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Car Care and Roadside Emergencies PDF
Car Care and Roadside Emergencies PDF
Car Care and Roadside Emergencies PDF
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Use a clean cloth to rub spots off the chrome. 9.
How to Polish Your Car
Polish the car only after its been washed. Polishing a 1.
dirty car wont have any effect.
Make sure to use 2. car polish on your car. Read and
follow the instructions on your specic polish.
Work on only one part of the car at a time (roof, sides, 3.
hood, and so on).
Apply to a clean terrycloth towel a dab of polish about 4.
one inch in diameter. Using a circular motion, rub the
polish over the car. Give the polish a few minutes to
dry, then buff with a (different) clean terrycloth towel.
Repeat for each section of the car. 5.
How to Touch Up Your Cars Paint
Before you can touch up any scratches or scrapes on your
cars paint job, you have to buy the right paint. The paint not
only must match your cars color but also must match the
type of paint on your car: lacquer or enamel. To match the
color, you need your cars color code. This may be printed
in the owners manual or in a tag pasted on the interior of
the car, often on the inside of the drivers side door. You
can also call the manufacturer to get both the code and the
paint type. Touch-up paint comes in both spray and bottle
form. For small scratches and scrapes, youre probably bet-
ter off with a bottle.
In addition to the paint, you should buy lacquer or
enamel paint primer. Youll also need some rubbing alco-
hol, sandpaper, and precision touch-up applicators.
Use rubbing alcohol to clean the area that needs 1.
retouching. Then scrape it clean of rust, paint, and dirt.
Sand the area if it needs smoothing. When sanding, 2.
keep both the paper and the metal wet.
Protect surrounding areas of the car with layers of 3.
newspaper and masking tape.
From a distance of one inch, spray the area with primer 4.
and let dry for a half hour. Smooth with wet sandpaper
and clean with rubbing alcohol.
Apply paint just as you applied primer. Apply many thin 5.
layers of paint rather than one thick layer.
To x major scrapes or other imperfections in your cars
paint job, bring the car to a professional.
How to Improve Gas Mileage
Good gas mileage can save you hundreds of dollars a year
in fuel costs. Though gas mileage depends largely on the
kind of car you drive, there are some actions you can take
to make sure you get the best mileage possible for your
type of car.
Dont skip scheduled maintenance: Your cars
manual includes a section on scheduled maintenance,
which lists the mileage intervals at which your car
requires certain tune-ups. Abiding by this schedule
will ensure that your cars parts and operations stay in
top shape. The wear and tear that will arise if you skip
scheduled maintenance will make your engine work
harder, reducing your gas mileage.
Avoid stop-and-go trafc: Cars typically consume
the most gas when accelerating, so try to avoid trafc
situations that involve lots of stopping and starting.
You may have to plan alternate routes or change your
schedule to avoid this type of driving.
Dont idle: Always shut off the engine if you plan
to stop for more than one minute. Idling the engine
wastes gas.
Limit winter warm-ups: During cold weather, warm
up your car only until the temperature gauge indicates
that your engine has reached its normal operating
temperature. This should typically take no longer than
ve minutes.
Reduce weight: Extra weight inside the car or trunk
reduces mileage, so keep only essentials on board.
Remove roof racks whenever not in use, as they
contribute additional weight and reduce aerodynamics,
both of which drag down mileage.
Drive 55: Driving 55 miles per hour on the highway
gives you about 15% better gas mileage than if you
drive at 65 mph, and about 25% better than if you drive
at 75 mph.
Windows and A/C: Air conditioning reduces mileage
because it uses engine power to run the cooling
systems compressor. At the same time, opening
windows makes the car less aerodynamic, which also
pulls down mileage. A compromise is to open only
one window if possible and keep the A/C turned off as
much as possible.
Check tire pressure: Always inate tires to the
maximum suggested psi reading. Underinated tires
create more drag and friction, reducing reduce mileage
substantially (see How to Check Tire Pressure).