With the longer days and beautiful warmer weather, soaking up the sun on a long-winded road trip is the best way to spend your beautiful summer months. However, with the heat from summer, can come some unnerving problems to your beautiful pride and joy and the potential to bring your excitingly planned road trip to a sudden halt.

There are many common reasons why cars can breakdown over summer. Most of the time it is cause by issues relating to the heat. Here are 5 of the most common breakdown reasons and how to avoid having your road trip come to a grinding stop.

Overheating

Naturally, engines get hotter with hotter temperatures. During the summer months, using the air conditioner in the vehicle more frequently puts more strain on the cooling systems. As such, it can cause a build up and cause overuse wearing of the engine seals. These bad seals cause an increase in the likelihood of your vehicle overheating.

As a precautionary measure, check regularly for deteriorating seals and pay close attention to pumps, hoses and radiators for signs of wear and tear. Also take the time to check your coolant levels in your vehicle before embarking on your long summer road trip.

Dead Battery

The higher temperatures in summer put extra pressure on your cars’ battery to perform. It gets hotter inside the engine bay and sometimes, battery fluid can evaporate, causing you to have a dead battery.

To avoid having a dead or flat battery, always inspect your battery regularly, particularly if your battery is over 5 years old. Aged batteries have a higher risk of going flat. You can also look at booking your battery in to your car service mechanic or local auto shop for a battery test as an indication of your car batteries health.

Tyre Pressure

Rising road surface temperatures can cause tyre pressures to increase and decrease as they contact with the road. This can cause both overinflated and underinflated tyres. Over inflated tyres can cause premature wear which will cause a harsher ride and result in handling problems with the vehicle. Hotter tyres that have been worn down by over inflation can affect the integrity of the tyre and cause long term damage to the suspension, axel or steering. It also has the potential to cause life threatening accidents if a tyre was to blow mid drive.

To avoid these potentially life-threatening issues, ensure to check your tyre pressures before commencing on a long journey.

Oil

As the temperature of the oil in your car becomes hotter, it becomes thinner and loses viscosity which means that the oil in the engine can’t lubricate properly. This lack of lubrication can lead to excessive wear on the engine parts such as camshaft, valves, pistons and rods, potentially causing the engine to seize up.

To reduce the risk of this happening, always check the oil in your car before your long summer road trips and ensure that it is changed as required in your car maintenance logbook.

Brakes and Clutches

As temperatures rise in summer, friction between the brakes and clutch builds up. This causes brakes and the clutch to lose their grip and potentially not function properly. Having malfunctioning brakes and clutch is not good for you, especially on a long road trip.

To avoid this unnerving experience, check your brake pads regularly and ensure that they are replaced in line with their wear. When driving a manual car with a clutch, ensure that you are smooth on your gear changes between the clutch and accelerator, which will help to reduce friction on hotter days as well as ensure that you clutch is not placed under extra strain because of bad driving habits.

 

What To Do If You Do Breakdown?

If your car does happen to experience a breakdown, pull over into the breakdown lane or a safe space on the side of the road. Get out of your vehicle and make sure you don’t stand in front of your vehicle or on the side closest to the road for your own safety.

If you need a tow, look no further than Newcastle Towing and Transport. As experts in their field, they ensure that your broken-down vehicle is towed to the right place with no hassle meaning less stress on you in this already stressful time. Contact Newcastle Towing and Transport for all you towing needs today.