You may have seen some guides out there that help you to prepare for the winter months, what about prepping your car for the summer months? Make the summer months cause less wear-and-tear on your vehicle with the helpful steps below.
Begin with the Tires
The tires of a vehicle could be considered one of the most important aspects of a vehicle. Your tires will have an impact on the safety and performance of the car. Raise your gas mileage by around 0.6 percent. You can take it up all the way to as high as three percent. Meanwhile, an underinflated tire can lower your gas mileage by 0.2 percent for every drop in 1 psi.
Test the Brakes
During the snowy months, brakes deal with a lot of abuse due to ice and slippery roads. As a result, the brake pads can suffer from what’s known as extreme thermal cycling. Because of this, the temperatures can reach astronomical heating due to deep puddles and freezing water. If you know how to work on cars, remove your wheels to inspect the brakes and the brake pads to check for wear and tear. If you notice crumbling close to the edges or heavy discoloring or the drums replace the breaks.
Inspect the Oil
Before the summer season hits, you may want to pull out the dipstick of the car and check the color of your oil. If you have a pleasant shade of amber and the oil is up to the fill mark, you’re good to go! On the other hand, if it sits low and has the amber color, top off the oil. If you notice the oil looks black and gunky, change it as soon as possible because this will have an impact on your engine’s performance. Plan on changing your oil every 4000 to 5000 miles. If you use synthetic oil, change between from 6000 to 7000 miles.
Change the Windshield Wiper Blades
The winter season can kill your wiper blades; invest in a new pair for summer. Wipers install easily, but you can also have a full-service gas station put them on. Especially since rain tends to happen in the spring and summer months, this is a great time to put new ones on and keep your car well maintained.
Examine the Windshield Wiper Fluid Levels
Almost everyone will use more of the wiper fluid over the winter season than what they will in the spring and summer. This means that the wiper fluid will be low so buy more and replenish it.
Check the Safety Gear
You may want to look at the batteries on the flashlight to see that they’re in good condition. In addition, you also want to check to see that you have some spare bottles of water in the vehicle. You should replace the traffic flares if you used any over the winter months. Check to see that the tire jack in the car has all the components. For those who don’t have a jack or spare, they should check to see that the patch kit remains in working order.
Consider a Maintenance Plan
Have an inspection done so you can catch small problems before they have the chance to snowball into a bigger problem.
Buy a Sun Shade
The bright sun can have a devastating impact on the interior of your vehicle. The summer sun’s strength can fade the color of the dashboard and the front seating. This can also have a great impact on the resale value of the vehicle. You can unfold the sunshade any times it’s needed and park the car in the shade when you can. Also remember to crack the windows on the vehicle because a hot environment can blow out the windows on your car.
Examine the Air Conditioner
Always check the air conditioner of your car before the start of the summer season. If not, you may want to take it into a mechanic so you are not roasting on very hot days.
These are some of the preparations that you can make with your vehicle over the summer months to keep it in good condition. Keeping your car well maintained can also help you to avoid paying expensive repair bills on it later on.
