Getting Your Car Ready for a Las Vegas Summer

A car summer maintenance checklist for Las Vegas is mostly a list of what heat wears out. Batteries, rubber parts and tires age sooner here than in a mild climate, the cooling system works with little in reserve, and the air conditioning runs for months without a rest. Going through the list in spring, before the long hot stretch, means a weak part is found while the car is still running.

The owner’s manual remains the reference. Its maintenance schedule says what is due, and its guidance for severe service often applies to a car that lives in desert heat and dust. The checks below sit alongside that schedule.

If some of this is work you would rather hand to a mechanic, Golden Star Mobile Mechanics is a team of mobile mechanics in Las Vegas that comes to your vehicle. Mobile car maintenance includes oil changes, tune-ups, belts and hoses, and fluids and filters.

Battery and Charging

Desert heat is hard on batteries. One that is already weak tends to give out in the hottest weeks or on the first cool morning after them. Have the battery tested before summer if it has been in the car for a few years. Look at the terminals too: they should be clean and tight, with the battery clamped down so it cannot shake.

Cooling System

The cooling system carries the engine’s heat to the radiator, and summer leaves it little margin.

• Coolant level and condition. Check the level in the overflow tank with the engine cold. Coolant that looks rusty, oily or sludgy needs attention.
• Coolant age. Its corrosion protection wears out with time. The manual gives the change interval and the type to use, and types should not be mixed.
• Radiator and cap. Fins blocked by debris pass less air, and a worn cap seal lets pressure and coolant escape.
• Fans. On cars with electric fans, they should run when the engine is hot or the air conditioning is on.
• Leaks. Dried coolant leaves a crusty trace at hose ends, the radiator and the water pump.

Do not open the radiator cap or the coolant tank on a hot engine. The system is under pressure and the coolant can scald. If the temperature gauge climbs while you drive, switch off the air conditioning, find a safe place to stop and turn the engine off.

Belts, Hoses and Fluids

Heat ages rubber. With the engine cold, squeeze the coolant hoses: one that feels soft, swollen or brittle, or is cracked near a clamp, is due for replacement. A drive belt with frayed edges, shiny ribs or missing chunks, or one that squeals, should be looked at, since it runs the alternator and on many engines the water pump.

Engine oil works harder in summer, more so on short trips and long idles with the air conditioning running. Check the level, and check where the car stands against the interval in the manual. Transmission fluid, brake fluid and power steering fluid have their own places on the schedule. Top up the washer fluid and replace wiper blades the sun has hardened, because late-summer storms arrive with little warning.

Tires

Hot pavement and long highway runs are hard on tires, and a tire that is low on air runs hotter than one at the correct pressure.

• Set the pressure with the tires cold, before driving, to the figure on the car’s tire label, usually inside the driver’s door opening. The number on the sidewall is the tire’s maximum, not the setting for your car.
• Pressure rises as tires warm up. That is expected, so do not let air out of warm tires.
• Look for cracks in the sidewalls, bulges and uneven wear. Sun and heat age rubber even when plenty of tread is left.
• Check the spare, if the car has one.

Air Conditioning and the Cabin

Run the air conditioning before you depend on it. Air that is only cool, cooling that fades at a stop, or a system that cycles on and off can come from low refrigerant, a compressor or fan fault, or a condenser blocked with debris. A clogged cabin air filter cuts airflow, and dust clogs it sooner than the schedule may assume.

Keep drinking water in the car through the summer. If the car does stop, the heat is the first thing to plan for.

For the maintenance items on this list, Golden Star performs car maintenance where the car is parked. If a warning light or a symptom is already showing, mobile diagnostics is the place to start.