Photo: TOP 5 important actions for drivers in early March (Getty Images) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
The cold season, a time of severe trials for cars and drivers, is coming to an end. And before the real warm weather comes, it is high time to heal the “wounds” inflicted on the car by winter roads. Where should a caring car owner start?
Read about how to put your car in order after testing it in frost, snow and salt in the RBC-Ukraine article.
Modern cars serve their owners equally well in winter and summer, but it is during winter that their service life is significantly “minus”. Fortunately, some losses can be offset if certain measures are taken immediately after winter.
Winter has passed, but the resentment remains
The marks that winter leaves on a car are not always literally visible – they are often hidden somewhere inside. And so that such damage and other problems do not lead to large-scale consequences, they must be neutralized in a timely manner.
The most expensive part is the body. Both in terms of cost and repair, the body is the most expensive part of the car. Therefore, the worst thing that a car can get in winter is the beginning of body corrosion. After washing the car, inspect the paintwork for damage to the paint and the first spots of corrosion on the bare metal. It is also advisable to check the bottom of the body – the bottom and wheel arches. All damage to the paint and anti-corrosion mastic must be eliminated, and first of all, those where there is bare metal; if not, in a year or two the body part will need to be repaired and repainted. In principle, small point damage to the paint can be painted over with your own hands using a mini-brush or a match, after thoroughly cleaning the repair area. Damage to the protective mastic on the bottom and under the wings is not so easy to repair, but this also needs to be done – otherwise in a few years you will have to look for an experienced welder.
In the car. The driver and passengers bring snow, water and such unwanted salt into the car on their shoes – and all this can cause great harm to the body. The mats can accumulate some kind of wet compresses under themselves, from where the centers of corrosion will begin to grow. The humid air in the car will come to its aid. Therefore, after winter, it is very important to clean the car, take out dirty and wet mats, forgotten under the seats and in the doors napkins for wiping windows and similar things that readily retain moisture. After this, you should clean the standard carpet on the car floor and dry the interior thoroughly, leaving the car in the sun with partially open windows or doors.
Chassis. On frosty days, the joints of the chassis and rubber boots on the transmission parts are subject to accelerated wear. Consequently, it is after winter that silent blocks, ball joints, shock absorbers, CV joint bellows, and the like usually fail. The insidiousness here is that one worn-out part entails intensive aging of several adjacent ones. And also, a car with a loose suspension is worse to control and slows down, especially on a road with small irregularities. So after changing the car to summer tires (or at the same time), it makes sense to inspect the chassis. And you should start at least with checking the wheel alignment angles – that very toe-in-camber.
Engine compartment. Again, low temperature, moisture, salt and dirt are factors that damage important parts under the hood. For example, such exposure causes spark plugs with high-voltage wires, drive belts of attachments, wiring connectors, rubber hoses of the cooling system to age faster. This may not appear immediately, or perhaps you have noticed strange interruptions in the engine operation, unusual sounds and strange behavior of certain electrical devices during the winter. So, under the hood you need the experienced eye of a professional who will see emerging problems and take measures to prevent them.
Battery. For modern cars with their advanced electronic systems, battery health is more important than ever. In winter, batteries experience additional loads and at the same time do not receive the most important thing – charging. In any case, show your battery to an electrician in the spring, who will figure out its current condition and final resource. It is timely service that can save a battery that has been driving half-dead for half a winter and has suffered from sulfation of its plates. Perhaps the electrician will find problems in the on-board electrical network, which additionally tormented your battery during the cold season – and fix them.
Short
The weakness of our spring tips is that if you ignore them, nothing may happen at first. And the owner does not always notice that the car will eventually age earlier than expected. However, if you are going to use your used car for a few more years, do not spare the time for inspection and putting important systems in order – this will pay you back both financially and in terms of the car's reliability on the road. In principle, all checks can be left for later, but because of this, one day your car will stop on the road far from home, and solving the problem will cost much more than spring maintenance.
Materials from Autocentre and Motor were used in preparing this article .
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported on the types of all-wheel drive available on pickups and SUVs.