The warm weather can lead to a harsh environment for your car. Now learn further about how summer heat impacts your vehicle.
Summer comes, bringing plenty of sunlight and heat that could have some unwanted effects on several parts of your car. But did you know how summer heat impacts your vehicle? To offer the car a chance to survive these hot days, we’d like to share a few tips to help it avoid ending up with serious issues.
Tires
One of the most important things you should do the whole year round is checking up on the tire pressure. The heat is the one causing the air pressure in tires, which makes it hard for the car to ride on many surfaces. Ensure to check the tires as well once a month, and remember to replace them whenever they get worn.
Doing this helps you know whether they get inflated in the right way or not. If a tire is over-inflated, it makes the center area of your tire to wear out faster than usual.
Otherwise, the risk would be higher than expected. Hot tires moving on hot pavement will surely trigger a blowout. Or the high temperature will break down the rubber of tires, making them dry out easily.
Besides, there’s no need to find an expert to examine the pressure. Simply use a tire air pressure gauge. It can be found at every auto component shops.
You can visit Tiredeets.com for a more detailed tire review and proper car care tips during the summer.
Battery
The battery of your car consists of water and acid, so in the hot summer, the water will evaporate. When this happens, the lead plates will be exposed.
Once the weather becomes cold, the battery won’t have the amperage to operate the car. Such an issue can take place anytime. Thus, try to beware of the stress the heat puts on the battery.
In some cases, the suspended plates of the battery can get looser and rub against each other. As a result, a higher discharge current occurs, leading to extreme heat buildup and thermal runaway. The issue becomes worse with the high load from the air conditioning system and convertible roofs.
To avoid that from happening, bring your car to the service center before summertime.
Doing so will help you make sure everything to works well in order. To check the power output of the battery, don’t mind having a mechanic do for you. This lets you know the health status of your battery, so you can decide to replace it or basically charge it.
Oil
As the car runs hot in the summer, the oil around the engine will be thinner due to the heat. In other words, your hot engine might need lubrication, so doing this is crucial during the summer. You must change the oil at even intervals and only utilize the recommended oil weight from the manual of the car owner.
If not, a few components of your engine won’t earn enough protection they need. It results in higher friction and the risk of engine breakdown. Let’s replace the old fluid with a decent one. Ensure it to get topped up so that the engine can be protected in the high temperatures.
With additional miles, a lot of people would like to do that during their summer trips. Apart from that, there are many fluids you need to check as well:
- Coolant: As the coolant level gets low, it causes overheating.
- Transmission fluid
- Brake fluid
- Power steering fluid
You can check the best oil for your car brand here.
Air conditioning system
All cars tend to arrive with an air conditioning system, which is a good thing to know, especially when the summer arrives. If not getting maintained properly throughout the year, the a/c system won’t possibly cool down during the heat.
Try to replace the air filter so that both cooling and the lifespan of the a/c system can get improved.
Since the air conditioning system is quite expensive, so detecting an issue soon will save you a lot of money for repair. Make sure that you can check any leak and cleanse vents that may be clogged. These help your system avoid working properly.
But always remember to head to the service center before summer. An expert should be here to do that for you. He would depend on how often you drive and avail the a/c to let you know whether you need to do it every 2 – 4 years or not.
Interior
Any plastic corner of the dashboard and other interior factors can easily break down due to the UV breakdown over time. In most cases, they turn discolored. If you’ve got a touch display in the car as others do, be careful since it can get damaged by the harmful rays of the sun.
Therefore, the best thing to do now is to prevent the interior from getting worse is to park the vehicle in the shade if you can. When you don’t have any garage, how about using a sun shield in the window?
For the belts, take a closer look into the hoses and belts to learn how worn they are. By doing that, it’s easier for you to catch any crack, spot, and other signs of wear and tear that are the most likely to occur in hot conditions.
Final word
Last but not least, don’t forget about preparing an emergency kit inside your car. Let’s consider a few items appropriate to summer like the rain poncho for instance. Besides, note that bird droppings, acid rain, bugs, and street dust can store on your vehicle during the summertime. They will damage the paint as well.
Give the car a good clean frequently. You can polish it to have a bit of extra protection. Doing a little maintenance beforehand will give you a chance to keep your vehicle in good shape for trips and more vacations.
