My dad is not what most would call “handy”. He, to this day, has no earthly idea what to do with a wrench, much less have any working knowledge about cars. Even if my dad knew the first thing about cars, when I was a teen, I couldn’t care less about cars, how they worked, or what they needed. I had many more super important teenager things to deal with at the time, like the fact that all of my friends had the new flip phone and I just had the super lame Nokia (I swear that thing was rolled over by my mom’s Blazer and still worked. HOW???).
Now that I’m a super-mature and independent grown woman (I grocery shop now. *hair flip*), I have learned at least the basic maintenance my car needs. Fun fact, even the basics are pretty involved. I violently underestimated how many fluids went into the everyday function of my car, but here we are.
Motor oil, transmission fluid, Antifreeze????????? SEND HELP! Ok, so let’s try to break this down a bit.
Motor oilChanging your oil is one of the most basic pieces of car maintenance we do. But what does it do? WHY do I need to get my oil changed EVERY 3,500 miles? Simply put, oil lubricates your engine. Oil reduces friction and keeps your engine from overheating all of the MANY moving parts. This oil also prevents rust by blocking oxygen from getting to the metal. So win win!
Transmission fluidThe unsung lubricant hero of your car, the transmission fluid works a lot like motor oil, lubrication, and cooling. All good things. As transmission fluid moves through an automatic transmission, it gets pressurized, which provides the hydraulic power needed to perform the transmission’s basic functions, like shifting gears.
Antifreeze Ok, so this name is moderately confusing as it does more than prevents water in your radiator from freezing, it also keeps things from boiling…so a more appropriate name might have been Anti-Extreme-Temperatures, but that’s kinda a mouthful, so Antifreeze it is. Adding antifreeze to the water in your radiator lowers the freezing temperature of the water, which helps prevent freezing in cold weather.
Brake FluidLike transmission fluid, brake fluid gets pressurized and provides the force that activates your brakes. It’s quite a process, and I’m not super well versed in the technical side of how it works, but just know that when you need to hit the brakes because a pedestrian with headphones and a death wish crossed the road without looking, know that this fluid is the reason you are stopping!
Power Steering Fluid By this point, you have very likely figured out that most of these fluids serve to remove the majority of the friction going on in your vehicle. I mean, there are a LOT of moving parts going on here, so as many of the other liquids power steering fluid provides lubrication for the steering gear and makes it easier to steer your car. When you turn the steering wheel, a small opening allows pressurized power steering fluid to move in and help you direct the front wheels. Quite a force, right?!
Now that you know how important all of these liquids are, stop by Harchelroad Motors of Imperial and Wauneta to get them checked out!
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