Keeping your car on the road is always important, and perhaps never more so than in the extreme summer temps. You don’t want to end up stranded alongside the highway in 120+ degree heat. Here are some maintenance tips that you can handle yourself, nothing you’ll need a mechanic for, to keep in mind as we enter the peak summer months and avoid overheating engines.

Keep Tires in Tip-Top Shape

With enough pressure and heat, a tire can blow out. While we can’t address the heat, the pressure of your tire’s can be monitored. Tire pressure fluctuates with rising temperatures. At a rate of about one to two PSI for every 10 degrees the temperature goes up. Under-inflated tires will begin to bulge and weaken tire walls, while over-inflated tires have less contact with the roads and can spell disaster in summer storms.

Oil

Obviously, staying on top of oil levels is important year-round. Elevated temperatures exasperate the possible engine troubles and risk of overheating.

Hoses and Belts

Keeping the engine cool isn’t just tied to keeping your oil in check. There are plenty of components in the engine that can be destroyed by the heat. Hoses and belts, all pieces that may crack or snap in the heat which can then in turn cause radiator problems. Make sure hoses aren’t cracked and belts aren’t deteriorating and there are no leaks or loose connections in the systems.

Windshield Wipers

Just like hoses and belts, wipers are susceptible to heat damage. Unfortunately, it couldn’t come at a worse time as the summer monsoons we experience will see us needing our wipers more than ever. Keep an eye out and check your wiper blades before you end up blind on the road.

There are more summer maintenance tips for us to go over so we will continue this discussion next time. We’ll talk about air conditioning, batteries, radiators, all sorts of important automotive bits so we’ll see you next time here on the blog.