Late summer maintenance: Areas to address after months of hot weather

While fleets may think of freezing temperatures and corrosive de-icing chemicals that come with winter as the most punishing elements for a truck, summer heat can create wear and tear that isn’t so easy to spot by the naked eye. Whether that means damage to the inside of hoses, tire wear, or fluid breakdowns beneath the hood, sustained high temperatures have the capability to do real damage to trucks and those they share the road with.

Here are a few areas to focus on:

Tires

A worn tire that blows out on the road not only “takes out a mud flap and taillights, but could get [a fleet] into a safety situation because now you have debris coming from a failed tire that could damage other vehicles on the road,” said Mike Hagaman, senior manager of client relationship management at FleetNet America by Cox Automotive.

And beyond tires, an overheated engine can cause issues with head gaskets, and the increased temperatures can tax engine fluids more than if operating in cooler temperatures, Hagaman explained, all of which can lead to a truck landing at the roadside.

Instead, Hagaman emphasized the importance of careful routine inspections and regular component replacements according to OEM guidelines.

“Doing routine checks in the yards are huge, and taking a look on not only tires, but belts and hoses and cooling systems, because we've got so much more under the hood heat that we're dealing with,” Hagaman explained.

The same inspection and replacement rules apply to monitoring belts and tire casings, even if the sidewall looks find and is holding air properly, as summer’s heat speeds up this deterioration.

“Obviously, tires and hot weather would be the number one thing that everyone gets in to,” Hagaman stated. And doubly so for tires with automatic tire inflation systems (ATIS), as both the tire and ATIS’ integrity must be checked.

Batteries

Beyond general inspections to ensure hoses and tires are all holding up to summer’s temperatures, technicians also need to double-check the superheated components under the hood, including vehicle batteries and internal cooling systems.

“We found over the years that heat tends to kill batteries quicker than the cold weather,” Hagaman noted. “That always seems surprising to the general public, but the problems with heat, batteries, and the taxing on charging systems are related.”

To compensate, vehicle batteries may need more frequent and more careful charging before other maintenance. This includes allowing a technician’s jump starter to normalize its temperature before charging.

“If the jump starter is above 100 degrees F, less than zero degrees for lead acid (or less than 32 degrees for lithium), allowing it to [normalize] to room temperature is a best practice,” said Jim O’Hara, EVP of merchandising, Clore Automotive Inc.

Additionally, technicians should check their batteries for corrosion, which could prevent it from receiving enough charge from the alternator, according to Ross Lopez, sales manager of new business development for GMB North America Inc.

“Clean the corrosion with a wire brush and add an anti-corrosive spray to slow its return,” Lopez also advised.

Radiators and A/C

For other internal systems, Hagaman noted that technicians should be sure that their radiators are washed out and debris free, and that they’re checking for condensate drain lines on AC systems. Additionally, the growth of automatic transmissions requires that shops carefully monitor their truck fluids.

“Automatics are very sensitive to overheating,” Hagaman stated. “So for fluid breakdown, it's very important that you do your transmission services, even if it's a manual transmission that has some automation to it. Those units run a good bit of heat, even in cooler temperatures, so when you get into hot weather, it's very important that you follow fluid changes per the OEMs.”

These insights especially apply to refrigerated trailers, which have to work harder to maintain trailer temperatures in the extreme seasons. Here, technicians should make sure no dirt or debris obstruct a reefer’s condenser or evaporator coils, and beware of acid contamination, said Edward Goh, senior director of Strategy and Services, Global Container Refrigeration for Carrier Transicold.