Car maintenance and theory test: part one
Knowing where to find certain features on a vehicle and how to maintain them has become an integral part of the driving theory test and driving test. Therefore, it is essential that you know what you are doing.
Being able to tell the difference between your car’s battery and your car’s hood will prove important when it comes to answering the test questions and taking the driving test.
In your theory test, you may be asked a question about a vehicle battery. Would you know what to do if the battery was dead to get the car to start again?
Before you begin your driving test, the instructor will raise the hood of the car and randomly select two features for you to identify. Your instructor might ask you how to check the oil level, so knowledge of vehicle maintenance certainly pays off.
Basic vehicle maintenance
The first part of this series covers basic vehicle maintenance. Any number of questions could come up on your vehicle maintenance related theory test, but here is a list of the most common topics covered on the exam regarding vehicle maintenance:
Lights
· Brakes
· Direction
exhaust systems
Seatbelts
Defoggers
Washer wipers
what you need to know
How all the lights and indicators work
How windshield wipers and windows work
How to monitor exhaust emissions
Know how to check seats, seat belts and head restraints
In addition to the items above, you should also familiarize yourself with all of the warning displays on your vehicle’s instrument panel. It is not unusual to find questions on the theory test related to the dashboard panel of a vehicle.
When starting a car, if there is a problem with the vehicle, your instrument panel will indicate the source of the problem. It could be a low oil level, for example, so as part of your knowledge test and driving test, you’d need to know how to add oil to a vehicle.
Tires are also another common issue when it comes to vehicle maintenance. Knowing your tire pressure and being able to identify when a tire is so worn it needs changing could be the difference in passing your knowledge test and driving test.
For example, do you know what the legal tread limit is for a used tire on a car driving on the highway? Well, now is the time to find out…
You’ll also need to know what impact the damaged tires might have on the rest of the vehicle. For example, under-inflated or over-inflated tires will affect steering performance and braking ability.
That wraps up part one of this series…watch this space for part two!