4 tips to protect our vehicles from the summer heat
Summer has arrived! And ECS, always focused on helping and giving useful advice to its customers, has found it useful to share some precautions or tips to be taken to help our vehicles face these hot months in the best possible way.
We would like to focus attention on the fact that our vehicles are manufactured to work under regular temperature conditions, which, unfortunately in Europe, exceed expected standards during summer and winter.
What we suggest is to not underestimate the damage that heat could cause on our vehicles and adopt best practices to prevent potential problems. Just as we take precautionary measures to minimize the impact of low temperatures on our vehicles in winter, we can also prevent the damage that heat can cause in the summer months.
How does the heat affect our vehicles in summer?
There are many problems that can affect trucks, due to the high temperatures, typical of summer. Let’s see the most frequent:
- Engine performance can decrease by up to 15%.
- Increases the chance of damage to the air conditioning system by 35%.
- The tire tread will heat up beyond normal causing more than 25% wear compared to other seasons.
- When the brake pads rub against the disc, they generate heat. In summer, cooling becomes much more difficult, causing such high temperatures that can deteriorate the brake pads, with foreseeable consequences.
- A vehicle, parked in the sun in the summer for several hours, can cause burns to the driver, when he returns to the wheel. In addition, the coating on the steering wheel and seats will deteriorate and age rapidly.
- Exterior paint is also affected by heat in the summer months.
- The liquid accessories that the vehicle requires for its correct operation, such as water, additives, lubricating oil or brake fluid, will be consumed much faster and, of course, it will be necessary to replace them with shorter intervals than usual in other seasons.
4 tips to minimize the impact of excessive temperatures on our vehicles
We cannot prevent excessive temperature from affecting our vehicle. But if we can minimize the impact, following some simple recommendations.
1 – Constantly monitor the engine temperature
The gauge is usually positioned on the dashboard, next to the fuel gauge.
When cold, it will be on the lowest setting, but in less than ten minutes, it should reach the optimum temperature (about 90 degrees).
You shouldn’t worry about grades and time. Just make sure the needle doesn’t go too close to the red zone. The air conditioning system can eventually help you reduce the temperature of the engine, if necessary.
2 – Pay attention to the tire pressure
As already pointed out, tires wear out to a greater extent in summer than in any other season of the year. This is why, when embarking on long trips, you must tune up the truck, placing special emphasis on the condition and pressure of the tires.
Tires that are already very worn can serve well in the city in the fall. But surely on the road they risk to abandon you. The tire pressure should be slightly less than that suggested by the manufacturer.
Excessive pressure will bring the temperature level beyond normal in the tread and wear. The tire could even burst at any moment, causing great risk to the driver and his passengers or goods that are transported.
3 – Efficient downhill driving
To avoid overheating of the brakes, it is advisable to use low gears. This little trick allows to apply less pressure on the brake, especially on long descents. Using the brake a lot at high temperatures shortens the life of the brake fluid and can cause the discs to warp and the pads to break.
4 – Park in the shade
If possible, our advice is to park the vehicle in the shade, above all in the midday hours. This may seem like a trivial piece of advice, but it will allow you to slow down the deterioration of your vehicle over time.
Something more
Some advice or other basic measures to contribute to the optimal maintenance and to protect your vehicle in summer they can also be: wash the vehicle periodically, take some precautions with the air conditioning, use special waxes to protect the paint, lubricants for the leather of the seats
We hope that these little tips will be useful for you to better face the heat of the coming summer months! And remember to visit our promotions area or contact our sales team where we have prepared for you 4 different types of Iveco’s first maintenance service kits and we added additional premium Titanx cooling kits. It can be an opportunity in this hot season at the wheel.
