Checking all of your car’s key fluids takes less than ten minutes with the engine cold or recently cooled. The six fluids to check are engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, ...

Engine oil color reveals its age, contamination level, and operating condition. Fresh oil is amber or light brown. Oil darkened to black but still translucent after a few thousand miles is normal.

You're on a long drive, the oil light flickers on, and you pull over to check the dipstick. It's low, but the engine's hot. Should you wait for it to cool down, or top it off before it becomes a ...