Recommendations On Setting Your Car For Summer Drive

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

The specialists at the nonprofit National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence offer the following tips on preparing your car:

* Read the owner's manual and follow the suggested service schedules. Watch out "regular" vs. "severe" schedules proposed, and find out which is appropriate for your driving conditions and habits.

* Try to find an orderly repair facility with modern equipment in the service bays and qualified automotive technicians being workers, as shown by trade school qualifications, credentials of advanced course work and training, as well as national certification of the individual technicians by ASE.

* Flush and fill up the cooling system (radiator) according to the service manual's recommendations. The level, condition 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 common summer breakdown.

* Have engine performance conditions corrected, such as hard starts, rough idling and stalling. You'll get improved gasoline mileage, and you could prevent more expensive repairs.

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

* Seek out a qualified auto technician to test the condition of belts, clamps and hoses, but be proactive by looking for signs of wear, cracking or fraying.

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

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

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

* Verify the condition of tires, including the spare. Let the tires "cool down" prior to checking their pressure. Uneven wear, "cupping", vibrations or "pulling" to one side indicates difficulties with your tires or suspension system.

* Replace your headlights with some good 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 in dark. Hardly ever do you realize how dim your headlights are until you upgrade. Chances are the winter road grim has ruined your lenses to the point where they really need to be replaced.

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