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"I've been around cars for a long period of time. And in all that time, I've seen people do some pretty dumb things with their cars. And today, I'm going to talk about a few of them so you don't do them to your own car.\n''People are running out of gas all the time, which is very bad for the car. People are jump-starting their cars backwards which can lead to major electrical issues, then they forget to change the engine oil and coolant.''\nI mean, people do a lot of crazy stuff with their cars, not thinking about the consequences. But here are the 4 things you should never do to your car:\n\n\n\n1. Never Jump Start Your Car Backwards\n\nNow the first thing is never jump start your car backwards. If you look at any car battery, you'll see one side has a plus, and the other side has a minus on it. And of course, the plus is the positive cable, and the minus is a negative cable. So when you jump start a car, get the red positive cable, stick it on a positive battery. Then get the other positive cable of your jumper cables, the red one, and stick it on the positive terminal of your battery. On some batteries is easy to know because it's got a big plus on the left side and a negative on the right side. But many car batteries have the markings under the battery terminals, so you can't see them. If you don't know which is which, move the battery terminals out of the way, so you can see which is plus and which is minus. Because if you hook them up backwards, you're going to have serious electrical problems in your car. You can destroy the alternator. You can destroy the main computer of the car. You can fry all kinds of stuff. So never jump start a car backwards. It only takes a few seconds to check. Always put the positive on a positive, and the negative on the negative. If you need new jump-start cables, I have been using these and I am happy with them. See them on amazon.com.\n2. Running A Car Out Of Gas\n\nNow, the next dumb thing I've seen people do is running a car out of gas. If you're running low on gas, put some more gas in. Don't try to start a car that's run out of gas, and here's why. If your gas gauge really is on empty and the car won't start, stop it right there. Because if you keep cranking the engine with the car out of gas, the fuel pump will suck air and burn itself out. And that's because most motor cars have their fuel pumps inside the gas tank. And strange as it sounds, the gasoline lubricates the bearings in the electric pump. And if you run out of gas and this sucks air, it will burn the pump out. Then you have to crawl under the car, pull off the gas tank, and change the pump assembly. And some of these pumps cost more than $500 or $600. So if your gas gauge is stuck on empty, don't keep trying to start the car. Put some gas in it first.\n3. Not Changing The Engine Oil\n\nThe next dumb thing I see all the time is people not changing their oil frequently enough. I saw lots of engines blow up because the people didn't change the oil enough. And it's even more important in modern vehicles because most of them have variable valve timing. Most modern cars have variable valve timing engines, even more small holes that oil has to go through. And if you clog them up and ruin that, you can spend thousands fixing that. So if you're using conventional motor oil, change the oil and filter every 3,000 or 4,000 miles. I don't care what they suggest. I change mine every 3000-4000 miles and never have engine problems. And if you're one of those people who always seems to forget to change the oil, you should use fully synthetic oil - see on amazon.com. You can change that every 7,000 or 8,000 miles. It costs a lot more but it also lasts a lot longer.\n4. Not Changing The Coolant\n\nThe last dumb thing I'm going to talk about is the failure to change the coolant in your car. Coolant wears out over time and should be changed out. It's a simple thing to do. If you have conventional antifreeze, you change it once every three years. And if you use extended-life antifreeze, you can change it out once every five years. See on amazon.com. No big deal, but don't forget to do it, because modern engines have a lot of aluminum parts, and aluminum doesn't rust, but it corrodes very badly if the anti-corrosion parts of the antifreeze break down.\nI understand. Sometimes you don't have free time or money. If your car is due for an oil change, trust me, its better to leave it in the garage until you find time or money to change it. It's always about the small stuff that lead to major issues. I remember when I was younger I really didn't have time to do these stuff. I would always drive 1000 miles more than I am supposed to and overtime the engine just stopped working. I was more serious with the next car I bought. If i couldn't make it to change the oil or some other issues, I would leave the car in the garage or I would give it to my dad and he would take it up to the mechanic.\nSo now you know. Learn from other people's mistakes and keep your car running smoothly down the road.\nIf you had any bad experience with some of the issues that I talked about, please make sure to write a comment and tell us all about your experience. I can learn from you, as well as you can learn from me.\n\n\n\n\nIs your engine oil due for a change? Visit our Car Fluid Guide Website to learn the importance of changing your oil on time, which type of engine oil is best for your vehicle, and much more."
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