Common, simple life hacks that will be useful for your car

Automotive operation, at times, is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. It includes a huge number of nuances that many do not take into account. Therefore, it will be useful for you to familiarize yourself with a number of such details that will positively affect the vehicle, and you will also be made to feel more confident when using it. So, I ask you to familiarize yourself with a few simple automotive tips that may come in handy in everyday life. They are quite simple, yet very effective. We look.

Don't forget to warm up the box

We have already been taught that before you start a trip by car after a long downtime, it will not be superfluous to warm up the power unit. This is necessary so that the engine oil reaches its operating temperature and becomes less viscous, which reduces friction between parts. Well, in addition to this, the cooling system also requires some idling of the engine – the coolant must also reach a certain temperature in order to ensure optimal thermal conditions for the engine during its operation. If, however, the engine does not warm up, then you should not count on something good in the future, because the service life of many of its internal components can be significantly reduced.

But at the same time, few people know that the transmission also needs to be warmed up. True, in this case, the advice will be more relevant for automatic and robotic boxes, as well as for the variator. “Mechanics”, to a lesser extent, requires attention.

So why should we warm up automated transmissions? The fact is that they have a relatively complex design, which provides for the presence of servos, solenoids and friction clutches. At the same time, the lubrication system in such boxes is extremely cunningly organized. In particular, as soon as you start the engine and warm it up, but do not warm it up, the automatic transmission, the oil pump starts to work already, directly, when the vehicle is moving, which means that the oil began to flow into the box only now and only now does it start warm up more or less.

What does it threaten? When the machine is moving, the load on the internal parts of the automated box is much higher than when it is standing still. We add here an unheated viscous “transmission” and we get increased friction between these same parts, as well as their increased wear, as well as wear on the oil pump. And, if the driver immediately starts to go fast, then there is a high risk of premature failure of the box.

Therefore, the transmission with two pedals must be warmed up even before you start driving the car. To this end, move the lever or washer in the transmission selector, thereby activating its modes of operation one by one. This will wake up the servos and the oil pump. And, when you start from a place, then move smoothly and at low speeds for a distance of up to five kilometers and, only then, gradually begin active accelerations.

In such a simple way, it will be possible to significantly extend the life of the automated box and avoid problems with it.

Take the freeway out of town once a week

Those who live in large cities know very well what urban operation is – constant traffic jams, driving at low engine speeds, hard braking and short distance driving. Therefore, it would be superfluous to say here that all this, to put it mildly, is not very useful for a car.

But, in fact, I wanted to tell you not that urban operation is harmful, but that driving outside a large settlement is useful. Namely, driving on the highway. With what? – you ask.

And I will answer you – everyone. I'll start in order. Firstly, outside the city, you can maintain relatively high engine speeds, which is only good for him. In particular, during periodic driving at high speeds, lasting 4-7 minutes, under pressure, deposits, soot and other slag fly out of the engine through the exhaust system, which have managed to form during operation in the city at low speeds – the engine gradually cokes and driving on high rpm prevents it.

Secondly, driving on the highway at a speed, even the prescribed 80-90 kilometers per hour, provided that it is constantly maintained, will allow the generator to work more actively. As a result of this, he will be able to recharge the battery well, which means that the risk of its sudden discharge will decrease.

Wipe your windshield often

Those who constantly use the car are well aware that dust, dirt, deposits from the exhaust fumes of vehicles driving in front, as well as deposits from reagents are constantly formed on the windshield during operation. In principle, there is nothing critical in this, especially if regular wipers and windshield washers work properly.

However, you should not start the situation and bring it, quite so, to indecency. Alas, there are a fairly large number of motorists who are too lazy to once again rinse the windshield of the car and clean it completely. Interestingly, the “windshield” can become dirty even when the car has been standing for several days, in general, without movement, the same dust and snow, rain can settle on it, which then leave dirty stains on the glass.

But why is a dirty windshield dangerous? The fact is that it is most unpleasant to look at it at the moment when you are driving a car towards the sun or at night, when glare from the headlights of oncoming vehicles falls on it – in such cases, visibility deteriorates significantly and this is not good for the driver's visibility and, consequently for road safety.

Therefore, the windshield needs to be cleaned and the more often the better. Otherwise, you will experience constant problems during operation and the risk of an accident or collision with something will increase significantly.

Carry activated charcoal in your car

Activated charcoal is a tablet that acts as an absorbent and often helps those who have digestive problems during a heavy feast, or those who have drunk alcoholic beverages and feel unwell. In general, the carbon filter has managed to prove itself well in medicine. However, we can successfully apply it in our car.

In particular, you need to carry a couple of blisters with activated charcoal tablets with you, and as soon as you feel that an unpleasant smell has appeared in the cabin, unpack them and put them on the floor and on the seats in the car after you have finished driving and park for a long time. Activated carbon should rid the interior of your car of unpleasant odors for several hours and, thus, you will be much more pleasant in the cabin.

Let's just say, in this case, activated carbon acts as a natural air ionizer. At the same time, it costs much less than its best counterparts in terms of air purification and for a long time relieves the interior of the smell.

Remove snow from the car thoroughly

This advice can already be considered relevant, because in many regions, significant snowfall has recently been observed, which we can observe on parked cars. But the snow gets not only to others, but also to our car. Therefore, when we go out to it and see that the car is one snowball on wheels, we are not always in a hurry to clean off all this snow-white coating from it.

Someone does not have time even then, only the headlights, windows are cleaned, while everything else remains on the body. In principle, I could consider this method of cleaning quite justified if there was a small amount of snow on the car. However, if there are significant deposits on the body, then this is not worth doing.

The fact is that as soon as you start moving and accelerate to, say, 60 kilometers per hour, then under the influence of a head or side wind, all this snow will begin to fly off the body. I think that this is very unsafe when we are driving in dense city traffic, because flying snow can form a real snow curtain behind you, through which the driver behind you can not see anything, as a result, he will lose control and drive either into your car, or into something or someone else. Therefore, be responsible for carefully removing snow from the body.

We fight with freezing non-freezing

Anti-freeze windshield washer fluid is a technical fluid that must be used when operating a car in the winter. It is able not to turn into years at low air temperatures, which means it will provide us with good visibility and cleanliness of the windshield.

The only problem is that, oddly enough, antifreeze tends to harden at low air temperatures and then it will cease to perform its most important function. To prevent this, care must be taken in advance that the antifreeze fluid retains its working properties.

To this end, I recommend that you add alcohol or spirits to the washer fluid reservoir. I understand that the smell of such a liquid can cause questions from the traffic police, but then you do not have to worry about the fact that the liquid has frozen in the car. Safety is the most important thing and you should keep this in mind when you operate the car this winter.

Park your car facing east

Many of us, during the winter operation of a vehicle, are familiar with the situation when in the morning, going out into the street, we see that the windshield is covered with ice and covered with frost. It no longer causes anything but negative emotions, because in the morning we are all in a hurry to do business and work, and here we have to spend time just warming the windshield and only then start driving.

So, this problem can be solved simply and elegantly. In particular, place the nose of the vehicle in the direction where the sun rises in the morning. The latter will be able to warm up a small frost and frost on the glass of the car, moreover, it will contribute to their rapid thawing when you turn on the cabin heater.

True, such a simple method can be used only when the weather outside does not bode well – when there are few clouds in the sky and the sun is shining. Otherwise, the council will not show itself in any way and will not justify itself.