Caring For Your Classic Car After Winter - By: Carl A. Phillips

As is true with most cars, one of the continuing costs of owning a classic car is maintaining it. If you neglect its care, the value of your auto can drop dramatically. To reduce the chances of auto breakdown as well as pricey repair expenses, it can be helpful to set up a yearly maintenance schedule to keep it in tip-top condition. And, spring maintenance is a good place to start.

There is no better time to run a compression test on your auto than the beginning of Spring. As you undoubtedly know, your car's engine is, far and away, the most crucial component of any automobile. Because of this, testing it once a year is one of the best things that you can do. But, irrespective of whether your car has been sitting in the garage all through the winter or if you have been actively driving it, there's no better time to test it than when the weather starts to turn nice once more.

A compression test basically tests the health of your engine. In fact, if you feel like your car has been losing power or is slow to accelerate, the problem can, many times, be traced to compression problems in the engine. In order for your engine to produce the necessary power to move your car, it has to be able to produce sufficient air compression. This is something that you can either do yourself using a low cost compression gauge. Alternatively, you can have a mechanic run the compression test on your car for about seventy dollars.

The next thing that you want to do is to change your oil and oil filter. Even though the engine is the most crucial part of your auto, keeping the oil clean and at the right level is the primary way to ensure that the engine remains in tip-top condition. Making this an essential part of your spring maintenance guarantees that it is not disregarded.

In a classic car, the condition of your car's steering and brakes are especially important from a safety standpoint. Unfortunately, many car owners fail to periodically check these items. And, if your classic car has power steering, you want to check the steering fluid. Low levels of steering fluid will make it more difficult to turn the wheel. Have both your brakes and your brake fluid checked. In many accidents where the driver has problems stopping, the problem can be traced to either insufficient brake fluid or inferior quality brake fluid.

When working with antique automobiles, you have to pay particular attention to the kinds of fluids that you put into it. The wrong formulation can ruin your car. Many of newer product on the market are not necessarily good for older model cars. As a result, when changing oil, brake fluid, and steering fluid on your classic car, try to use the same formulations as the original car used.

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