Summer maintenance tips
Melting car, courtesy of inquisitr.com
Summer heat means hanging out at the pool, ice cream trucks, and road trips. If you’ve been downloading those classic Bob Seger and Eagles driving tunes, then you need to remember that the heat of the summer is on, so it’s time to take a little consideration on behalf of your car. That is, if you want to make it back home from Disney World.
Of course, some of the simplest maintenance operations that will show an improvement in the performance of your machine are changing the air filters and making sure your anti freeze coolant, transmission fluid, and oil are at appropriate levels. When changing your oil make sure to put in, or have the mechanic use a higher quality synthetic that’s not too thick, probably around a 10W-30, especially if you’ve got some serious cross country miles ahead of you. A lot of people think that using thicker oil in the summer is best, but it really depends on the make, model, and age of the car, so look in your owner’s manual to see what grade oil to use.
One helpful tip that has been under a lot of skepticism is when to fill up at the gas pump. The fact of the matter is that gas is an extremely volatile liquid, and hard to keep contained to maximum efficiency without loosing some of the bulk product to vapor. You will definitely get more bang for your buck if you can make a conscious effort to buy gas when it’s cooler out in the early morning or in the evening. Also, try to plan your extended driving hours around those times of the day as well to help prevent your engine from over-heating. By doing this, you’ll have a happier machine and are more likely to use less A/C, which, believe it or not, does use gas.
Another thing that’s always good is to keep your car clean, especially if there’s a bunch of debris in your grill. A clean grill will actually help the radiator breathe, which is vital to your car’s wellbeing, and it’s just a lot more visually appealing to get that dead bird out of there.
Finally, it’s summer time people! Get those snow tires off of that rig and save them for the winter. Driving around on studs when you don’t absolutely need them will wreck your potentially good gas mileage and tear up the asphalt. Also, when changing out your tires, make sure to have them aligned properly because wobbly wheels will also impact your gas mileage.
—A.J. Register
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