Blog / Carman Lincoln Service

Tips To Care for Your Car in the Summer

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The middle of summer is a great time to take adventurous road trips with friends, but you should make sure to prepare your vehicle for the hot days ahead. Summer's extreme temperatures, dry and humid climates, and the occasional downpour of warm rain can all take a toll on your vehicle's essential systems. But with the following fundamental car care services, you can prepare your car to ensure it runs smoothly and safely through the whole season.

Change the Oil and Oil Filter

Across all seasons, extreme weather conditions (wet, hot, or cold) can make your vehicle’s oil and oil filters work harder. Your oil helps keep your engine’s parts lubricated while the filter is designed to capture harmful debris, dust, and metal fragments that have found a way into the vehicle’s oil system. A clean filter means more material gets blocked from harming your car. And more material getting blocked means cleaner oil, which leads to a healthier engine overall.

Carefully Check the Fluid Levels

Seasonal temperature and weather changes can result in low transmission fluid, power steering fluid, coolant, and even windshield wiper fluid, so check to be sure there’s plenty of each in your car! Out of all the fluid levels, Coolant fluid is an especially important one to maintain before your car endures extreme heat on the road. Based on evaluations from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, the biggest cause of summer breakdowns is overheating. If you aren’t sure how to perform these checks on your own, stop by Carman Lincoln and let one of our technicians take a look!

Keep an Eye on Your Tire Pressure 

To handle avoiding or even enduring hidden potholes and challenging road conditions, your tires should get a check up. Every day, tires lose or gain pressure based on the outside temperature. For instance, In cool weather a tire will usually lose one or two pounds of air every month. Make certain that your tires are inflated at the right levels before embarking on your next summer adventure because low air pressure tends to wear them out much faster. Get started by finding your vehicle's recommended tire pressure.

Test Your Vehicle’s Battery

Many drivers don't realize that heat is the number one cause of battery failure and reduced battery life. Summer heat increases the rate of vehicle fluid loss and the related rate of oxidation for the battery components, which can leave you stranded without a working vehicle in the dead of summer. Be sure to have your battery’s health inspected by a professional so you can drive with peace of mind wherever adventure calls this summer.

Get Your Vehicle’s Brakes Inspected

There’s arguably no more important part to maintain than your car’s brakes.With stop-and-go traffic, immersive and long road trips, and poor weather conditions, there are a wide range of potential challenges your brakes can encounter on the road that wear them down. Whether your brakes are making strange noises or seem to need extra pressure to come to a full stop quickly, it’s probably a great time for a professional brake inspection so everyone in the vehicle can stay safe.The summer heat and related tough road conditions can make any vehicle need a checkup before your next adventure behind the wheel. At Carman Lincoln in New Castle, summer car care couldn't be easier! Schedule an appointment with us online today.  
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Use These Summer Hacks to Cool Down a Hot Car

Getting into a sweltering hot car is one of the worst parts of summer. You burn yourself on seat belt buckles, steering wheels, gear shifts, and scalding seats, and even if you manage to avoid a burn, you’ll still be sweating while you wait for the AC to cool the car down. From the beach to the fair, there’s so many fun things to do during the summer, but how are you supposed to enjoy them when just getting there means that you have to bake in your car? These handy tips and tricks will help you to cool your car down this summer and make it easier for you to stay comfortable as you get on the road and head out in search of some summer fun! Cover Your Seats A big part of why it takes a car so long to cool down actually has very little to do with how effective your air conditioning is, and more to do with heat retention. When your car sits in the sun, the air inside it gets hot, but the objects inside your car, like your seats and your dashboard, also get hot. Once the AC starts blowing cool air, those large items are still radiating the heat they absorbed, and making your car uncomfortably hot even though the air is working. To work against this, keep some blankets or large beach towels in your car and throw them over the seats to protect them from the sun while the car is parked. This is especially effective if you have dark-colored seats that will absorb more heat. When you take the covers off and start driving, your car will start to feel cooler much faster! Fan Your Door This one can feel a little silly if you’ve never done it before, but it’s a surprisingly effective way to speed up the cooling process. When you first get in the car, roll down the passenger side window while keeping the driver’s side window up. Then, hop out of the car and swing the driver’s side door back and forth about half a dozen times. Picture yourself fanning hot air through the car and out the passenger window, because that’s essentially what you’re doing! While this won’t get your car ice cold, it can really help to take the edge off the heat and give the AC less work to do when it comes to really cooling the car down. Turn Your Steering Wheel Sometimes in the summer you feel like you need oven mitts just to hold onto your steering wheel. With this hack, all you have to do is turn your wheel 180 degrees when you park the car so that the part where you rest your hands is out of direct sunlight. When you get back in to drive again, turn the wheel the right way up and you’ll find you have a much cooler grip! With these summer car hacks, you’ll be able to keep your vehicle a lot cooler during the next few months during road trips, days at the lake, and more!