Seasonal car maintenance includes:
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- Winter car maintenance (inspect the batteries, windshield wipers, tires, fuel tank, and motor oil)
- Fall car maintenance (Inspect the transmission, brakes, power steering, motor oil, and windshield wipers)
- Summer car maintenance (inspect the cooling system, tires, motor oil, AC, and suspension system)
- Spring car maintenance (inspect the ignition system, caps, fluids, headlights, tire rotation, interior, wipers, and motor oil)
Weathers and seasons impact our vehicles in many ways. Many people think that winter is the only season that could impact your vehicle and you must be well prepared for it. However, we don't know that all the other seasons require some preparation to maintain the best smoothest driving experience.
Keep in mind that seasons might have different impacts on your vehicle depending on where you live. For example, some areas might have harsh winters with a lot of snow. On the other hand, areas might have heavy rainy winters but no snow. Similarly, in some locations around the United States, spring can be very rainy, while it might not be the case in other regions worldwide. Therefore, when you review the seasonal car maintenance, you must pick whatever works for you, depending on your region.
This article provides you with a detailed list of required seasonal car maintenance. We break down this list by season, and we will clarify exactly what you must take care of before each season starts. Once you follow these seasonal car maintenances, you should not deal with sudden breakdowns and be well prepared for the coming seasons.
Seasonal car maintenance: Winter
Let's start discussing the seasonal car maintenance and focusing on the winter season since it's the common season to have negative impacts on vehicles.
Of course, if you're driving in an area that doesn't have a very bad winter, you might not need all the preparation for the winter season. However, if you were driving in cold areas like Chicago, where winter can be extremely harsh, and you expect them to deal with a lot of snow or slippery roads, you will need to focus on getting your vehicle ready in shape for the coming season.
In general, to prepare for the winter season, here are they come in seasonal car maintenance that you need to implement:
1. Batteries
Batteries are the most challenging components in any vehicle if you're driving in very cold areas. Therefore, it's the right time to check on your battery, and you don't do it without installing a new one before the winter season hits.
2. Windshield fluid reservoir
Depending on where you live, winter can be extremely harsh, and you might need to engage the windshield wipers more frequently than before. Therefore, consider inspecting the wipers and refilling the reservoir if it doesn't have enough fluid.
3. Motor oil
Maintaining the motor oil and changing it frequently doesn't have to do with the season. Still, before winter hits, you must evaluate whether you need to upgrade to a different type of oil that works for colder temperatures. You can't do this upgrade until you confirm with your mechanic and your vehicle owner’s manual.
4. Emergency kits
As winter approaches, it would be a great idea to put together an emergency kit that includes tools, first aid elements, food, and drinks, etc. You never know where you can get stuck with no clothes help and how long it'll take you to get out of the emergency.
5. Tires
Again, checking the tires, in general, is very important whether you are driving in winter, fall, summer, or spring. However, if you live in areas with a lot of snow, you might want to upgrade to a snow tire or a specific tire type that works for your situation. These fires are not cheap, which means that you want to evaluate the situation carefully and make sure that it's worth the investment.
6. Filling the fuel tank
You need to have at least above half the fuel tank filled, but you don't want to overfill it because there might be a risk of frozen fuel in the fuel lines. Therefore, you want to allow for some room for air so you don't get into challenges with frozen fuel.
7. Plan the trips
Finally, it’s recommended that you plan your trips and avoid driving and very bad weather conditions. For example, when it snows, it doesn't snow every day, and you must plan not to drive when it's snowing and wait for roads to clear out so you can drive safely.
Seasonal car maintenance: fall
Fall has a specific impact on our vehicles by allowing dirt and contaminants to get inside many components. Therefore, your seasonal car maintenance in the fall should focus on flushing any component that might get impacted along with some other maintenance that helps maintain your vehicle's performance, including:
1. The transmission
Confirm that the transmission is in good condition and prevent falling until you confirm that the transmission fluid is in good shape and doesn't have any contaminants.
2. The brakes
After winter, you might have been using the brakes harshly for most of the time. Therefore, it is highly expected that your brakes might be due to pads changes or replacing a brake fluid if necessary.
3. The power steering
Like the braking system, the power steering might require some inspection at this point after getting out of the harsh winter. Therefore, confirm that you have the right steering fluid level and the power steering is in good condition.
4. The exterior
When driving in winter, the exterior of your vehicle might get impacted by salt from the roadways. Therefore, it might be the right time now to perform a detailed clean-up of your vehicle's exterior or probably give it a quick wax layer.
5. The wipers
The wipers also might be due for a change after getting out of the winter season. But, again, it's not a huge investment, but it helps you improve the visibility and prevent getting your vehicle involved in car accidents.
6. Oil change
You need to follow your vehicle's owner’s manual about the oil change, but this is a quick reminder that you check when it's too time for the next oil change.
Seasonal car maintenance: summer
While summer might not necessarily include a lot of rain, it comes with a very critical edition to weather, which is extreme temperatures. As you might already know, hot weather can negatively impact many components in your vehicle. Therefore, you must consider the seasonal car maintenance carefully and implement the following elements:
1. The cooling system
The cooling system will be used heavily as summer approaches. Therefore, it might be the best time to inspect the cooling system and review every component to ensure that it's working properly. For example, check the water pump, the coolant level, the thermostat, etc. Before getting into the summer temperatures, whatever needs replacement should be replaced that could complicate the engine overheating problems.
2. The tires
While we always think of tires as an important element for winter, it is also significant when preparing for the summer season. As you might already know, the air is expected to expand in the tires as the temperature increases. Therefore, if you're overfilling the vehicle's tires with too much air, you might need to deflate it slightly to allow room for expansion.
It is not rare to deal with tires exploding when the temperature exceeds a certain threshold outside. Therefore, if you don't want to get involved in this situation, you would want to consult your mechanic and confirm the proper pressure level you should maintain as summer approaches.
3. Oil change
Again, the oil needs to be checked carefully before the summer season starts. Oil is extremely important during the summer season because it helps prevent engine overheating. However, when it has an issue or is very dirty, it can't do the job, and therefore, you might deal with significant engine breakdowns during the summer season by ignoring oil change.
4. Air conditioning system
Who would want to drive in a car that doesn't have a working air conditioner and lets 90 degrees outside?! If you don't want to be in this situation, you would want to inspect the air conditioning and make sure that it's working properly
5. The suspension system
Finally, it's not rare to deal with complicated suspension system problems during the summer season more than any other season because of the excess temperature that could expand some of the internal components. Therefore, perform a thorough inspection of these suspension systems and replace any faulty components before dealing with significant breakdowns.
Seasonal car maintenance: spring
Spring is the favorite season to many people because of the beautiful weather and the less headache on car mechanical issues. However, spring also comes with its challenges, especially in areas with a lot of rain during this season.
Therefore, most of the other comments might be implemented during the spring season in preparation for winter, including:
1. The ignition system
By now, your vehicle's ignition system hasn't been checked for all those seasons. Therefore, spring might be ideal to confirm that the spark plugs and all the internal components within the ignition system are working properly in preparation for the coming winter season.
2. The caps
Your vehicle contains a lot of caps covering many important, valuable reservoirs. Therefore, considered checking these caps and remove or replace whatever is broken. For example, you might want to check the radiator cap, the gas cap, the fluid caps, etc. These caps are minor components, but they can lead to significant damages if ignored not taken care of properly.
3. The headlights
Spring might be a great season to check on your vehicle’s headlight status. You might have lots of debris or contaminants collected on the headlights from the previous seasons, which means that the headlights need to be checked for better visibility.
4. Tire rotation
Depending on your vehicle and the type of tires, it might be the right time to rotate the tires. Most automotive experts recommend rotating your vehicle's tires once every 7500 miles. Thus, check with your mechanic and see if it's the right time now to do it.
5. The interior
Perform a detailed inspection of your vehicles and share and remove any dirt collected and accumulated during the harsh seasons.
6. Check the fluids
When preparing for the spring season, consider performing a thorough inspection of your vehicle’s fluid levels. There are many types of fluids in your car, and each type has its role. For example, you might want to check the coolant level, the oil level, the breaking fluid level, etc.
7. The wipers
Depending on the type of spring you have, you might want to consider replacing the white person, especially if you have a lot of rain expected. Wipers can come in extremely handy when driving in traffic, and the rain is very heavy outside.
8. The oil
Finally, oil change might be required at every season. Therefore, consider this a second reminder to check on the oil level and eliminate skipping an oil change.
Conclusion
Seasons impact our vehicles in many ways, and preparing for a specific season can be slightly different than the other. For example, some common seasonal car maintenance can be broken down into winter, fall, summer, and spring.
This article provided you with a detailed list of what type of maintenance you need to perform in each season while explaining the reason for this specific maintenance. If your car has major problems, it might not be worth the investment in performing all these simple maintenances because no matter what you do, your vehicle might break down at some point.
Therefore, before heading to a harsh season, it is important to evaluate whether it's the right time to sell the vehicle instead and use its value to purchase a better card that doesn't have any significant issues.
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