Tune up your vehicles before summer holiday travel

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Nationally, AAA projects nearly $71 million travelers over the Independence Day holiday travel period with $60.6 million of those travelers driving. The summer heat could stall your plans.

“The heat on your tires will have them cracking and coming apart and you don’t know it,” said Owner of Walt’s Auto Service Plus Inc., Walt Pursell. “Then it gets hot and the heat expands inside your tires and the rubber starts coming apart.”

Pursell states that’s not even the worst that could happen noting, “The engine will start overheating because maybe you’ve had a leak in your radiator, water pump, or a little hose — over the winter time you didn’t notice it, but now you’re low on antifreeze, you’re trying to go down the road and your engine starts overheating.”

Pursell said these problems can become costly if you wait to get them fixed ranging from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand.

“Engines you’re talking ten to twelve thousand dollars and transmissions you may be five or six thousand dollars so it’s pretty pricey to get something overheated and damaged,” said Pursell.

To help avoid a big financial detour, Pursell suggests paying attention now.

“If the lights on, it’s on for a reason — get it checked out. Some of them have service engine soon or some are check engine, it just depends on what’s going on. Listen to your car,” said Pursell. “There’s a sensor that’s telling that it has a problem. You many smell something burning, something sweet, some nasty — if you’re smelling it, there’s a reason and you need to get it checked out.”

Heat can also affect your cars battery, so be sure you’re checking that too.

Pursell said not to wait until the last minute because shops tend to be busier the closer you get to a big travel day.

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