Dry rot and other dangers to your car during extreme heat | Car

Car manufacturers are not crazy. Every new model that comes out is tested in labs and sometimes even in the hottest places in the world to see if they can withstand high temperatures. That is why the paint of a new car does not melt and does not release glue in your interior. It’s also the reason new cars rarely get a boiling engine, or a blowout when the temperature shoots up to 40 degrees.

Unfortunately, automakers only test new cars. Because after a few years it is already a completely different story. For example, after a few years, car tires can suffer from dry rot due to excessive exposure to UV radiation and extreme heat. Dry rot is a term that is mainly used in English speaking countries (dry rot). It causes the oils in the material to dry up faster, making tires dry and brittle. As soon as small cracks appear along the sidewall or on the tread, it all goes downhill very quickly and the risk of a tire blowout while driving increases enormously.

Dry rot usually occurs when tires have not been used for a while. To prevent wear and reduce the risk of a blowout, it is therefore wise to check the tire pressure every month. Tires with an inflation pressure that is too high or too low wear out faster. Also, park your car in the shade as much as possible to avoid direct sunlight on your tires, or cover your tires with a cover or towel. Lubricating the tire with special tire protection products also helps.

In addition to a blowout, the danger of a boiling engine is also great during a heat wave. This problem mainly occurs in traffic jams or when driving in the mountains and can be noticed in two different ways: on the one hand, because the coolant warning light comes on, on the other hand, the temperature gauge can suddenly swing to the right. There is only one remedy: stop your car in a safe place as soon as possible and switch off the engine. If you don’t, you can cause serious damage to the car engine.

If you really have to continue – for example because there is no emergency lane or because it is unsafe to stop – turn the heating as high as possible and open the ventilation all the way. In the parking lot you have to open the hood so that the car can cool down. It sometimes takes a very long time for an engine to cool down, so get an expert to check the coolant level. If you want to check the coolant level yourself after a long time, always first check whether the hoses to the radiator are not under pressure and unscrew the cap very carefully with a cloth, otherwise you will burn alive.

If the engine continues to boil, it is recommended to contact a roadside assistance. If you still want to continue independently, it is important to drive calmly and to change gears on time, so that the speeds remain low. It is best to leave the heater on for extra engine cooling, even if this makes it even warmer in the car itself.

A less risky but very annoying hazard during a heat wave is bird droppings. Especially in warm weather, the acids contained in bird droppings ‘eat up’ in your car paint. The droppings burn directly into the paint. They can cause dull spots and even paint damage. Large temperature differences increase the problem because the paint under the excrement expands and even shrinks less quickly, which also leads to minor damage. It is therefore essential that you clean such spots immediately, but that is not always possible, as a result of which the poop dries up and becomes hard. When you remove the hard spots, this can leave scratches on the paint.

By making the droppings soft, you can easily wipe them off the paint, even after many hours of sunlight. You do this by pouring water on the droppings and then placing a few folded newspaper pages over it. You then also generously pour over that newspaper with water, after which the whole has to soak in for about twenty minutes. Then remove the newspaper and wipe the soft droppings off with a dry cloth. In addition to bird droppings, dead insects are also disastrous for your paint. They can also be removed with this method. If you regularly wax your car paint, the paint is less likely to be affected by bird droppings, resin and dead insects, but that does not mean that you should remove these culprits as soon as possible to prevent permanent damage.

The interior of your car can also be damaged by prolonged exposure to heat and UV radiation. The dashboard and leather upholstery are especially vulnerable. The heat can quickly dry out the leather and cause it to crack. A sunscreen helps to block out sunlight and at the same time protects against UV radiation. Aluminum has a reflective effect and thus keeps the sun’s rays away. A white (hand) cloth helps against heating the dashboard.