5 ways to maintain your car during Covid lockdown

I have had a bittersweet situation during the lockdown lately. Why bittersweet, let me explain. On one hand, a huge number of friends got in touch with me, which gave me a chance to be able to catch up, break the silence if there has been any amongst us. While this happened, pretty much most of them agreed to remember me because their car wouldn’t start and they couldn’t think of anybody else who would be interested!

Yes, I guess I am that guy amongst my friends. But proud to be. We’ve had good luck starting over neglected petrol engines and a couple of diesels.

Here are a few steps on how to avoid having to call me or well, your dearest car nut of a friend.

1- Park the car in a safe, ideally covered area. Full points if your car is parked in a basement, covered preferably. Because you don't want to cry the day the lockdown is over and your car looks like a pigeon’s canvas.

2- Do make sure you start the engine up once every 5–6 days. It’s just healthy to keep all the fluids running on the inside of the car, considering it is for sure being used lesser than it used to be for now.

3- Also, while we say basements are safe, not really so in case you’ve got a bunch of friendly rodents around. You could ideally find a setup with no such issues. If not, have rodent traps set around the car.

4- Apart from the act of starting over the engine, it is advisable to drive the car around a little bit so that you avoid flat spots on tires, also help out the battery a bit. When your cars sits longer than say 10 days to two weeks, there's no charge coming in from the alternator to the battery, which reduces the life of the battery. Even if it is a new one. You will see this happen faster in winters.

5-Another concern is the fuel tank in your car. Now if your car is left for a long period of time with a partially filled or almost empty tank, moisture inevitably finds its way in, which can then lead to a corroded tank or further corroded parts.

6- For the ones who have cars with trickle chargers, for the love of God just plug them in.

Now to sum this up, your car is like your body. If it hasn’t been driven in a while, you've got to ease into it. Just like how you don’t go hard on your first day to the gym after a long break.
So start up your car. Get some heat in the engine. Once that is done if it has been a while since your last spin, pull the car out for a tiny little joyride. Again, you've got to ease into it. Be slow and smooth with the throttle, gearshifts, etc. Once some time passes and the oil circulation is healthy, you should be able to open up the throttle a little more so that the engine can be cleared out and also the battery is charged.

Oh, don’t forget to notice the smile on your face!

Now if you already have reached a situation where your car is not starting, well hit me up and we will see what we can do.