Seasonal vehicle inspection. 5 things you need to know

It's full spring. It's time to take care of the car after months of struggle with snow, salt and moisture. The basis is a thorough wash, but you should also take care of the air conditioning and interior. And also check the suspension, brakes and ignition system.

Therefore, it is worth starting the spring inspection of the car with an inspection and local repair of the body and chassis. In order to catch all the faults, the car must first be washed thoroughly. – Warm water, wax shampoo and a soft bristle brush are the base. We clean the body of the car in a circular motion, starting from the roof. Before washing, they must be rinsed thoroughly to reduce the risk of sand particles scratching the paint, says Paweł Brzyski, owner of the Auto-Błysk car wash in Rzeszów.

Spring washing should be directed primarily to hard-to-reach corners and nooks and crannies, where most salt deposits accumulate. These are gaps between body parts, around wheel arches, sills and bumpers. Instead of a brush, the most inaccessible places can be reached, for example, with a long brush. However, you must be careful not to scratch the polish with the metal band holding your hair. – The washed vehicle must be thoroughly rinsed with clean water and then wiped dry. Here, too, you need to be careful. The best suede is genuine leather, which doesn't scratch the lacquer, rubbing it without leaving streaks, says Brzyski.

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Chassis can be washed in two ways - both should be entrusted to professionals so as not to damage the anti-corrosion coating. Some mechanics recommend jacking up the car. Others place the water jet at the bottom on a special cart. However, it must be remembered that the latter method requires a decrease in water pressure. Too high may damage the anti-corrosion coating. Professional cleaning costs about 50 PLN from a specialist.

Clean and dry the interior

After winter, wet carpets and floor coverings are a source of moisture that contributes to respiratory diseases. At home, it is best to thoroughly vacuum the interior and leave the car in front of the house with the door open on a sunny day. So the floor will dry quickly.

If the salon is very dirty, you should choose a professional washing of upholstered furniture, which costs from 200 to 350 PLN. It consists in cleaning the interior with a washing vacuum cleaner that automatically sucks up water from the upholstery. After such processing, the material becomes damp and requires internal ventilation. Therefore, it is best to choose sunny, warm weather for washing.

Wipe off the corrosion, fix the cavity

It's easier to make patches on the chassis because you don't have to worry about aesthetics here. – Scrape off the corrosive deposits to bare metal. At home, this can be done with sandpaper or a metal brush. Then the place prepared in this way must be degreased, for example with a solvent. Then we apply a layer of anti-corrosion primer, and when it dries, it is recommended to paint with a preservative, says Stanislav Plonka, an experienced car mechanic from Rzeszow.

Local painting repairs are done in the same way, but with different materials. Instead of a preservative, we apply two layers of varnish to the base. The first is color. After drying, the place is covered with a colorless varnish, which gives shine and ensures a longer durability of the repair. Touch-up paints can be purchased from auto shops or dealers. In the first case, we choose the color ourselves. The repair kit from ASO is prepared for the factory color of the car.

The washed and protected body can be waxed. The best choice is hard wax, which creates a protective film on the paintwork to prevent scratches and damage. To apply it well, the car must be perfectly dry, and the temperature must be quite high, at least a dozen or so degrees Celsius. The colder it is, the more difficult it is to distribute the solid preparation over the car body. A good alternative is paste wax, which is much easier to apply and rub.

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Suspension does not like winter

Another very important activity is to inspect the chassis for suspension failure. In winter conditions, fragile stabilizer struts, pins and shock absorbers wear out especially quickly. - Very often, in the cold, the rubber covers of the hinges crack. It is worth replacing them quickly, because the rubber itself costs about fifty zlotys. If this is not done, the centrifugal force will quickly remove the grease from the joint, and water and sand will get inside. Then the cost of repairs increases to several hundred zlotys, says Stanislav Plonka.

The mechanic should also check the operation of the brakes, the condition of the battery, alternator and starter, and headlight adjustment. You should also remember the timing of changing fluids, especially engine oil, and filters, because in winter conditions the brake system is subject to faster wear. Discs, pads, cables and clamps are exposed to ice water mixed with salt and sand. They corrode faster, so when changing wheels, it is worth checking their condition. The same applies to other cords and plugs that are directly exposed to moisture. It often happens that faded contacts do not connect and therefore there may be problems with the operation of some nodes, such as lighting. In the spring, it is worth unfastening sensitive connections, and then cleaning them and lubricating them with a special spray that improves conductivity.

It is also recommended to visit a diagnostic station for headlight adjustment. Most often, drivers do this only once a year during a technical inspection. Since the angle of light changes automatically during movement, it is worth correcting it after six months. Regulation costs about 15 PLN. 

Air conditioner - disinfection and replenishment of refrigerant

Particular attention should be paid to air conditioning. The key is to replace the cabin filter and sanitize the system, which can be done in two ways. The most popular is ozonation with a special generator. The device is placed in the car interior and activated. When the air conditioner, operating in the internal air circulation mode, sucks in ozone, which fights against unpleasant odors and microorganisms. It also refreshes the upholstery. Ozonation takes about 30 minutes and costs about 50 PLN.

The second method is chemical disinfection. The evaporator is sprayed with a special aseptic agent, from where it enters the entire system when the air conditioner is turned on. It also kills fungi and mold. “This procedure is slightly more effective than ozonation, but the best results are achieved when both methods are combined,” says Sławomir Skarbowski from El-Car in Rzeszów. Chemical disinfection costs about PLN 70, and in combination with ozonation, the price of the service is PLN 100.. By the way, it is worth replacing the cabin filter, which wears out the fastest in the entire system. A paper version for a popular car model costs around PLN 20-50, while an activated carbon filter recommended for allergy sufferers costs PLN 70-100. Disinfection is recommended once a year, preferably in the spring. The filter should be replaced every six months.

The mechanics also recalls the control of the amount of coolant, on which the efficiency of the system depends. However, correct supplementation should begin with its reconstitution and weighing. This lets the mechanic know how much agent needs to be added to achieve 10% infill. In an efficient air conditioning system, about 90 percent of the factor can be lost during the year. Although this should not significantly affect the effectiveness of the system, it is worth updating it regularly. Compensation for losses with a leak test and UV staining costs approximately PLN 200 to PLN XNUMX. The use of dye allows you to then catch leaks using a special lamp. This makes it much easier to diagnose and repair the system.