Car Off The Road? Here’s How You Keep It Healthy In Lockdown
With the COVID-19 lockdown in place, many of us are re-evaluating our relationships with our cars. For some, the virus has developed a new symptom. It’s making them break out in speeding tickets! With the newfound clearer roads, it’s easy to understand the temptation to pour on the gas and see what your car can do. However, there are many with the opposite problem. Now that they’re working from home and venturing out as little as possible while they wait for the infection curve to flatten, they’re barely using their cars. Or, in some cases, not using them at all. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (who doesn’t like saving money on fuel?), a car that’s of the road still needs a little TLC. Here we’ll look at some ways in which you can keep your car in tip-top shape while it takes a well-deserved nap!
Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels
Fill up on fuel
With petrol prices at their lowest in 12 years due to the collapsing price of crude oil, now’s a good time to fill up your tank. But there’s a practical reason for this as well as an economic reason. Especially now that spring is well and truly in the air. As warm days are followed by cold nights, the natural process of condensation can cause tiny droplets of water to form in the empty parts of your fuel tank. This can cause problems later, potentially damaging your fuel injectors. If your car’s been off-road for a while, treat it to a full tank today!
Check your battery
Your local garage is likely to be closed, so they won’t be able to check your battery for you. Nonetheless, an affordable kit is easy to get online, and can enable you to ensure that your battery is well charged so that it doesn’t flatten when you next need your car. Still, should you need to replace it, car batteries are easy and affordable to source online, and pretty easy to install.
Check your oil and tyres
It’s a good idea to check your oil and tyre pressures and top them up if necessary. A slow puncture now could lead to a flat tyre when you’re ready to use your vehicle again. Moreover, oil left in a static car will drain down to the sump. You can expect your oil levels to dip as a result.
Clean, wax and cover
You’ll want to protect the paint job on your vehicle, so be sure to wash and wax to protect the finish. Even if you’re likely to be keeping your vehicle covered up with a tarpaulin or in your garage.
Diesel car? Don’t forget to purge the DPF!
Finally, if you’re likely to be using your diesel vehicle for small journeys (like going to the shops), you’ll need to purge the Diesel Particulate Filter every now and then to prevent soot from accumulating inside and clogging the filter. A warning light will pop up on your dash when the filter needs to be purged. Luckily, you can purge the filter by taking it for a run out for approximately 15 minutes on a stretch of quiet road with a fairly high speed limit. Try to keep the revs consistently between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm.
Follow these steps and your car will be in tip-top shape when the lockdown is lifted and life gets back in gear!
