I Love Automotives

Posted on: 12 January 2019

There are some car maintenance tasks which must be carried out by a mechanic. Here are two types of car maintenance activities that require the involvement of a professional.

1. The replacement of car batteries

When the batteries in a car reach the end of their lifespan, they will need to be replaced. In this situation, the owner of the car should not try to carry out this work but should instead arrange for a trained mechanic to do it. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, as a battery deteriorates, its casing may crack. This can result in the acid housed inside the battery seeping out.

Removing a car battery when it is in this condition can be very dangerous, even if the person doing it is wearing protective gloves and eyewear. If for example, the battery slips from their hands whilst they are lifting it out of the vehicle and falls onto the ground, the leaking acid could splash onto the unprotected areas of their body. If their skin is exposed to this corrosive substance for more than a few seconds, they may be left with serious wounds and may end up developing an infection.

Secondly, if the car owner accidentally tips the old battery to one side whilst removing it from its location underneath the bonnet, the acid may drip onto other car parts in this area of the vehicle. For instance, if it drips onto some nearby electrical wires, it could corrode and destroy these connections, and in doing so, affect the functionality of the vehicle's electrics.

As such, this is a task that needs to be carried out by a mechanic, who will know exactly what precautions they need to take to stay safe and avoid damaging the vehicle whilst they are removing the old battery and replacing it with a new one.

2. The installation of components inside a vehicle's brake system

The components within a car's brake system can wear out if the owner of the vehicle routinely brakes in a forceful and abrupt manner. These parts can also sustain age-related deterioration. When this happens, it is important for the car owner to get these parts replaced by a professional. The reason for this is as follows; if for example, they try to replace the brake pads themselves, they may not install the new pads in the exactly the right position.

The main function of these pads is to act as a cushion that will prevent friction from damaging the other components within the brake system; as such, if they are placed in the wrong position, sections of the brake rotors or the calipers could end up sustaining friction-induced damage. This, in turn, could cause the brakes to fail whilst the car is on the road, which could then lead to an accident occurring.

Given this, the replacement of these pads should be done by a mechanic, who knows exactly how to align the pads so that they perform their function correctly.