cheaper than replacements. The best thing to do is to wash the area carefully, dry it and then put a tiny piece of clear tape over it until you can get the repair done. This will stop any dirt getting trapped, and will also help to stop moisture getting in which can make the crack worse in cold weather.

Check your wipers too - if they have notches, are leaving smears or squeak badly then they should probably be replaced to save damage to your screen. Get decent wipers rather than the 'two for three quid' ones you find in discount shops because they generally don't do a very good job. If you buy them from a parts shop they'll be able to tell you the exact size needed for your car. Be aware that a lot of cars have different sized wipers on the driver and passenger side, so you need to remember which is which.

To replace a wiper, first lift the arm away from the windscreen until it stops. Rotate the wiper blade so it's at 90 degrees to the arm, place a hand on each side of the joint in the middle and put downwards pressure on. You should then be able to hook the wiper blade out and replace it by doing the reverse. Don't thump or bend the blades if they're taking an effort to fit or remove - they shouldn't need it, and you don't want to damage them.

Lights

You have a number of bulbs on your car - main/full beam, sidelights, rear lights, brake lights, reverse lights, fog lights, indicators (which also serve as hazard lights) - and you 're legally required to make sure they all work. It's far easier to test your lights with someone else helping so that they can call out when something appears to be broken, but to do it yourself you'll need to have the ignition turned on, then do the following:

• Switch your sidelights on and look at the front of the car to check both sides are lit. This will usually turn on both rear lights too.
• Put the lights onto main beam and check again
• Once more for full beam, but make sure you don't dazzle oncoming cars. Turn it off afterwards
• Switch your front (if you have them) and rear fogs on and check both ends of the car. You may only have one rear fog light by design
• Switch your hazards on and make sure all four corners and any extra indicators on the front wings are flashing.
• Indicate left and then right, checking each time to see that all indicators on one side of the car light up
• If you have a car or a wall behind you, you can check your reverse light by putting it into reverse gear with the clutch in and watching for the bright white light. You may only have one reverse light, but if you have two you'll be able to see that the light is even on both sides of the car
• Step on the brakes and look again to see an even red light on both sides behind the car.

If a bulb is broken it's usually just a matter of getting access to the back of the light in question (either by opening the bonnet or looking inside the boot), popping out the bulb in question, and replacing it with a new one of the same type. Your manual will tell you what types of bulb your car uses, and how to replace them, and you'll be able to pick these up from any parts shop. Make sure you don't touch the glass as this can shorten the life of the bulb - grip it with a cloth if necessary and give it a wipe once it's in place.

Cleaning

Keeping the muck off your car will prolong its life by helping to fight off rust and corrosion. If you feel like cleaning the car yourself instead of using a car wash, you'll need the following.

• A hosepipe or jet washer
• Two buckets, cheap ones will do
• A good car sponge
• A Chamois leather
• Decent car shampoo
• A good quality wax
• A pile of polishing cloths - cheap dishcloths will suffice, but NOT yellow dusters as they leave fluff.

Minus the hose or jet washer, the whole kit will probably cost about £25-£30 and last for a couple of years before you need to start replacing bits.

Give the car a blast all over with the hosepipe or jet washer to knock dirt off the surface, so it doesn't cause scratches when you shampoo it. Make sure both buckets are clean inside, fill them with water and add shampoo to one of them - read the bottle for the amount, usually a capful or so. Dunk your sponge in the shampoo bucket and start with the roof of your car, washing with a good amount of pressure and swirling motions. Every minute or so, rinse the sponge in the plain water bucket - this will help to trap the dirt that comes off instead of it sticking to the sponge and scratching the paintwork as you wash. Work down across the windows and bodywork, lifting the wipers as you go, and make sure you wash under the sides of the car (the sills) because that's where a lot of rust can start. You might also want to do under the wheelarches next for the same reason, but be careful of sharp edges. Rinse your sponge again and go over your wheels, paying special attention to all the surfaces if they're alloys.

You'll need to give the car a proper rinse with the hosepipe or jet washer now, making sure all of the shampoo is off. Once you've done this, start to gently wipe the excess water off with a chamois leather, wringing it out frequently. The car needs to be dry before you apply the wax, or you'll find it'll turn to cheese when it hits water and you'll have a pig of a time getting it off. Leave the car to stand for a bit if it'll help, but make sure it's almost dry first or you'll get nasty water marks on the paintwork. You might find it dries with fewer marks if it's not in direct sunlight.

Waxing the car is easy - all you need to do is fold a polishing cloth, pour a 2p sized dollop of wax onto it, and apply it to one panel of the car at a time with a firm, circular motion. Add more wax as your first dollop runs out - you'll probably need about four lots to do the bonnet, for example. Once an entire panel is covered, give it a couple of minutes to dry to a white haze, then take a clean cloth and polish it away with firm, circular motions. You should find that you're revealing a very high shine, and you've also helped your bodywork to resist rust and grime. Make sure you read the instructions on the wax bottle before you start though, as you might be warned to keep the wax away from the windows and any black plastic or rubber.

Stone chips

As you were washing your car, you might have noticed a few stone chips in the paintwork, usually around the bonnet and front wings. Stonechips are not only unsightly, but might allow rust to take hold below the paintwork. The easiest way to deal with them is to buy a pot of touch-up paint from your main dealer, who'll be able to give you the precise colour. These pots come with a built in brush but it's far too chunky to be useful, so your best bet is to pick up a tiny model makers paintbrush from a model or craft shop. Use this to take a small amount of paint from the built-in brush and just cover the bottom of any stonechips so there's no bare metal on show.

Ok, that's just about it. If you keep up with these quick checks every week or so and act quickly on anything you find, your car should last alot longer and suffer less problems along the way. Happy motoring :)