9 Things you should Never Do to Your Car

Most of us rely on our cars to facilitate day to day transportation, however, without proper knowledge of activities that cause harm to the vehicle car owners might end up in troublesome situations that lead to loss of time and money. In order to ensure that your vehicle remains in shape and performs efficiently, we’ve come up with the list of top 11 things that you should never do to your car. 

Driving without a Valid Car Insurance

As per the guidelines of the UAE government, it is mandatory to have valid car insurance. Without valid car insurance in UAE, you might end up in a troublesome situation. There are several insurance providers in the UAE that offer affordable and user-friendly plans to ensure optimum protection of your vehicle. Buyers can research the web and compare car insurance to get the best deal. 

Installing Oversized Bass Reflectors and Woofers in the Trunk

Installing oversized bass reflectors along with woofers in the trunk is one the most common practices amongst youngsters and so-called music enthusiasts. The primary behind avoiding this practice is because these heavy-duty audio systems make your charging systems and alternators work overtime which leads to the rapid draining of the battery. The biggest impact of installing oversized bass reflectors in the trunk of the vehicle is that it drains the lead-acid battery very quickly, which increases the frequency of battery replacement adding additional financial burden over the car owner. Furthermore, the risk of alternator failure increases substantially. The alternator is a device that charges the battery of the car and with its failure, the car might not function at all. If you really want your car to deliver bass-boosted output it is highly recommended that you install a high-output delivering alternator to minimize the risk of alternator failure. 

Pressure Washing the Engine

Pressure washing the car is a vital part of the overall maintenance process. However, very often cleanliness freak tends to pressure wash the engine of their cars as well which causes extensive damage to the engine and thereby to the vehicle. Modern-day cars have highly sensitive engines and consist of delicate electronic circuits, sensors, wiring harnesses, and integrated chips. Pressure washing the engine of your car can cause damage to this delicate micro-equipment which in turn can cause several intermittent malfunctions and issues. If you prefer your engine to be squeaky clean, it is advised that you should use a garden hose to ensure that the engine is not damaged. 

Towing the Vehicle with Wheels Down

If your car is an automatic transmission vehicle, you should never tow it with the drive wheels down. Towing your car with driver wheels down can absolutely destroy the vehicle. This is mainly because when cars with automatic transmission are run in such orientation the wheels generate a signal denoting that the car is in motion. Now the major issue arising here is that the vehicle is running without proper lubrication because when the engine is inactive there is no delivery of pressurized fluid through the transmission systems. In such a scenario the results can be devastating and can cause permanent damage to the vehicle. In order to avoid this damage, the best approach is to tow the car on a rollback orientation. 

Mixing Brake fluid with Power Steering Fluid

The brake fluid and the power steering fluid are two entirely different liquid lubricants that are used for different purposes. Very often due to lack of knowledge, similar appearance or ignorance car owners/drivers mix both fluids which can cause extensive damage to the vital systems of the car. When power steering fluid is delivered to the braking chamber there is a very high probability that the braking system will malfunction or even fail. Similarly putting the brake fluid into the power steering reservoir will cause the pumping system and steering gear to malfunction. An important tip here is to avoid the use of universal fluids as they might not be compatible with the steering gear or the braking system of your car. 

Using the Wrong Coolant

Coolants are vital to ensure the satisfactory functioning of the engine and other vivacious systems of the car. Using the wrong coolant can ruin the performance and functioning of your car’s engine. It can lead to premature failure of the radiator, water pump, heater core, and heating tubes and pipes. Furthermore, there is a very high likelihood that you can end up causing significant damage to the rubber seals, gaskets and components made out of plastic. In order to ensure the long life of your car, the vehicle owner should refer to the user manual to find out which coolants are compatible with specific metals that are used in your car. 

Driving with Oil Light On

Oil light that is ‘on’ can represent several situations. For instance, it might indicate that your oil is on the verge of exhaustion, or depletion. There is another possibility that there is a blockage in the oil delivery system leading to failure of the oil pump. In such a scenario one should not avoid the indication and immediately respond to your car’s call. Ideally one can use a dipstick to assess the level of oil; if the car is short on the oil you should get it refilled as soon as possible to avoid further damage. In case there is plentiful of oil but the light is turned on, it is recommended that you don’t drive the vehicle and get it towed to a mechanic to identify the issue causing the light to come on. 

Revving up the Engine

We all enjoy the classic roar of the engine produced while revving up the engine of a car. Ideally, car owners and drivers should never rev the engine of a car in order to keep it warm as it does not work and can cause significant damage to your engine since the oil hasn’t reached the core of the engine. Furthermore, revving your engine on a traffic light might sound good but in reality, it’s not good for your engine at all. Revving the engine on neutral and then rapidly shifting it into drive mode can harm the engine gearbox of the car. 

Overinflating the Tires

A common myth amongst a lot of car owners is that overinflating the tires of a car leads to better mileage and performance. The concept is not true at all and overinflating the tires will wear them out prematurely causing damage to the suspension systems as well. The mileage will not improve but your ride will turn into a rougher and bumpier ride. In order to make sure that tires of your car are optimally inflated, you can get them checked via tire pressure gauze. 

Conclusion

Most of us share an emotional bond with our car and feel agony if anything happens to the vehicle. To maximize the protection of the vehicle one should ensure that they have valid car insurance in uae as it will cover damages that occurred. Moreover, with the top 9 don’ts for your vehicle, we hope you will manage to increase the longevity of your beloved car.