Vehicle Maintenance and Servicing
This domain tests the routine checks and scheduled services that keep a vehicle safe, economical and legal, and the record-keeping that supports them.
Checks and schedules
Daily or pre-drive: engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, tyre pressures and condition, lights, horn, wipers, and any leak under the vehicle. Then follow the manufacturer's interval for oil and filter, air and fuel filters, brake inspection, coolant strength, battery terminals cleaned and greased, grease points, wheel alignment after kerb strikes and wheel balancing after a tyre change.
Tyres and alignment
Legal minimum tread depth in India is 1.6 mm; check pressures cold, because running heats the air and raises the reading. Tyre rotation evens out wear; a feathered or one-sided wear pattern points to alignment, while a cupped pattern points to worn dampers.
Records and compliance
Service history, job card, parts used, torque figures, valid PUC (pollution under certificate) and, for commercial vehicles, the fitness certificate. During the running-in period, avoid full throttle and sustained high speed.
Worked example
A car has done 9,500 km and the schedule says oil and filter at 10,000 km or 12 months. The owner reports short trips on dusty roads. Recommendation: change now at the lesser of the two limits, because dust loading and short trips, which leave moisture in the sump, are severe-service conditions. Reset the service indicator and record date and odometer reading.
Traps
Checking tyre pressure after a run; overfilling coolant so it overflows when hot; mixing two coolant types; skipping brake fluid renewal for years; treating a service as an oil change only and ignoring brakes, filters and lights.