How to Prepare Your Volvo for Summer
Why Does My Volvo Vehicle Need Summer Maintenance?
It’s true that a lot of what we’re calling summer maintenance actually has to do with what winter conditions can do to your vehicle. That’s because winter is by far the harshest season on your vehicle, and failing to take care of any issues it might have caused before a long summer road trip is an unnecessary gamble. Even vehicles designed for Scandinavian winters need some checks once the weather warms up. Of course, there are also issues that arise in the summer, so we’ll cover everything in the following checklist.
Volvo Summer Maintenance Checklist
- Check And (Possibly) Replace Engine Oil – Extremes of either heat or cold can cause engine oil to break down, which has the potential to be a catastrophic situation for the engine. Check the engine oil using the dipstick, looking not only at the level, but also the color. If the oil is black, you probably need an oil change
- Check Tire Pressure and Tread – Changing seasons means fluctuating temperatures, and that means fluctuating tire pressure. Even without the temperature changing, you should always check your tire pressure before taking a long trip, as the wrong pressure is unsafe and negatively affects both fuel economy and tread wear. And speaking of tire tread, this is another component that needs checking. Winter can be especially hard on tires, so if you haven’t checked the tread since then, now is the time.
- Test Your Battery – Extremes of both cold and heat are tough on your battery. So, even if you made it through winter without needing a battery replacement, summer could still cause problems. Checking can be done with a simple voltmeter, and it doesn’t even require you to disconnect the battery. It should also be noted that we’re not talking about the high-voltage systems in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Those are monitored much more closely by onboard computers and are checked as part of routine maintenance.
- Inspect Brakes and Brake Fluid – Brakes can take a real beating in the winter, both the actual pads and rotors, as well as the possibility of fluid contamination from swelling and shrinking seals on brake system components. Brakes overheat and lose stopping power sooner in hot weather, so summer is a good time to make sure everything is still working properly after winter.
- Replace Cabin Air Filter and Check AC System – In the case of the cabin air filter, it’s the spring that does the most damage. The large amount of pollen in the air this time of year is a lot for the filter to deal with, and it could very well need replacing before you take that summer road trip, especially if you’re prone to an allergic reaction to pollen. AC system checks are pretty obvious. You probably didn’t turn the system on all winter, so you want to be sure the system is working, and working at its best, before it gets really hot.
Summer Maintenance With Germain Volvo Cars South Hills
Some of the maintenance described here is straightforward enough to perform in your garage, but for people who have a shared garage, or just don’t have much space, things get more complicated. And since some of the procedures are also more involved, we’re standing by to help you get your Volvo vehicle ship shape for summer. Our technicians are factory-trained Volvo experts, with the tools and specialized equipment to make absolutely certain that everything is done the right way. Book your service today.