Tips to get you and your car through the long hot season

Summer brings out a lot of life’s little pleasures: barbeques, bikinis, auto shows, and road trips. But it also is a test of endurance of both man and automobile. As the mercury threatens to pop through the glass, it’s time to prepare your car to endure what will almost certainly be record temperatures. Here are a few tips to help you and your machine withstand the heat.

1.) Check your cooling system. The most important tip to keep a car engine running even in 40-degree road temperatures is to ensure that its cooling system is in good working order. This primarily means the radiator and cooling fans. Check that the cooling fans are spinning properly. Get a professional engine wash, either at the dealer as part of regular maintenance, or in a matter of minutes at your neighborhood garage, to make sure that gunk and soil don’t hamper the engine fans and clog the radiator fins. Check your coolant level, and make sure that it’s still clean. Older cars require coolant change every couple of years, while newer vehicles have a “lifetime” coolant that doesn’t require any change for 160,000 km or so. Consult your owner’s manual to see if a coolant change is required.

2.) While you’re looking after the radiator, it’s good to check the entire engine as well. Motor oil has a cooling function also, and if it’s time for your annual oil change, summer is a good time to do it. The battery and electrical system have to cope with a higher load, so it’s good to make sure the contacts are clean and that the battery is still within its usable life—18 to 24 months for most battery brands.

3.) After the engine itself, the most important component during summer is the air conditioner. If it seems to be emitting warm dog breath at midday, it’s time to bring it to a specialist. He will likely clean and reload coolant to bring the system back to full effectiveness. It should stay cool, or else that indicates a leak. Leaks and total air-con failure are rarer for newer automobiles, but good maintenance is key to retaining the performance.

4.) Invest in good window treatment. It’s not called a greenhouse for nothing: A car’s glass area quickly traps solar heat. Some cars come from the factory with darkened glass or retractable sunshades. Otherwise, you will have to install a good-quality film to repel solar radiation. From experience, we know that not all films are created equal; highly effective are metallic films such as V-Kool. These repel solar heat instead of absorbing it. They especially pay off for the windshield, where a clear, relatively undarkened view while still being protected from heat and UV radiation is possible with high-tech film.

5.) Don’t leave kids, pets, and mothers-in-law in a parked car even for a minute. A parked car quickly becomes oven-like when exposed to full solar radiation, and occupants can succumb to heatstroke. Keeping the air con on while parked wastes fuel, and is potentially hazardous as well due to exhaust fumes.

6.) Tires are stressed during summer, coping with additional heat and degradation. Make sure they are properly inflated, as underinflated tires will build up heat and risk failure when run at highway speeds.

7.) Refuel in the morning. Gasoline and other fuels vaporize at a low temperature, and thus fuel is wasted when filling up in the middle of the day. Refueling at dawn, and minimizing loss through vapor, as well as getting denser fuel, save fractions of a percent at the pump-and nowadays, every milliliter counts.

8.) Bring plenty of water. Rehydrate often while driving; bring along a refillable container of water especially during long trips. A container of distilled water in the trunk can serve a dual purpose-to drink, and to refill the radiator in case of a breakdown.

Summer is here, and we didn’t need the official notice from Pagasa to know that. So have a cool bottle of water handy, and keep one eye on that temperature gauge.