Fall Car Maintenance Checklist

Fall weather has finally come to the Lowcountry, meaning car owners have a new seasonal maintenance checklist to take care of! Ensuring your vehicle is in working order during season change is important for the car’s lifelong upkeep. Your battery, tires, and other internal components last much longer when maintained well through changing temperatures and weather conditions.

Battery

Fall is a good time to inspect your car battery, making sure the cables and terminals are snug and retightened for good contact. If your connections are dirty or showing a lot of corrosion, disconnect them and clean them with a wire brush or cleaning tool. Be aware that when you disconnect the battery, you may have to re-enter a security code in your radio or navigation system. If you have a sealed, maintenance-free battery with no removable caps, there’s little else you need to do. If your battery has removable caps, check the water level periodically, and refill with distilled water as needed.

Tires

Proper maintenance and responsible driving can maximize the mileage in a set of tires. Monthly tread inspections can inform when the tires warrant replacement. If you notice that your tires have less than 1/8-inch of tread left, then it’s time to start looking for replacements. All-season tires are popular because it’s easier and cheaper than buying one set for the winter and another for summer. All-season car tires deliver good, well-rounded performance but are never outstanding in any way. By contrast, winter tires have outstanding snow traction but just fair braking ability on cleared roads. But this doesn’t often become relevant here in Charleston, so local drivers should never worry about getting winter tires.

Changing temperatures also affect the pressure in your tires. You may have noticed your tire pressure light turning on and off at varying intervals lately. This happens mostly when large temperature swings occur, such as dipping into the 40s overnight and hitting the 70s again during the day. While your tires will both lose and regain pressure during this time, it will end up as an overall loss in tire pressure over a short period. Every ten degrees the outside temperature drops will cause 1-2 pounds of pressure loss in your tire.

If temperatures drop particularly low overnight, check your tire pressure and recommended PSI before driving for the day. Doing this before driving is important because your tires will warm up due to the friction. This increases the tire pressure, falsely providing a higher reading than you would see when the tire is cold.

Fluids

One of the most important parts of fall vehicle maintenance is checking your engine oil level, coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid. When fluids are not sufficiently maintained, the essential components they support are likely to suffer, leading to potentially dangerous conditions. For instance, neglecting your coolant can cause your engine to run hot, while low or contaminated brake fluid can lead to increased stopping distance. Consult your owner’s manual for recommended change intervals, and have your vehicle’s fluids checked before hitting the road this fall.

Windshield Wipers

Maintaining your wiper blades is one of the quickest and easiest tasks you can take care of. But that doesn’t make it any less important than everything else on this checklist. Fall weather means fog, rain, and eventually snow. If you already squeaking or you suspect they’re getting old, this is an excellent time to replace them.

It’s also important to check the wiper fluid within your vehicle. The falling leaves can end up leaving a mess on your windshield if you park outdoors. So being able to fully wash your windshield is valuable in the fall season.

HVAC

Finally, this is an excellent time to ensure that your heating and cooling system is working properly. These are just the beginnings of cold temperatures. The last thing you want is to discover that your heating system doesn’t work once winter has already arrived, and you’re stuck waiting to get it fixed. Get ahead of this issue during the milder fall temperature. This is also a smart plan, as service centers will become booked up due to more drivers needing emergency service during the winter months. In fact, this tip applies to every topic mentioned here, so be sure to book your service appointment ahead of time to make sure you’re ready for the cold weather ahead.