Maintaining Your Ford Battery: Tips for Longevity

Ford vehicles are renowned for their reliability, but routine maintenance is required. Today, we're looking at 4 Ford services offered by your local Ford dealer to help your vehicle run reliably as long as possible or get it back on the road quickly. 1. Oil Change Oil changes are an important part of your standard maintenance checklist. To help keep your motor running strong, you need to bring your Ford in regularly for an oil change. Check inside your owner's manual for maintenance intervals, where oil changes are typically every 7,500 miles. more 2. Brake Repair Your brake system plays a big role in helping to keep you and your loved ones safe on the road. If your brakes squeal or grind, your brake pedal feels spongy, or your dashboard is lit up with a service indicator light, schedule a brake inspection right away. One of our Ford-certified technicians will inspect your brake system to determine which of your brake system's components is failing. After that, we'll advise you on the best solution. You may need a: Disc brake repair Parking brake adjustment Drum brake repair 3. Tire Rotation Getting your tires rotated around every 5,000 miles helps ensure your tires wear evenly. There are various factors that can also influence when you need a tire rotation so it's important to bring your Ford in routinely to see if a tire rotation is needed. 4. Transmission Service Your transmission is a crucial part of your powertrain, and it requires periodic maintenance just like other vital vehicle parts. Periodically, your Ford needs to come in for an automatic transmission fluid exchange. Just like clean engine oil helps protect your motor, transmission fluid is critical for an optimally functioning transmission. At the same time, you may need to get a filter change. Whether you need maintenance or a repair, we have you covered. Why You Should Get Ford Service from Your Local Dealership in Lanham, MD You should have your local dealership service your Ford to ensure that your vehicle gets the quality service it needs. Our qualified technicians stay up-to-date on training and can perform maintenance to help extend your vehicle's longevity. We also have the diagnostic equipment and OEM parts to correct any major problem you have. Our skilled professionals can help extend your vehicle's longevity and repair it. If your Ford needs to be serviced, contact us at DARCARS Ford of Lanham to schedule a service appointment.

Investing in a Ford Protection Plan will help give you extra peace of mind and safeguard your budget even after the warranty runs out. The Ford Maintenance Protection Plan, Ford Protect Extended Service Plan, Ford PremiumCARE Extended Service Plan, and the Ford Maintenance Protection Plan with WearCare are all designed to help ensure that your car and bank balance stay in the best shape. What Protection Plans Does Ford Offer? The Ford Maintenance Protection Plan The Maintenance Protection Plan is designed to keep your car in tip-top condition and run smoothly throughout its life. Great maintenance should help ensure that the resale value remains high, so it's one of the best ways to optimize your investment. You can choose the extent of your coverage, from two to eight years, and will be covered for: more • Brake pads, linings, and rotors • Oil changes and filters • Tire rotations • Engine belts • Spark plugs • Wiper blades • Shock absorbers Your car will also receive multipoint inspections, and fluids will be checked, replaced, and refilled. All Ford dealers in the US cover the plan, and you're guaranteed Ford-approved parts and service. The Ford Protect Extended Service Plan An Extended Service Plan covers the cost of parts that need replacing through defects or just normal wear and tear. Coverage comes in four tiers: • PremiumCARE • ExtraCARE • BaseCARE • PowertrainCARE Depending on the tier, these plans can provide coverage for the replacement of hundreds or even thousands of components. Electric vehicle drivers can access the PremiumCARE, ExtraCARE, and BaseCARE packages. The Ford PremiumCARE Extended Service Plan The PremiumCARE package is the most popular and comprehensive of the Extended Service Plans. It covers any necessary replacement parts for the engine, suspension, brakes, electrical systems, transmission, and steering and will help protect you from unexpected expense for 10 years, or 170,000 miles. In total, over 1,000 components are included in the PremiumCARE package. The Ford Maintenance Protection Plan with WearCare No matter how carefully you drive, it's impossible to guarantee that your car won't suffer small amounts of damage and wear. For more general protection with a lease, the WearCare plan provides coverage for a certain amount of normal wear and tear that might occur for the duration of your lease. It's available for up to 48 months and will cover missing parts of up to a certain value. Please check your Lanham Ford dealership for additional details. Ford Protect offers numerous other packages that can be tailored to meet your needs and budget, including TheftCARE, WindshieldCARE, and DentCARE, so you're guaranteed to find just the right level of coverage to provide you with both a car that runs perfectly and complete peace of mind. To learn more, stop by and see us at DARCARS Ford of Lanham, speak to our experts at our Ford Service Center, and discuss your precise needs.

Ford is built to be tough, but no matter how strong, there may come a time when you have to replace the engine. You can sometimes get around 200,000 and even 300,000 miles out of your engine before having to get a new one. Below, your Ford dealer tells you what to look for when your F-150, Mustang, or Bronco needs a new engine. Advice From Your Ford Dealer: Is it Time to Replace the Engine on Your Ford? Your Car Is Always Overheating If your car is constantly overheating, your engine could be the culprit even after you've had the cooling system inspected and repaired. When it gets too hot under the hood, the excessive heat can crack the engine block, causing irreparable damage. more Your Car Is Not Running Well Problems with your car's engine will cause an overall loss in performance. You will notice that your vehicle runs roughly, burns more gas, feels slow when accelerating, and is hard to start. You Hear Constant Knocking and Grinding Noises If you hear knocking coming from under the hood all the time, you have major problems. Knocking or banging noises are caused by worn bearings that support the motion of the moving components. When they eventually seize, it will cause severe engine damage. You See Smoke Pouring Out of Your Tailpipe Seeing a lot of thick smoke in your rearview mirror is never good. The color of the smoke will tell you what type of fluid is leaking into the engine. If black smoke is billowing out of your tailpipe, its gas enters the combustion chamber. Leaking engine oil will reduce lubrication and cause blue smoke. Leaking coolant, which will cause your car to overheat, creates white smoke. There Are Metal Shavings in the Engine Oil Many moving metal components under the hood work together to run your engine. When the parts become old and worn, they disintegrate, releasing metal shavings into the oil flowing through the engine. The metal shavings will wreak havoc. Your Check Engine Light Is On When one of your car's many sensors detects a problem, your car's check engine light will be triggered. If you notice the light is on, ask us to perform an engine diagnostic test to determine what is causing the problem. The faster you get the issue repaired, the less damage will occur, and you might even be able to avoid an engine replacement. If you are constantly struggling with engine issues and your vehicle is not running as it should, replacing your engine is better than continuously paying high repair costs. Contact DARCARS Ford of Lanham today to schedule a service appointment. Our certified and experienced Ford technicians will expertly replace your engine and ensure your vehicle will give you many more miles of driving pleasure.