Car Maintenance Tips for the Rainy Season

Important car maintenance tips for the rainy season

1. Rust-proofing
2. Tire inspection
3. Brake checking
4. Waxing your car
5. Changing wiper blades
6. Avoiding floods

When it comes to the rainy season, one of the most important things that you have to do is to protect and maintain your car once it all pours down. While cars and steel tubes in the Philippines have a significant resistance towards rainwater, there are still some places in which your car’s parts and other functions would be compromised once water seeps in.

This season, preventive maintenance for your vehicle is truly vital, as it would ensure that you would be able to drive smoothly and safely while guaranteeing that everything is working fine. Here are some important tips to keep in mind to keep your car running in top condition during the rainy season.

What type of maintenance does a car need during the rainy season?

The rainy season can cause a lot of problems for your car. These can include safety hazards, and even your car not working properly. Here are types of maintenance that you should perform to your car during the rainy season.

Is rust-proofing still necessary?

While most people tend to overlook rust-proofing their cars even when it’s during the rainy season, it is extremely important to protect your car from any signs of corrosion. Many individuals would see that their car is not rusting from the outside immediately, but there might be early signs of rust under certain parts of your car.

Not being able to protect your car from rust can lead to dramatic problems, such as deteriorating body parts. The damage caused by rust will expose certain areas of your car to harsh elements. This is why it is best to apply a protective layer of coating to make sure that rust will not eat your car away.

What should I inspect in my tires?

Like every part of your car, tires can also wear down after a certain number of years. This is why it is best to have your tires replaced after 5 years to ensure that you would still be able to drive your car safely. Failure to replace your tires after 5 years can cause a variety of problems such as poor grip and decreased handling. It is best to inspect your spare tire. Once a month, you can fill the spare tire with air, to keep its tire pressure optimized for worst-case scenarios.

How do I check my brakes?

One of the most important things that you have to check in your car are your brakes. The rainy season means that roads are regularly wet, which means that there is a high amount of slipping hazards present. Making sure that your brakes are working and responsive will allow you to control your car properly, and avoid getting into unwanted situations that may harm you and the passengers.

The two major parts of the brake assembly that you need to inspect are the brake pads and brake rotors. These parts usually come with a wear indicator. For the brake rotor, it’s a dimple located on the face of the rotor. If the dimple is still deep, then your brake rotors are still safe to use but if the dimple’s depth is equal to the surface of the disk, then the rotors need to be replaced. While the brake pad’s wear indicated is via a high-pitched squeal. When you hear a squealing noise when you apply your brakes, then that’s a sign that you need to replace your brake pads.

How often should I wax my car?

While the rain tends to wash off dust and other particles in your car, washing and waxing your car is still an important job to do. Along with rainwater, it is also important to watch out for dirt, mud, and elements such as leaves getting stuck in different areas of your car. Waxing makes sure that your car remains very clean and smooth while keeping it protected from paint-damaging particles and rainwater, thus making your car easier to maintain.

When should I change my wiper blades?

The rainy season is the time when your wipers are going to do most of the work to make sure that you are able to see the road in front of you. This also means that you have to check if your wiper blades are in good condition before driving. One of the signs that you should look out for are squeaky wiper blades and wiper blades that leave scratches on your windshield. These can be very risky to drive with, as having scratches or high amounts of rainwater would obstruct your view while driving.

How high are the floods I need to avoid?

One of the most important things that you have to avoid during the rainy season is having to drive through floods that are at least knee-high. Passing through floods can cause damage to your car’s engine and decrease the longevity of your car’s under-chassis components. Subjecting your vehicle to flood may cause water to enter into unwanted components of your vehicle.

It is best to avoid a condition called hydrolock, which happens when water has entered into more than one cylinder of your car. This prevents your car from working properly, and in most cases, a hydrolocked engine is doomed for terminal failure.

The only way to prevent these scenarios is to avoid driving into flooded areas, as this would only damage your car, and even compromise your safety. It is best to be observant with the flood levels across the road, take shortcuts to non-flooded areas, or in the worst case, wait for the floods to subside altogether.

Key Takeaway

The rainy season can cause several problems for your car without proper maintenance. From your brakes to every part of your car made from steel tubes in the Philippines, you can make your vehicle drive optimally in any situation. By following these steps, you will be able to make sure that your car is working at its best, and that you are able to travel safely.