Vehicle Maintenance and Pre-Drive Checks
What this domain tests
Pre-drive checks and basic maintenance catch faults before they become emergencies. The exam tests your walk-around routine, tyre and fluid knowledge, warning-light meanings, and the difference between a legal minimum and a safe standard.
Daily walk-around
- Tyres: check pressure when cold, tread depth and sidewall damage; the legal minimum is 1.6 mm, but replace well before that in a wet climate.
- Lights: headlights, brake lights, indicators, hazards and number-plate light.
- Glass and wipers: clean windscreen, working blades, washer fluid.
- Under the bonnet: engine oil, coolant, brake fluid and battery condition, and look for leaks under the car.
- Inside: seat, mirrors, fuel level, warning lights, spare tyre and tools.
Warning lights
Red means stop safely and investigate: oil pressure, coolant temperature, brakes, battery. Amber means a fault to check soon: engine management, ABS, tyre pressure. Never drive with a red oil or temperature light on.
Worked example
On a hot afternoon after 200 km, a driver checks the tyre pressures and finds them 0.4 bar above the cold specification, then bleeds air out. That is wrong: tyres heat up in use, so hot readings are naturally higher. Correct pressure is set cold; bleeding hot tyres leaves them underinflated once they cool, increasing heat and the risk of failure.
Traps
- Setting pressures after a long drive instead of when cold.
- Treating 1.6 mm as a target rather than a legal floor.
- Ignoring a red warning light because the car still feels normal.