For a lot of New Englanders and Connecticut residents, autumn is the best part of the year. Fall offers world-famous foliage, crisp, comfortable weather, harvest festivals and fairs, plenty of car shows, and a lot more.
One more thing that fall offers is an opportunity to take care of our vehicles after a long summer of road trips and ahead of the coming winter.
If you’re a Connecticut motorist, take a look at these essential car maintenance tips, and make an appointment with your local service station as soon as possible—when it comes to car maintenance, sooner is always better than later.
Cold weather is bad for car batteries. If your car’s battery is low on juice—fairly common for those around four years old or older—a single cold night can leave it dead by morning. Not ideal when you’re trying to get to work on time!
Have your battery tested by a professional mechanic. They’ll be able to tell you if it’s time for a replacement, saving you the hassle of a dead battery down the line.
Fall weather can be unpredictable here in Connecticut. Heavy rainstorms are common in autumn, and combined with cold weather and wet leaves this can make for poor visibility on the road.
Make sure your windshield wiper blades are in good shape, and that you’ve get your wiper fluid topped off. These simple maintenance tips can make a huge difference during inclement fall weather.
With the weather becoming cooler across Connecticut, especially at night, tire pressure can be affected in any car. Check your tire pressure to make sure it’s where it should be (proper pressure for your vehicle can be found in your owner’s manual and usually on the placard attached to the inside of your driver-side door). If the air pressure in any of your tires is low, top it off at a gas station or service center.
You should also check your tire’s tread depth. The easiest way to do this is to insert a penny upside down into the tire groove. If the top of Abraham Lincoln’s head is still visible, your tread is worn and your tires need to be replaced.
You can also take this opportunity to have your tires rotated, if they’re due.
Your car has two air filters: one that filters the air going into the engine to ignite the internal combustion engine, and one that filters the air going into the cabin. Both need to be replaced every 30,000 or so. This is especially important ahead of autumn, when falling leaves and pine needles can put added stress on filters. Have your air filters checked and replaced if needed.
At the end of a long spring and summer season, it’s been a while since you had to use your car’s heating system. A lot could go wrong and you wouldn’t know it until the first cold night or frigid morning of the year.
Be proactive and have your heating system checked out by a professional mechanic ahead of the cold. If needed, this will give you plenty of time to have any heating system repairs done before it’s too late.
Finally, if you’re past due for a tune-up—and many, many drivers are—autumn is the perfect time to finally get it done. An engine tune-up will look at spark plugs, fuel injectors, fuel filters, fluids, ignition and timing systems, and more to make sure your car is working its very best.
Better to get preventative service now than find yourself stranded on the side of the road in the fall or winter!
If you’re in northern Connecticut, you can trust all this maintenance and more to the expert team at Tire Country in Enfield. Conveniently located on Hazard Avenue, an easy trip from Enfield, Somers, Ellington, Windsor Locks, and more, Tire Country is a full service auto repair shop and tire store with decades of combined experience.
Get in touch to make an appointment for service today.
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