Is your car idle? A few tips to keep it in good shape
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, people are being advised to stay home, resulting in noticeably fewer vehicles on the road. While this is good for the environment and for public health, vehicles need a bit of attention just to keep them in good form while they remain parked or are rarely driven.
“Cars aren’t designed to sit still. They’re designed to be driven,” said Tom Patry, owner of Grizzly Auto Repair in Revelstoke. Still, vehicle owners can take several measures to keep their cars and trucks in good working order while they are not being used much.
The main thing will be making sure the fuel tank is full so moisture doesn’t get into the gas, Patry said. Moisture can also get into the oil, so an oil change may be necessary after the vehicle has been sitting for a while.
If a vehicle is sitting for a longer period of time, perhaps a month, the battery should be disconnected, Patry said. New vehicles have several computers running. “The newer the vehicle the more computers there are to run and that’s what drains the batteries. The best thing is to disconnect the battery.” He added that it’s not hard on the computers to be disconnected.
Door locks and latches can be sprayed with a penetrating oil and lubricant, such as Deep Creep. This lubricates and breaks down rust.
If the vehicle is being parked for longer than a month, seals will start drying up. “The seals are made to be used so they don’t leak,” Patry said. “When they sit, they get a flat spot. The seal sits down on one side from where it was parked and then, when you start driving, all of a sudden you get seals leaking from that spot.” This is especially the case with older cars where the seal rubber may have hardened a bit.
Running the car will help, but the best thing, if the car is insured, is to go for a drive, especially a drive of twenty minutes or more, every once in a while.
The problem in Revelstoke is that many people don’t drive long distances, especially now, Patry said. Some people may drive to the store, to the ski hill or Mount Macpherson but these are 15-minute drives at the most. “The alternator is not putting enough back into the battery because it’s not running long enough,” Patry said about these short trips. “They say that twenty minutes driving or running puts back what you took out of the battery.”
Like several garages in town, Grizzly Auto is still operating but with fewer staff than usual, reflecting lower demand. The mechanics are practicing full sanitizing measures.
“When the customer comes in, I sanitize the keys, the door handles, the shifters, the steering wheel, the inside door,” Patry said. Staff try to use a new pair of nitrate gloves so they’re protected, then after it’s done and parked, they go through and wipe it again. “And then we do have a pick up and drop off when needed. And also the key box if people want. Then we sanitize the key right at the end too. So everything is sanitized coming in and going out.”
For information on garages that are open at this time, please see the Chamber of Commerce’s business listing.
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