Before you head out on the road this Holiday Season here are a few tips and things to check before you go, to avoid turning your holiday into disaster!

• Create a safe environment
When packing the car for holiday especially if you have kids there can be a lot of stuff to fit in, so remember to try and secure any loose items inside the car which may cause you or any passengers harm if you have to brake heavily or if you are unfortunately involved in an accident, as any unsecured item inside the car can become an extremely dangerous missile.

• See and be seen
You also want to check all your lights, horn, windscreen wipers and washers are in good working order, clean your windows and mirrors inside and out. Good visibility is an essential part of keeping safe on the road.

• Arrive safley
There are many things that work together in a vehicle to keep it running and all of these things require regular checking and maintenance which is done every time you have your car serviced by your mechanic, most of them shouldn’t give you any trouble in-between regular services but there are some items you should check before any long trip.

1. Tyres and tyre pressures – your tyres are the only thing connecting your car to the road so you want to make sure they perform how they should, there should be at least 1.6mm of tread which is indicated by the wear indicators located in the grooves of every tyre, if your tyres are on or near these markings their ability to disperse water is greatly reduced and they should be replaced. The pressure in your tyres also affects their performance to little pressure and they sag causing the edges to roll over and the centre of the tread to lift putting extra stress on the tyre side wall generating more friction and heat and reducing the grip on the road, to much pressure and the tyre will balloon causing the centre of the tread to bulge out reducing the amount of contact with the road reducing grip. Most vehicles have a tyre placard inside the door, fuel flap or glove box which will tell you the manufactures recommendations read it carefully as the load you are carrying effects the amount of pressure you need in your tyres.

2. Engine oil – The oil in your cars engine is extremely important it has lots of jobs to do, it lubricates all the moving parts in the engine, cools the valve gear and piston skirts, cleans the cylinders and removes foreign material inside the crank case. This is why it requires replacing every now and then, at C.A.R.S (Caringbah Automotive Repairs & Service) we recommend every 10,000km or six months. If the oil hasn’t been changed for a while remember old oil is better than no oil! So you need to check the oil level, this is done by placing the vehicle on level ground accessing the engine bay and looking for the dip stick, let the engine sit for a few minutes to allow the oil to drain back into the sump then remove the dip stick wipe off the oil  with a cloth or rag then re-insert it and pull it out again, look to see where the oil is on the stick there should be two marks near the end, one indicating the low or minimum level and the other indicating high or the maximum level, the oil level should be between these marks if it is below the minimum then you need to add the recommended grade oil to the engine via the filling point at the top of the engine. It will usually take about one litre to move the level from the low mark to the high mark, my tip is to add slowly checking regularly as you fill. If it is to high (more than 10mm above the max) then some oil needs to be drained out.

3. Engine coolant –  Engine coolant also has a variety of jobs to perform, not only does it cool the engine it lubricates the water pump, prevents corrosion in the engine, raises the boiling point and lowers the freezing point of the water. The cooling system is the second most important thing to check after the engine oil, without sufficient cooling your engine will sustain serious damage in a very short period of time. Most modern engines run at very high temperatures to increase performance and fuel economy and a large amount of  the components are made of light weight alloys, so they can overheat very quickly. Different manufacturers have different designs of cooling systems, some vehicles may have a pressurised cap on the radiator and an ‘overflow reservoir’ somewhere in the engine bay, or some have a sealed radiator with a pressurised reservoir in the engine bay and some have a radiator with or without a cap and a pressurised cap on the engine and an overflow reservoir in the engine bay. With all these systems you should first let the engine cool down before you open any cap or lid. If there is a cap on the radiator you should remove it and check that it is full to the top with coolant, if so replace the cap if not top it up then look for the overflow reservoir there should be some markings on it or a dip stick with min and max the coolant should be between these marks just like the engine oil. if there is a sealed radiator with a pressurised reservoir there is usually markings on the reservoir with min and max check the coolant is between these marks. if it is the last type with one or two caps and an overflow one of the caps will be higher than the other usually the one on the engine you should remove this one and check that it is full to the top with coolant then same as the first one look for the overflow reservoir and check the level in it. If you need to top up your cooling system and you think it will only take a small amount around 750ml or less then it should be safe to just add plain water, any more than that say one or two liters either get it checked by a mechanic or fill it with the correct premixed coolant for your vehicle, if it takes more than a couple of litres then there is a leak somewhere that requires attention.

If  all of these thing are ok then you should have a hassle free journey, If you are in doubt of any of these things take your car to your local mechanic where they will be happy to check them for you.