Spring Into Action With Our Seasonal Car Maintenance Guide

Seasons change, and so do your vehicle’s maintenance needs. Frigid winter nights, hot summer days, and changing weather conditions can noticeably impact your vehicle’s performance, especially if you’re in a less temperate area. While some basic maintenance tasks like oil and filter changes, tire rotations, and fluid checks should be consistently performed all year round, there are also some seasonally specific duties that every driver should be aware of. Regular visits to a Ford service center are essential to any car care routine, but you can also handle plenty of simple maintenance projects from the comfort of your own driveway. From the battery and windshield wipers to your vehicle’s air conditioning system, suspension, and undercarriage, we’ve compiled a brief outline of some common maintenance tasks that will keep your vehicle in good working order from New Year’s Eve all the way to Thanksgiving and beyond.

Spring

Your car can breathe a sigh of relief as harsh winter conditions give way to more temperate weather and the end of snow and ice, not to mention salt-covered roads. However, that doesn’t mean you should let your guard down when it comes to maintenance. Here are some items to check as the snow melts.

Check Tire Pressure

We’ll skip the full lesson on thermodynamics, but it’s important to keep in mind that as the temperature rises, so does your tire pressure. You might have had your tires inflated to the proper PSI for colder conditions, but once things start to warm up they can easily become overinflated. This leads to accelerated wear and affects fuel economy and ride quality, so make sure to give your tires a quick check once spring has fully sprung. Remember, your tires should be inflated to the PSI listed in your owner’s manual, not the number stamped into your tires, which is actually the maximum pressure the tire is made to handle.

Clean Interior and Exterior

The salt, dirt, and grime that gets splashed up off winter roads can eat away at your paint job and even the body if it’s not promptly addressed, but the exterior shouldn’t be your only area of concern when it’s time for a little spring cleaning. We tend to track a lot of dirt, salt, and snow into our vehicles over the winter months, which can lead to crusty floor mats, stained upholstery, and more. A little quality time with a vacuum and a bottle of protectant can go a long way when it comes to keeping the interior in tip-top shape.

Check Belts and Hoses

The rubber components located under your hood can become brittle when exposed to low temperatures. After a long winter it’s always a good idea to do a quick visual inspection of your belts and hoses to ensure that nothing has split or cracked.

Check Battery

Your battery works pretty hard in the winter, especially when trying to turn the engine over on a frigid winter morning. Once spring hits, check to ensure that this stress hasn’t led to any failures or corrosion. If it has, clean up the battery terminals with a wire brush or some baking soda and vinegar.

Replace Wipers

Wiper blades should generally be replaced every six months, and spring is the perfect time to do it, as the snow and caked-on ice that comes with winter weather can wreak havoc on the rubber. Spring is also notorious for its rain, but a new set of wipers can help to improve visibility.

Get an Alignment

Between frost heaves, potholes, and snowbanks, there are all sorts of obstacles that can throw your vehicle out of alignment over a long winter. Spring is a time of renewal, so embrace this ethos by bringing your vehicle in for a wheel alignment. It can improve ride comfort as well as tread life, and could save you from a lot of suspension-related trouble down the road.

Summer

It’s time for vacations, road trips, hot days, and warm nights. High temperatures bring their own unique challenges to your vehicle. These tips will help you prepare for them.

Check Cooling System

As the mercury starts to rise, so does the importance of your vehicle’s cooling system. An overheated engine can lead to serious problems, including total failure, so take a few minutes to check your coolant level, radiator, and hoses. In a well-functioning cooling system, your coolant level should not consistently decrease over time. If it does, it could indicate a leak or some other sort of malfunction.

Check AC

Your engine isn’t the only thing that needs to stay cool during the summer. Your vehicle’s air conditioning system is vital for comfort, but it can become less effective over time as the coolant levels start to drop. Summer marks a good time to recharge the system. If you want to enjoy the best possible performance, replace the cabin air filter while you’re at it.

Check Brakes

Under ideal conditions your brake pads should last between 15,000 and 20,000 miles, but that can all change when the summer heat starts to ramp up. High temperatures, long road trips, and the stop-and-go traffic that comes with popular vacation spots can cause your brake pads to wear at an accelerated rate. If you start to hear a screeching sound when pushing down on the brake pedal or notice a dramatic reduction in braking power, it’s time to get your brakes checked.

Keep It Clean

Letting junk pile up inside your vehicle is never a good idea, but it can be downright dangerous in the summer. That discarded bag of fast food can start to stink up the joint pretty quickly when it’s baking in a hot car, but the real danger comes from something as simple as a water bottle. If the sun hits a clear plastic water bottle in just the right way, it can magnify the rays and possibly ignite the upholstery. It might be relatively unlikely, but that’s not a risk any driver wants to take.

Fall

Cooler temperatures return once again, as well as the vibrant colors of leaves changing colors. No doubt, this will lead to some leaf-peeping road trips to admire the scenery. The following tips will make sure your car is ready for the trip.

Check Heater

Fall is for apple picking, raking leaves, and preparing your vehicle for the winter ahead. As the days get shorter, take the time to perform a quick check on your heater and defroster. They likely haven’t been used in a little while, and it’s always a good idea to spot any issues before you end up shivering your way home once the cold weather hits. This isn’t just a matter of comfort. Your windshield defroster is an essential piece of safety equipment when it comes to improving visibility.

Change Oil

Your vehicle is probably already on a regular schedule for oil and filter changes, but being a little ahead of the curve certainly never hurts. Lower temperatures can cause your oil to become thicker, which means it’ll have a harder time reaching the vital engine components where it’s needed. Switching to a lower viscosity oil for the winter is usually advisable, especially if you live in an area that regularly experiences low temperatures.

Check the Battery (Again)

Fall is another good time to check your vehicle’s battery for any corrosion or defects. High summer temperatures can throw off the chemical reaction occurring inside the battery, so take a moment to see how it’s holding up. You’ll be relying on that battery a lot as it gets colder, so it’s best to spot any issues before you end up whipping out the jumper cables.

Check the Suspension

A little pre-winter suspension check can be helpful in ensuring a safe, consistent drive. The health of your shock absorbers, struts, chassis parts, and other suspension-related components can greatly impact your vehicle’s driving dynamics, which should always be top of mind as the white stuff starts to fall.

Winter

Many consider a fresh snowfall across the landscape to be a beautiful sight. Others cringe at the thought of cold temperatures and slippery roads. Here’s how to prepare for both the best and worst-case scenarios.

Change Tires

Winter tires offer traction that can make all the difference on snowy, slippery roads. This might come at the cost of fuel efficiency and road noise, but it’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind they can provide. Even if you don’t live in an area where winter tires are a necessity, you should still adjust your tire pressure for the colder season. Your tires are bound to lose some PSI as it gets chilly, so make sure they’re topped off to the recommended pressure throughout the winter.

Clean Undercarriage

Winter can be rough on a vehicle, especially if you live in an area that regularly experiences harsh winter weather. Snow and ice can both have a detrimental effect on your vehicle, but it’s actually the road salt used to address them that you should be most concerned about. There are few quicker ways to feed rust than a nice, salty slurry sticking to your undercarriage, which is why you should also perform a brief cleaning after a major storm and take a more thorough pass as soon as the plow trucks have been put away for the winter.

Check Coolant

Coolant doesn’t just keep your engine from overheating in the summer. It also serves an important role during the winter. Coolant, which is really another name for antifreeze, also serves to lower the freezing point of the water in your engine’s cooling system. This prevents the water in your vehicle’s cooling system from freezing up, allowing the coolant to flow freely and get where it needs to go, including your heating system to keep you warm during cold drives. Check in on your coolant levels every month or so and sure the reservoir tank is somewhere between the maximum and minimum fill lines. If it does need to be topped off, remember that most vehicles call for a 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

Pack an Emergency Kit

Getting stranded on the side of the road is never fun, but in the winter it can be downright dangerous. Low temperatures, snow, and ice can turn a simple breakdown into a harrowing experience, which is why drivers should always pack an emergency kit during the winter months. From jumper cables, ice scrapers, and traction-enhancing devices like recovery tracks and boards or even kitty litter to essential supplies like warm blankets, warm clothes, non-perishable food and water, and flashlights, thinking ahead can pay dividends if you ever find yourself spending a cold winter’s night in your vehicle while you wait for assistance.

Keeping on top of seasonal maintenance is an important part of any car care routine. Your vehicle’s recommended maintenance schedule is a handy guide to the work that needs to be performed at set intervals, but it often fails to take into account some of the more extreme conditions that a vehicle can face. This is understandable, as automakers need to provide a more general guide that’s applicable to a wide range of drivers and climates. If you reside in an area that experiences all four seasons in full force, you might need to alter your plan to account for changing conditions. If you’re unsure about what sort of maintenance needs to be performed on a seasonal basis, your local Ford service center can be a great resource. The service center’s trained Ford technicians know exactly what maintenance schedule your vehicle should be on and can provide a solid plan of attack that’ll keep you motoring along with confidence.