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Have you ever thought about all the different types of fluid it takes to
keep your vehicle operating? Probably not. I like to refer to these as the
forgotten fluids. We've got everything here from washer fluid, power
steering fluid, transmission fluid, brake fluid, the lifeblood of any
engine, the motor oil. You got to keep this stuff changed and you got to
use the right stuff, and of course, antifreeze. Depends on what part of the
country you live in, you got to have the right mixture of antifreeze and
water. I'll tell you more about that in a second.
Let's go back to the washer fluid for a second. This isn't one of the fluid
that wears out; it runs out. You got to keep that tank full. It has
absolute relevance to your visibility down range and ultimately, your
driving safety. Just find the windshield washer filler cap under the hood.
Top it off. Another important fluid under your hood is the power steering
fluid. What you're looking at here is a clean, fresh sample of nice, golden
power steering fluid, probably what it looked like when it went in your
power steering pump; probably not what you'd find in there now. In fact, on
our Tahoe, we've taken a sample out, tried to show you on a white
background just how dirty and nasty that power steering fluid actually is.
Now, over time, your power steering pump, via the seals and the hoses and
those types of things, will consume a little power steering fluid. I'm
going to show you how to check that. Now, if you're not sure where your
power steering fluid reservoir is, just check your owner's manual. It'll
tell you right where to find it under the hood. In this case, Chevrolet
actually gave us a picture of a steering wheel on the cap. You can't mess
this one up, very simple to check. With the vehicle shut off, if the
engine's cold, you want to pull your dipstick out, keep a rag under it and
look for the full cold signature on the dipstick. It'll tell you exactly
where it's supposed to be. We're right on track here. If you had a problem
on a trip, you wanted to check it on a trip and you're checking it while
the fluid is hot, follow the line where it says full hot. If you need to
add some, it'll tell you, add some. Not hard to do.
Another one of the commonly forgotten fluids is the automatic transmission
fluid. This stuff has a huge responsibility as it relates to your vehicle
rolling down the road. You've got to use the right stuff though. You've got
to change it at the recommended intervals. Not sure what to use? Check your
vehicle's owner's manual. It'll tell you exactly what you need. Now, you
can see that this transmission brand new, is bright red, brilliant in color
and it doesn't have any smell, any odor to it at all. If you've got burnt
transmission fluid, when you pull that dipstick out, chances are, you'll
smell it and you'll know, hey, it's time to change that transmission fluid.
It's easy to check. Let me show you how. With the emergency brake on and
the vehicle located in a safe area, start your vehicle up. We've already
cycled it through all the gears. Find the transmission dipstick. It
unlocks, you pull it up out and you look for the markings on it. Not sure
how to read the markings? Check your owner's manual. This one requires to
be up past the second little dot, which we're definitely in good shape. I'm
also looking at the condition of this fluid. It looks bright red, there's
no odor to it, it's not burnt. This transmission fluid's in good shape.
The first thing you have to do is locate the master cylinder and brake
fluid reservoir. It's always on the driver side firewall directly in front
of the brake pedal. In this case, it says right on the cap, 'brake fluid'.
It also tells us, 'use only dot 3'. Good guidance right here. Before we
crack open that lid, we're going to be smart about the time we spend with
that lid off, 'cause remember I told you, brake fluid is hygroscopic.
That's a fancy word for it absorbs moisture out of the air. So we don't
want the lid off very long. First thing you want to do is check the level
on the side of the reservoir. There's a minimum line, there's a maximum
line. We're just below the max. I like to keep it at the max. It avoids air
bubbles and vapor locks later on. So, I'm going to crack open the lid, I'm
using dot 3 brake fluid, get myself a funnel so I don't spill, top it off
right to the maximum line. Do not overfill this. Put the lid back on, make
sure it seals properly, feel it latch, we're good to go.
You've probably heard this one a thousand times, change your engine oil
every three months or 3,000 miles. The reality is today's oils are ultra
high-tech. Some of them can go longer than 3,000 miles. The most important
thing, follow your owner's manual recommendation for change intervals and
you got to use the exact same type of oil that your manufacturer requires.
It's a little bit of a project to do it. Just watch one of our video
clinics on how to change oil, you'll learn how. What I want to show you
hear, is look at this Castro Syntec oil. It's a synthetic oil, it's a nice
golden brown, clearly not blackened at all, it doesn't smell burnt, it's
nice, clean, fresh oil. That's the job it has inside your engine, is to
clean it, to lubricate it and keep everything working properly. The right
oil, the right amount of oil, changed properly impacts power and fuel
economy and ultimately, vehicle life, giving you a much better return on
your investment. Let me show you how to check it. You want to locate the
engine oil dipstick in the engine bay, pull it on out, and you'll see
there's indicators on the dipstick. You can see right here it says
'maximum' and there's level indicators. This vehicle's almost a quart low.
I'm going to show you how to add it, not hard to do. Unlike the
transmission fluid, we don't add the engine oil at engine oil dipstick
filler. We go to the engine oil filler cap that usually comes up off a
valve cover. It says right on it, 'engine oil'. It tells you '5W30'. That's
what we're going to, use, 5W30. That's really important. Remove the filler
cap, set it off to the side, add a funnel to keep things neat, get your
5W30 oil, in this case, synthetic, and we can go ahead and top it off.
And the last forgotten fluid is antifreeze. If you've ever seen anybody
stranded roadside with steam pouring out from under the hood, maybe it's
happened to you, it's no fun. Chances are, they were low on coolant, or
antifreeze. Coolant, antifreeze, it's the same thing. What you're looking
at here is 50/50. It's already mixed 50 percent water, 50 percent
antifreeze, or glycol. That way, you don't have to think about it. You can
just add the right stuff. Check your owner's manual and make sure you're
adding the right stuff if in fact you do need to add it. Look how clean it
looks when it's new. Fresh, good-looking antifreeze. I'm going to show you
how to check it. Now, in some vehicles, you'll find the radiator cap up
front on the pressurized system. It's usually silver and spins off. In
other vehicles, there's a reservoir over on one side one fender or the
other. Look for the coolant label on top of the lid, make sure you do this
when the engine's cold. You will get burned if it's hot. Now, before I
crack this open and check the quality of the antifreeze, I've done a visual
inspection out here where it says, 'full cold' and we definitely have
enough antifreeze in this engine. Going to back the lid off and I'll take
my sample checker, put it down in, draw a good sample right up into your
gauge, you're going to check two things. You're going to check the freeze
point of this antifreeze. We're good down to minus 29 degrees. We're in
real good shape. The other thing we can tell on the other side of the gauge
is a boiling point and we're clear up around 255 degrees for a boiling
point, so we're in good shape. We've got the right amount of antifreeze,
we've got the right stuff in. Empty it back in the reservoir, try not to
spill any - it's dangerous for animals - seal up the lid, and your
forgotten fluids are no longer forgotten.