Media post: How to Maintain your Land Rover
Land Rovers have long been praised for their off-roading or, should we say, “off-roving” capabilities! These heavy vehicles have proceeded to amaze off-roading enthusiasts with their hardiness and grit when it comes to tackling the outdoors. However, what Landy lovers don’t always tell you is that all this comes with regular maintenance and attention to detail as they look after their Land Rovers.
So, if you fancy getting into the Landy game, here’s how you can maintain your Land Rover to ensure that it stays in tip-top shape for when you brave the wilderness!
1. Take it for a regular service
The first maintenance tip we’d give anyone with any car is to keep up with their services. You should ideally get your Land Rover serviced every 26,000 km or every 12 months, depending on whichever comes first. That said, if you’re putting your Landy through some pretty rough off-roading, you might want to consider getting it checked more often.
In a regular service, a mechanic will usually change the oil, filters, belts, and spark plugs and check for any other issues that you may need to have fixed on your Land Rover. Having your regular services done isn’t just so that your car runs well. It’s a preventative measure.
Issues in cars are progressive normally. The longer you leave them, the worse they’ll get over time. By having your vehicle serviced, you’re replacing important components that are designed to assist your parts in running smoothly and reducing the wear and tear on them. As a result, you lengthen their lifespan, preventing issues from developing sooner.
2. Read the Manual
This is something we all tend to overlook all too often. Checking your Land Rover manual will help you learn exactly what and how to maintain your vehicle properly. Each Land Rover Model will have its own unique parts that will be needed to keep it going. You’ll find all the relevant information regarding what your Landy needs in the manual. If you can’t find your manual, look online and download one.
3. Check it regularly
Over and above taking your Land Rover for services every 26,000 km, we also recommend that you check it properly after you’ve been exploring and 4x4ing. While Land Rovers are built to take a beating, little things can go wrong with them when you’re off-roading. Some of these issues might only show themselves the next time you go out.
By conducting regular checks of things like tyre pressure, tread depth, and fluid levels, you’ll ensure that your Land Rover is always ready to tackle the outdoors and that once you are out there, you won’t run into a flat tyre or an overheating issue because you didn’t check your water levels.
4. Look for fluid leaks
Like most cars, Land Rovers have several fluids that are used in the engine or through the car’s system to keep it running. As a Landy owner, you need to familiarise yourself with what these fluids look like so you can pick up on what’s leaking as soon as you spot the leak.
In a Land Rover, you’ll have oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant, power steering fluid, transfer case fluid, and water. Most of these fluids look slightly different and might have a different feeling or smell. However, if they’re leaking, it might show that you have a problem on your hands that you may want to fix before you head off on your next adventure.
5. Tighten all belts or change them
Like oil and other engine necessities, your timing belt might also need a change. Land Rover recommends changing the timing belt on its vehicles once they’ve reached roughly 168,000 km to ensure they don’t snap.
The timing belt on your Land Rover keeps the valves and pistons running in sync as the engine works. If the belt snaps, the pistons could collide with the valves, bending them, which could be an expensive fix.
6. Keep an eye out for performance changes
For any car owner, you’ll probably remember the stress you felt and the attention to detail you had with your first car when you heard it making a different sound or felt it handled differently. While we can often be paranoid about some things, paying close attention to your Land Rover’s performance is actually a good habit to get into.
It’ll help you spot any changes in how the vehicle runs, allowing you to get to the bottom of the issue before it develops into something worse. Here are some things for you to keep an eye on:
– Watch the vehicle’s temperature. In most vehicles, everything is interconnected. So, if your car’s temperature is spiking, then your coolant or water levels might be low or empty. If you notice your car overheating, turn it off immediately and try to find the cause of the issue
– Keep a close eye on your Land Rover’s fuel efficiency. Land Rovers are pretty heavy vehicles, so they won’t be the lightest car on fuel. However, if you notice a sudden change in how much fuel your car is using, it might mean that your car needs a service or that something else is wrong with it
Land Rover servicing is the best way to resolve any of these problems and catch them before they become worse.
Final Thoughts
In all honesty, the key to any car treating you well for years is good, regular maintenance. However, for cars that go off-roading, like the Land Rover, regular maintenance is even more important and might be more regular than you think. Follow the tips above, and your Landy will keep you climbing dunes for a long time!
