Guidelines For Preparing Your Car For Summer Driving

Spring is the right time to get your vehicle ready for the active summer driving season ahead. It's wise to have your vehicle tested before summer's intense vacation traffic and stop-and-go conditions begin earnestly.

The specialists at the nonprofit National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence suggest the guidelines below on preparing your car:

* Read the owner's guide and follow the suggested service schedules. Watch out "regular" vs. "severe" schedules planned, and determine which is right for your driving conditions and practice.

* Seek an orderly repair facility with recent equipment in the service bays and qualified automotive technicians being workers, as shown by trade school diplomas, certificates of advanced course work and training, plus national certification of the individual technicians by ASE.

* Wash out and replenish the cooling system (radiator) according to the service manual's recommendations. The level, state and concentration of the coolant should be checked at regular intervals. Make sure the engine has cooled down before taking off the radiator cap. Engine overheating is the most recurrent summer breakdown.

* Have engine performance problems rectified, such as hard starts, harsh idling and stalling. You'll get improved gasoline mileage, and you could prevent more costly repairs.

* Don't neglect your transmission and brakes. Expensive repairs can be avoided by regular service. Neglected brakes can give rise to safety issues, too.

* Find out an experienced auto technician to verify the condition of belts, clamps and hoses, but be proactive by looking for signs of deterioration.

* Have a marginally operating air conditioner system checked by a technician qualified to deal with refrigerants. Older units often contain ozone-depleting substances that could be let out into the air due to inappropriate or incompetent service.

* Replace the oil and oil filter as specified in the owner's manual. This straightforward, inexpensive service can increase the life of your vehicle.

* Change other filters (air, fuel, PCV) as suggested in the service manual.

* Inspect the condition of tires, including the spare. Let the tires "cool down" before checking their pressure. Bumpy wear, "cupping", vibrations or "pulling" to one side implies troubles with your tires or suspension system.

* Replace your headlights with some good quality aftermarket headlights. Good custom headlights or even just a nice new set of H11 bulbs for your normal lights will make a vast difference when you're traveling at night. Very rarely do you realize how weak your headlights are until you upgrade. It is likely that the winter road grim has spoiled your lenses to the point where they really need to be replaced.

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