The summer is fast approaching so prepare your swimsuits and car because it will be hot. Wait, car? What do our cars have to do with summer? Not directly, mind you, but extreme heat can cause many issues to your cars if you don’t prepare properly before the summer rolls in. For a lot of car owners around the world, extreme heat can spell trouble for their vehicles.
From their engines not working properly to their paint jobs getting destroyed, too much sun is just general bad news, especially if your car has been with you for quite some time. However, to be very specific, what kind of problems can extreme heat do to our vehicles? Here are some common issues your cars might encounter after and during the onslaught of excessive heat.
Tire Problems
Extreme heat alone can damage your car since they’re made of rubber. However, that’s not all. As the temperature becomes hotter outside, the road becomes hotter, leading to your tires building up pressure internally. Due to this, it will become more and more bloated, leading to a tire explosion.
We don’t need to tell you how bad a tire explosion is, especially during a drive, but you should know that it is dangerous for your vehicle and can also risk your life. Before and after every drive during hot weather, you should check your tires’ pressure to ensure it has the correct internal pressure. Luckily, most car shops have tire accessories and temporary fixes that they can offer during a journey.
This is especially true in countries with extremely hot weather, like Australia. That said, if you find yourself in the Australian outback needing tire accessories, you can look for Alice Springs, Winton, or geraldton 4wd shops and more to have your tire needs met.
Oil Problems
The warmer the weather can get, the thinner your oil will be or, at least, its delicate parts. During the hot weather, the delicate parts of your oil evaporate, which means it loses viscosity. Because of this, the molecules inside the oil will become hyperactive, creating sludge, resin, and varnish.
Due to the lost viscosity, your components will have more friction, which will bump into each other much rougher, leading to damage and eventual breakdown. And the worst part? This isn’t even the only problem the heat can cause your oil. Here are some other issues that you should know about:
- Oil seal damages
- Shorter oil filters
- Accelerated corrosions
- A sudden rise in microbial contaminants
- Oil is more prone to leakage
To avoid this kind of issue, you should change your oil every month, especially during the summer. This is especially true if you’re working your car to the bone due to road trips and vacations. Also, if you’re using an old car, you should use synthetic oil instead of regular since synthetic oil tends to have less thinning during the hot weather. You can also go to your local
Engine Problems
Of course, every car owner knows that during the summer season, cars are more prone to overheating. Your car already generates heat independently, so adding more heat to the equation can make it overheat. Not only that but since your car is taking in too much heat, it will put your cooling system under duress and eventually break down, creating a vicious cycle that can break your car down entirely.
The thing about your cooling system is that it’s made up of different parts like a radiator, hoses, coolant, water pump, and thermostat. If your cooling system breaks down, it’s probably due to damage to one or two parts. If you’re not knowledgeable about this stuff, then this can spell disaster for you. You need to know how your cooling system works, but like they say, prevention is better than cure.
So, to keep a car from overheating, you need to pay more attention to the temperature gauge. If your vehicle’s temperature is slowly rising, you should check for enough coolant. Many drivers constantly forget to top up their coolants, leading to overheating in the middle of the summer.
Battery Problems
Although they say winter is bad for your batteries, it can also be just as bad during the summer with its extreme heat, if not worse. However, the most important thing about hot weather and batteries is that the latter will have its longevity shortened due to the former. In short, hot weather can shorten your battery life. On a hot day, the average temperature of a car’s battery will have an internal temperature of 140 degrees.
It sounds terrible, especially when you know that the average battery temperature on a normal day is 80 degrees. But how is this possible? Hot weather will cause the liquid electrolyte solution to evaporate. Because of this, your lead plates will get exposed, which will cause internal corrosion.
This will eventually lead to your battery having a limited capacity to hold a charge, which can decrease its ability to meet the power required to start your car. And because of the sunny day, your engine will lose power slowly because of the constant drain on the battery. After your battery has suffered enough of this, there will come a day when it won’t even start anymore.
Gas Problems
During hot weather, your car’s fuel economy goes bad by the second. This is mostly due to your gas getting pre-detonated. Now what does that mean? As the weather becomes hotter, your gas’ molecules become overexcited, causing them to move faster. As their speed increases, the distance between them can also increase, making the hot air going into your engine less dense.
This can cause pre-detonation. Pre-detonation is when your air/fuel mixture ignites before the car’s spark plugs ignite them. This can damage your spark plugs, and not only that, but it can also damage your pistons and piston rings, which can lead to an eventual breakdown. One way you can tell that a pre-detonation is occurring inside your engine is when you hear a popping or pinging sound from your engine.
Final Words
Hot weather can cause various problems for your car. Normal hot weather for a few days might be fine, but if your car is constantly exposed to extreme heat for a long time, it can spell disaster for your car. That said, you need to do maintenance more often during the summer months and rule out issues like the ones mentioned above before and after you drive.
