We all know that flushing at home is important, but it’s also very important on our automobiles. You know, cars have become very heavily dependent upon electronics, and things like automatic transmissions now that use electronic controls, well they really need to be flushed on a regular basis. That means every two years or 24,000 miles, unless your owner’s manual wants it earlier than that. And make sure when you have it flushed that the fluid looks just exactly like what you’re going to put back in it. Wait for the fluid to change color and you’re actually damaging the transmission.

The engine, that’s a very expensive part, and it needs routine flushing as well. There are areas in an engine where oil doesn’t circulate all that well. It puddles and it turns into sludge, even though you keep your oil changed. So 24,000 to 30,000 miles, have an engine oiling system flush. It will use chemicals that will get rid of all of that dirt that has built up over time.

Power steering: power steering repairs today can cost almost as much as a transmission or an engine repair, yet most drivers ignore the power steering. You shouldn’t do that. You should flush the power steering every two years or 24,000 miles. Again, chemicals will clean the system, the new fluid will be put in it, and it will last a lot longer.

The cooling system, the radiator and everything, it needs to be flushed regularly. It should be done every two years unless you have a long life coolant from the factory. And here again, this is one of those situations where you don’t want the coolant to change color. What you take out should look exactly like what’s going back in.

Carbon is a big problem. Carbon needs to be cleaned out of engines today to keep them so they’ll pass emissions and that they’ll last the life that they should and that they run properly. This is a carbon depletion machine. It uses strong chemicals to clean the intake valves, to clean the fuel injectors, the tops of the pistons and so on. This should be done every 24,000 to 30,000 miles. All of these things will make your car last longer and drive better.

If you have a question or a comment, write to me.  The address is MotorWeek, Owings Mills, MD, 21117.