Q&A for How to Perform a Basic Tune up for Your Car

Look for dents, scrapes, wear, and missing paint. Also, keep an eye out for stubborn spots that feel like small bumps to the touch—these are the beginning of rust. Thankfully, you can polish them out with rubbing compound or automotive wax.

Always check for even wear, as uneven wear can indicate suspension problems. Also, take a look at your tire pressure, since uneven pressure can lead to wear problems and affect mileage. It also helps to inspect your lug nuts and spare tire. Make sure you have your jack, handle, lug wrench, and chocks accessible, too.

It depends on your car. Some spark plugs can be very difficult to change and may require professional service.

Check for leaks, swelling, and any hard and soft areas. Then, make sure that the hoses are cool to the touch. While you're at it, squeeze the hoses to feel for any areas of concern, and replace any hardened and soft/worn hoses.

The 5 main fluids are coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, and washer fluid. Always take time to check these and top them off, if necessary.

Make sure that the connections are tight and that there's no corrosion. If you can, top off the water with some distilled water.

Look up your vehicle's firing order.

Mostly, no. When you go to your auto parts store, ask if they are pre-gapped.

Take the spark plug out and examine the gap at the end; if it is corroded or there is almost no gap, then it is bad.

Unscrew the light cover from inside the trunk. Most lights just pop in and out.

Go to autozone.com, enter your car's info, and search for spark plugs. You shouldn't need performance spark plugs. Other shops may have the online search tool as well. I use Bosch Iridium spark plugs so I looked on Bosch's website for the part number.

Check your car battery. If the battery is dead, your car will not start when you turn the ignition.

Maybe. I recommend that you go see a BBB rated and ASE certified technician. It could be that you need new shocks or the frame needs to be worked on.

With labor it is about $130, without it's about $70-$80. It depends on the oil and parts selected. I recommend fully synthetic oil.

Use a pocket knife or flathead screwdriver to cut between the clear plastic and the trim/border around it.

Without a spark plug, ignition is not possible. There might also be a chance of fuel leaking from the spark plug hole.

Check your electric radiator fan motor. If it's failing, it will small like burning plastic and will come through the vent system were you can smell it.

This could be as the result of a few things but try looking into your motor mounts. There’s usually one underneath the engine and one or two on the sides. These stabilize the engine to the vehicle and reduce vibration.