adminthe country and there is bound to be a lot of travelling as Zimbabweans criss-cross the country for one reason or another be it a wedding or to be with family and friends or to visit holiday resorts.
Most drivers are relishing the opportunity to hit the open road as the allure of sunny skies and travel is becoming too hard to resist.
Before hitting the road this summer, however, you need to take several simple precautions to keep your family safe and save money at the pump.
Extreme heat and long drives can be tough on cars. Cracked hoses, leaky radiators, underinflated tyres and dirty filters can significantly lower your fuel efficiency, or worse, lead to a break down of your vehicle.
In this issue I thought I should give you some handy tips on summer time maintenance of vehicles.
The first one is the need for all drivers to check their tyres before getting on the road. Tyres are one of the most overlooked parts on a car. I think more people wash their cars more than they check their tyres.
The truth, however, is that an under-inflated or over-inflated or worn down or misaligned tyre can be extremely dangerous, particularly in hot summer weather.
Tyre pressure changes as temperatures rise. Consult your owner’s manual or the sidewall of your tyre to see what your tyre pressure should be and check it with a hand pressure gauge or just let the guys at the service shop do it for you.
An under-inflated tyre bulges outward and puts undue pressure on the sidewalls of the tyre. If such a tyre is subjected to heat and pressure it will eventually blow. An over-inflated tyre, on the other hand, makes less contact with the road and can lead to hydroplaning in wet conditions.
Use the coin trick to see if you still have enough tread on your tires. Stick a coin in the tread, and if the coin head disappears, the tread is still good.
Your local service shop or specialty tyre store can also check your tyres for proper alignment and balance. Do not forget about your spare! There is no point in having a spare tyre if it is in worse condition than the rest. Make sure the spare is properly inflated and has ample tread depth.
The second is changing the oil. Oil is the lifeblood of your car. It keeps hardworking engine parts running clean, smooth and cool. Most owner’s manuals suggest that you change your oil and oil filter every 12 000km. Oil change specialists suggest every 5 000kms or three months.
The fact is, most of us do a lot of heavy driving during the summer when an engine is more likely to overheat.
So at least check your oil before you head out on that road trip with the family.
You should also look at some other parts of your engine you might have overlooked – hoses and belts.
The key to summer driving is keeping the engine cool. The hoses connected to the radiator help pump coolant to and from the engine block, and the belts run the fan that helps cool the system further.
If the hoses crack or the belts snap, the radiator will quickly overheat, leaving you stranded. Check hoses for cracks, leaks and loose connections. Hoses should be firm and never be soft or malleable.
Hoses suffer from a slow deterioration process called electrochemical degradation that eats away at rubber hose material from the inside. The most vulnerable parts of the hose are those nearest to clamps where the hose connects to the radiator or the engine.
Belts can also be visually checked for cracks and damage. Watch out for excessively slick or smooth. If this is the case remove the belt to make sure that the material has not started separating into different layers.
You also need to replace your air filter every year.
Over the winter, your car’s air filter can get clogged with thick debris. A clogged air filter can really lower your fuel efficiency. Replacing a dirty or clogged air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.
Apart from the heat due to high temperatures the summertime is notorious for sudden, violent thunderstorms.
When buckets of water are beating against your windshield, you need wipers that really work. Good wipers are very critical especially at night, as a rainstorm can decrease visibility considerably.
It’s always wise to check your wipers as we have just come out of winter which can be tough on wipers. The cold and extreme temperatures subject wipers to cracks and tears on the rubber and this lower their effectiveness.
If your wipers are leaving visible streaks or take several passes to clear away light rain, they need to be replaced. When replacing a wiper blade, it is better to replace the whole blade, not just the rubber part.
Also check your brakes. Your brakes are the single most important safety feature on your car. Do not put yourself or your family at risk this summer by riding around on worn out or faulty brakes.
Brakes need to be replaced when the lining on your brake pad or brake shoe is worn down past the minimum thickness specified by the car manufacturer.
Your car won’t run if the engine overheats. Cars are designed to run at high temperatures, but there is a limit to the amount of heat that they produce.
A combustion engine is most efficient at around 93 degrees Celsius. But if an engine is allowed to get too hot, moving metal parts can actually start to melt and fuse together, causing a variety of internal problems for your engine – and, you guessed it, a hefty repair bill.
Check under the hood and make sure that your coolant levels are fine. The general rule is to flush your radiator and add new coolant at least every two years.
Flushing the radiator is done with a special chemical that cleans debris and build-up on the inside of the radiator.
For summer driving, coolant should be added as a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and water. You can even buy premixed coolant so you do not have to bother with the measurements.
Clean Your battery as well. Wintertime is notorious for dead batteries and early morning jumpstarts. But the truth is that hot weather is even tougher on your battery. The summer heat can speed up the chemical reaction inside a battery, causing the battery to be overcharged.
This can dramatically shorten the lifespan of your battery. Heat can also damage the battery by evaporating internal battery fluid. The best way to keep your battery running smoothly is to keep it clean. Regularly detach the battery cables and wipe off the terminals.
Make sure the battery is strapped down tightly and that all connections are secure.
Finally my favourite is the air conditioning. The best way to tell if your air conditioner has a problem is if it can not generate or maintain air temperatures that are 10 degrees Celsius below the ambient outside air temperature.
Till next week, enjoy.
- Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected]
Online Reporter