As South Africa enters the summer months, where temperatures can easily soar to the mid 30s, it is important to ensure that your car is ready for the warmest months of the year. The summer period is also characterised by summer holidays and the road trips that go along with that, which require your vehicle to be adequately prepared.
Apart from ensuring that your car has been serviced in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations and in a roadworthy condition, these five tips will ensure that your vehicle is able to perform optimally right throughout the warmer summer months.
Check your tyres
With most of South Africa receiving rainfall in summer it is important to check your tyres and ensure that at least 3mm of tread remains. The tread on tyres is responsible for dispersing water and smooth tyres will not be able to work as designed, drastically increasing your chances of aquaplaning. Aquaplaning occurs when water builds up between the road surface and the tyre, causing a loss of traction and can be dangerous, even at slow speeds.
Ambient heat as well as heat caused by the friction of the tyres meeting the road will also cause fluctuations in your car’s tyre pressures and it is therefore crucial to check tyre pressures regularly as under or over inflated tyres will not be able to perform optimally, will affect fuel consumption and will speed up tyre wear. It is also important to remember that the suggested tyre pressures for your vehicle are cold pressures and should therefore ideally be checked in the morning before the vehicle is driven.
Be ready for the rain
Apart from having tyres with the required tread depth a big part of being ready for the rain means ensuring that you can see properly when it is raining. Key to this is a windscreen and wiper blades that are in a good condition. Wiper blades only have a lifespan of two or three years as the rubber wiper component will degrade quicker if your car is parked outside or in the sun often. Wiper blades are relatively inexpensive to replace and doing so is absolutely worth it for the improvement in vision it will give you.
It is also important to make sure that all your vehicles’ lights, including the fog lights are in a working condition to ensure that your vehicle remains visible to other road users when driving during adverse weather conditions.
Check the fluids
Your car relies on a variety of fluids to keep cool and remain lubricated and it is important to check the levels of these at regular intervals. This includes the oil, transmission oil and naturally the radiator coolant. If your car’s cooling system needs replenishing it is important to do so with the correct coolant as prescribed by the manufacturer and not with plain water. Also remember to top up your window washer bottle with soapy water to assist with cleaning the windscreen of dust and bugs effectively.
Keep the interior cool
If your car is a few years older it is a good idea to have the air conditioner checked when you have your car serviced next. Low levels of air conditioner gas, leaky components or dirty and clogged pollen filters can affect the air conditioner’s ability to work effectively and keep the occupants comfortable in hot weather.
It is also worth having your car windows tinted slightly as this can drastically reduce exposure to harmful UV rays and will also assist in keeping the interior cool, while you are driving or when the vehicle is parked.
Park wisely
Parking in the shade as opposed to in direct sunlight can lower your vehicles temperature by as much as 10 degrees in summer. The suns harmful UV rays can also cause premature damage and hardening of plastic and rubber components.
Where possible park in the shade, a garage or underground parking lot as this will ensure a more pleasant journey from the onset and prolong the life of your car. If you do need to park your car in the sun, it is worthwhile putting up a sunshade in the front window as this will assist significantly in reducing interior temperatures and will also protect interior components from the sun. If your car is fitted with a sunroof, make sure that its sunshade is closed too.