Tune-up time

I’m old enough to remember when the budding of the trees was more than a good opportunity to clean out the attic. You had to tune up the car, too, but that was in the days when spark plugs lasted only 20,000 miles and cars had analog ignition.

Who knows what points, rotor and condenser are today? Something called a "timing light" was also part of the process; mine now molds in the basement.

But you’re not off the hook just because spark plugs last 100,000 miles and your car has electronic ignition. Some of the things you might consider doing as the sap starts to flow: Replace your antifreeze and pressure test your cooling system for leaks, checking belts and hoses while you’re at it.

Unless you’re a master mechanic who uses technical manuals for bedtime reading, you’ll probably want to farm the job out – there’s not a lot of room under the hoods of modern cars, and many jobs require specialized tools.

You might want to make sure your emissions inspection is up to date – wouldn’t want to drive a polluter, would you? It’s true that a tiny percentage of oil-burning hulks contribute a huge amount of the air pollution in this country, and if we could get the clunkers off the road we’d have much cleaner spring skies.

Something we never worried about in the ’60s was the oxygen sensor that is part of modern emission systems. The sensor is located in the exhaust pipe and its job is to tell if your fuel mixture is too rich or too lean, producing a voltage that your car’s computer can read. If the sensor is malfunctioning, the computer has to proceed on guesswork. Fuel economy will suffer.

According to Canadian Driver, oxygen sensors are often overlooked during tune-ups. The sensor can be replaced at home, but it’s not for beginners. The entire exhaust system should be checked as part of the process, because exhaust leaks will confuse the sensor and also affect fuel consumption.

Carburetors (especially the diabolical double SUs on British and Swedish cars) gave us grief back in the day, but at least we never had to deal with fuel injectors, which can get gummed up and cause hard starting. Getting these cleaned might be a good idea as part of your spring tune-up.

There are still plenty of things you can do yourself. Now that it’s warm enough, you can go over the whole car and check fittings and clamps, including the electrical connections that can suffer from road salt and moisture. Little problems have a way of getting worse.

My wife’s car developed a rattle that she ignored, but it was caused by the crankshaft key working loose, allowing the crankshaft itself to wobble. This destroyed the fan belt, which in turn killed the power steering and turned the charging light on. A few more miles and the crankshaft could have gone right into the radiator.

I always hose down the inside of my wheel wells in the spring to get rid of the winter’s accumulation of road salt and grime. A wash and waxing are also a good idea. Tire pressure gauges are a good investment, because pressure can be affected by the temperature changes that occur in spring. Look at the windshield wipers, too, because winter takes a toll on them.

Finish the job in the interior with a vinyl conditioner like Armor All (or leather food, if so equipped) and a rug shampoo.

Now put the top down (only if the car’s a convertible!) and take a relaxing and well-deserved Sunday drive to see the dogwoods in bloom.