3 Questions To Ask Your Mechanic

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Do you interview your mechanic when you take your vehicle for repairs? Well, many car owners do not. They simply explain the vehicle's issue and await repairs. Nevertheless, interviewing your mechanic can give critical insights into the condition of your car. Besides, you could learn a few preventive maintenance tricks. This extract puts forward some questions to ask your mechanic as they repair your vehicle. 

1. What Causes the Issue at Hand? 

The mechanic might not give a definite answer at first. In most cases, they need to inspect the vehicle and assess its service records to establish the problem. For instance, if your car has an overheating issue, it could be that it has a worn-out water pump or thermostat. Conversely, if the vehicle produces too much smoke, the mechanic checks the colour of the smoke to establish the issue. For instance, white smoke could be caused by damaged gaskets, while black smoke indicates the engine has a rich air-fuel ratio. Blue smoke could signal damaged oil seals. 

2. Can the Issue Be Prevented? 

Once the mechanic diagnoses the issue, inquire about the preventive measures. Some problems, such as damaged seals, worn-out injectors, filters, or pumps, do not have any prevention measures since they are expected to wear out after a specified mileage. Therefore, all you need to do is replace them at the earliest stage to prevent damage to other systems. However, your driving and car maintenance habits could be why your vehicle experiences particular issues. For instance, overloading the vehicle or exceeding its hauling system could damage the transmission and cause overheating. Similarly, driving in the wrong gear could cause overheating. Failure to observe the log book maintenance schedule could lead to chronic issues. For instance, if you do not change the timing kit at the recommended interval, it could slip, damaging the valves and other critical internal components. 

3. Does the Vehicle Have Other Issues? 

A visit to the mechanic is an opportunity to establish the condition and roadworthiness of your vehicle. Therefore, ask the professional to inspect and test other vehicle systems. For instance, the mechanic could check the service records and ask you to consider fuel line servicing. While the vehicle could be functioning properly at the moment, you will experience mild to chronic issues in the future if you do not follow the mechanic's recommendations. For instance, you could experience low power or increased fuel consumption at first. Eventually, the engine could overheat and knock. Usually, the mechanic draws a maintenance plan indicating immediate, short-term and long-term repairs. It helps keep your vehicle at optimum operating conditions and in a near-new state. 

7 June 2022