Summers can be tough on people, but they can be even tougher on cars. Drivers often forget that the heat they feel is nothing compared to the heat generated under the hood or on the road surface on a hot summer day. This is why preparing your car before those scorching summer days arrive should be considered as a top priority for even the least enthusiastic car DIYers such as myself.
If I am honest with you, I’ll tell you that I’d much rather spend my leisure time relaxing in the garden while playing those award winning NoviCasino online casino slots than pop the hood open and investigate the hoses there. However, some things just need to be done if you want to avoid being stranded on the highway on a 40 °C day.
Check Your Coolant Levels
This should be among your top priorities when doing a summer check-up. Coolant is essential in keeping the engine cool and cooling the air which goes inside the cabin via the air conditioner.
If there isn’t enough coolant in the cooling system all sorts of problems can occur. The most dangerous of these is your engine overheating. When there is not enough coolant, the engine temperature will quickly start to increase and it will be only a matter of time before you start seeing smoke coming from under the hood. When this happens, the engine light turning on will be the least of your worries.
This is why it is of upmost importance that you check that the coolant level is between the MIN and MAX mark in your coolant reservoir and make it your habit to check the coolant level once a week.
It is also recommended that you do one of those coolant flushes before the summer comes as old coolant can get quite acidic and when combined with scorching summer temperatures can crack even the most enduring coolant hoses.
Check Tire Pressure Regularly
People think that they should worry about tires only in winter, but the opposite is actually true. Winters are quite easy on tires as the cold winter temperatures do not pose much of a treat for most standard tires.
However, driving with hot tires on a road surface whose temperature is 60 °C or more can easily cause a blowout and ruin your day, or even worse, that summer road trip that you planned for so long.
Fortunately, there are some easy steps that you can take which can minimize this threat which is always a possibility in summer. One of the first things which you should do is to check the tire pressure. Tires with lower tire pressure than recommended heat up much more quickly than tires inflated at the recommended pressure thus increasing the risk of a blowout.
To find out what the recommended tire pressure is for your particular vehicle you should consult your user manual. However, be careful to check your tires’ pressure only when they are cold i.e. when the car has been sitting in a shade for at least 2 hours.
