What elements and systems should be checked first.

With the onset of warm weather, traveling by car turns into a great vacation option. We will tell you what you need to do in the car before leaving home for a long time.

The first question that a novice traveler may have is: why bother preparing your car at all? The answer is quite simple: to avoid unpleasant breakdowns on the road, and not to turn an unforgettable experience into a real nightmare. In addition, the preparation of the machine is a test of the operation of all important systems. Therefore, if you monitor the condition of your car, then this procedure will not take away much energy and nerves from you, but it will allow you to detect malfunctions, if any.

So, what should you check if you are going on a long journey?

Liquids

You don't need to be a professional mechanic to understand that technical fluids in a car play a role similar to human blood. Therefore, be sure to pay attention to them. First of all, before driving, check the engine oil level and top up if necessary. By the way, the oil itself must be changed every 10,000 - 15,000 kilometers, depending on the accepted technical regulations... Many people know that in Europe, automakers adopt increased service intervals- from 20,000 to 30,000 kilometers. But we must not forget that, firstly, Europeans do not stand in such traffic jams as residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and secondly, the quality of fuel in Europe is on average also higher than that of Russia. Therefore, the current oil change intervals are a reasonable compromise. So if you are going on the road, and have not changed the oil for a long time, be sure to do it.

The second thing you should pay attention to is the coolant - antifreeze or antifreeze. As it is not difficult to guess from the name, their main function- in the cooling of parts of a running motor. Therefore, if you do not want to "boil" in the middle of the track, be sure to make sure that the level of antifreeze is normal, and for hoses and expansion tank no smudges. By the way, the coolant itself must also be changed once every few years, depending on the regulations.

The third fluid that needs to be checked before a long trip is brake fluid. If you suddenly noticed that the brake pedal began to fail a little more than usual, perhaps brake fluid requires replacement. Also, do not forget about the windshield washer fluid. Of course, in spring and summer you will have to use it much less often than in winter, but it will still be much better if it is in the tank. By the way, it is best to buy a special summer "washer", but if it is not available, ordinary water will do.

Finally, we shouldn't forget about such things as power steering fluid and transmission oil... Both, from time to time, require replacement, even contrary to what the automakers sometimes say. Therefore, if you have an older car, be sure to ask about the last time this procedure was carried out.

Tires

After checking technical fluids the motorist should pay attention to the tires. First of all, check the pressure - it should be normal. If you are not going to drive alone, but with family or acquaintances, the tires may need to be inflated. On modern cars mobiles information about required pressure sometimes placed on the cover of the gas tank flap. You also need to pay attention to the condition of the tires themselves. They help to understand that the rubber needs to be replaced with a new one. special indicators wear and tear. It will also be useful to remember the last time wheel balancing and camber were done. It is advisable to carry out these operations at least once a year. Well, and needless to say that if the rubber has hernias and cracks on the side wall, it needs to be replaced?

Lighting engineering

With this point, everything is pretty simple. To understand if all external ones work for you lighting devices, ask a relative or friend for help. Let him stand next to the car, and you turn it on one by one parking lights, near and high beam, turn signals, etc. If something from the lighting equipment does not work, you should not immediately sound the alarm - most likely, the light bulb has just blown out or the fuse has blown. The work on their replacement, as a rule, takes a few minutes and can well be done independently. Therefore, be sure to conduct them before the trip. By the way, taking one or two spare lamps with you will be a very smart decision, and in some countries it is generally mandatory requirement SDA.

Pads

Brake pads, like many other elements, need to be replaced from time to time. If you have a car with high mileage, pay attention to what condition they are in. If you have disc brakes, it is quite simple to do this - you just need to look at the place where the block is adjacent to brake disc... And other

Of course, the above list is not entirely complete and includes only those items that you can check yourself, without outside help. But more globally, the main preparation of the car for long trip consists in its regular maintenance.

For example, it is during maintenance that the fuel and air filters are changed on the car. Also at the service station you will be checked the condition of the timing belt, suspension elements, as well as the condition of the exhaust and fuel systems... In general, if you regularly service the car and do everything routine maintenance, then, most likely, you have nothing to fear. If you recently bought a car, or are not completely sure about it technical condition, it is better to go to the nearest workshop and check everything properly.

Thus, preparing the car for a long trip does not require too much effort from the owner. The most important thing is to set aside time for this procedure, and how you should do it. If you constantly use a car, then almost certainly all preparation will be limited only to visual control of certain elements. But if not, then it is much better to detect and fix the malfunction before the trip than to deal with it in long journey.

The basis of everything independent travel by car - to be 100% confident in your car. In this article we will try to answer the question: "How to prepare the car for a long trip?" based on their experience. If you are not an auto mechanic yourself, it is strongly recommended to send the car for diagnostics to a specialized center, preferably checked by you or people you trust. Our 2007 Lada Priora car is the very first one purchased by the previous owner on pre-order. We purchased it in 2014 with 65,000 km mileage. Good condition. The problem is that I did not understand cars, and was not particularly interested in the auto industry in life, in general, an amateur. For me, a car is like an opportunity to travel, travel. There is a big disadvantage in this - you have to trust strangers when checking the performance. Fortunately, there are friends who understand the device of the car and have experience in repairing.

Before the trip, we gave two acquaintances (through other acquaintances) a car for diagnostics with the condition of checking to cover a distance of 6,000 kilometers. We paid a small sum of money in the amount of 500 rubles. We were assured that everything is in order and that we can go, we only need to change the oil before the trip. We were very happy with this news, since from the purchase, apart from replacing the resonator (part of the muffler), nothing was repaired in the car, and car repair is a very expensive business.

An interesting situation arose later. On the day of the proposed departure, April 29, returning from relatives (saying goodbye to them), they live in a village, 15 km from our city, the car sank with a crash and rear wheels ceased to rotate, there was such an impression that the wheel burst or even fell off. Having stopped, having examined the car, they even laughed, now we have an understated prior. I'm in the cars "zero". He began to call a friend, who was fortunate not far, quickly arrived. After a cursory examination, he said that the C-pillar had broken down, he needed to reach the garage. There was no limit to bewilderment and even anger. I really wanted to look into the eyes of those mechanics who did the diagnostics. It was a very good lesson - if you want it to be of high quality - do it yourself, or trust a person you are 100% sure of. Thank God that everything happened at this very moment, in this place. If such a situation had happened on the road, on the highway - that's it, the trip would not have taken place.

Now my friend, who knew about cars, his name is Tolik, was faced with the task of preparing the car for the trip. I completely trusted him, but I didn't want to strain him initially. After the inspection, the following work plan came out, which answered us the question: "How to prepare the car for a long trip?":

1. Oil change and oil filter- an obligatory event before a long trip;
2. Replacement rear pillars- one broke, changing in pairs;
3. Replacement air filter- it turned out that the old one is clogged with mud and generally stands cut off from another car;
4. Replacing the fuel filter;
5. Replacing the muffler - after the strut broke off and the car sagged - just a blow fell on the muffler, a gap formed, a replacement was required;
6. Replacement of the tips of the steering rods - revealed bad job right tip, come in pairs, replaced both;
7. After replacing the steering tips, it is necessary to perform an alignment disorder;
8. Replacing the alternator belt - the old one was cracked and delaminated;
9. Replacing the electrolyte in the battery and charging the battery - charged for 2 days - charged only 60% - it was decided to replace the electrolyte - it helped;
10. A-pillars were intact, but one of the pillars was damaged thrust bearing- crumbled and the balls flew out - they also replaced it;
11. Replacement of wipers.

Here's a list that surfaced after a normal diagnosis. Fortunately, they did the repairs themselves, bought only spare parts, did everything in 10 days, since a friend was working.

Racks and tools

In a car repair shop, repairs would cost 40 percent more. In general, the repair cost a little less than 8 thousand rubles (advantage domestic car). We hope that our experience was interesting, we now have a clearer idea of ​​how to prepare the car for a long trip. The main thing that was learned from this situation: do not look for freebies, trusting do not understand who and be confident in the person or workshop where you rent the car. Also in previous articles we shared our experience on such issues as, read, there is a lot of useful information!

There are no related posts.

Travel on own car Is one of the smartest and most attractive vacation options for many motorists. Someone goes to have a rest at the dacha, someone prefers picnics, and some go on a trip to the sea by car or visit other countries. And regardless of the route chosen, a necessary stage of the upcoming trip is to prepare the car for a long trip, so as to avoid troubles on the road.

How to prepare a car for a long trip in the summer: assessing the appearance of the car

A machine is a complex mechanism in which everything is interconnected. Therefore, any malfunction, even the smallest, can become a serious embarrassment and ruin your holiday. Checking the car should start with an assessment appearance since after long winter with constant temperature fluctuations, paintwork or lighting fixtures may suffer.

First you need to thoroughly wash the car and inspect the body for chips or other defects. If damage is found, it must be removed by polishing, if deep scratches- perform local recovery. Then it will not hurt to inspect the windows and headlights of the car. If cracks appear on them, you can correct the imperfections with photopolymers or carry out processing with a polishing paste.

When figuring out how to prepare for a long trip by car, you should pay attention to the fact that the most important components vehicle include its moving parts. Tire pressures and rubber integrity should be carefully checked - even if they are not a concern on visual inspection.

Checking technical fluids

Before a long trip, be sure to check the fluids:

• brake fluid;
• engine oil;
• coolant (antifreeze, antifreeze).

• If the engine oil has been changed recently (within the last several months), it should be topped up to the level specified by the manufacturer.
• When between 1 and 2 thousand kilometers of mileage remains before the oil change according to the plan, it is recommended to change it before the trip.
• It is enough to add a summer "washer" or ordinary water to the windscreen washer tank.
• It will not be superfluous to check the air conditioner for the content of freon if you want to avoid a trip in a hot car.
• It is also necessary to make sure that the oil level is sufficient and transmission fluid in steering. If there are not enough of them, it is necessary to inspect for the occurrence of a leak.

Checking tires

After checking the fluids, the motorist should pay attention to the tires. First of all, check the pressure for correctness. The standards for modern cars are listed on the gas cap. It is also necessary to check directly the condition of the tires.

Lighting check

Everything is simple here. Turn on the side lights, turn signals, low / high beam, etc. If any device does not work, you need to replace the bulbs yourself or visit a car service.

Diagnostics of the engine, battery

In the summer, the battery wears out faster because it doesn’t use all its capabilities. To eliminate this problem, you need to periodically repeat training cycles in which the device is fully discharged. It is recommended to perform a charge check at the start right before the road - if the results do not correspond to the manufacturer's parameters, you should consider replacing the battery.

Brakes, Suspension and Steering Inspection

Preparing the car for a long journey should include an element such as checking the brakes. They should function without failure, so if in doubt, it is advisable to consult a professional. Inspection should also be performed steering and pendants.

What must be in the trunk?

In the trunk of any car in mandatory the following things should lie:

• fire extinguisher;
• first aid kit;
• sign emergency stop;

How can tools and spare parts come in handy?

Everyone decides for himself what to take with him on a long journey. If the trunk is large and there is room, then it is better to play it safe and take stock. You can take with you:

• spare wheel;
• wheel change tool kit: matching wrench and jack;
• tire puncture repair kit, compressor;
• "Cold welding", electrical tape, a set of clamps (for repairing the cooling system);
• towing cable;
• wires for "lighting";
• set of fuses;
• spare set of candles;
• spare headlamps;
• tools at your discretion (a set of keys, screwdrivers, pliers, etc.);
• a set of napkins, rags;
• several gloves;
• sapper shovel.

What do you need to take on a car trip to the Black Sea?

On a long trip, you need to prepare water and food so that you do not have to look for roadside shops or cafes on the way.

Matches, a lighter, a folding knife may come in handy.

The flashlight will help in case of an emergency stop, in case of a problem with the car at night.

Use warm throws and small pillows. Passengers will be much more comfortable with them, and long road will be easier to carry.

Don't forget to take charging device for phone, laptop.

Check the weather. Wherever you go, you may need both light and warm clothes.

Write down phone numbers and addresses of services in advance technical assistance located along the way.

Ensuring the comfort and safety of children - preparing the car for a long trip

If you are going to go on a long trip with children, then the need to provide them with maximum comfort and safety. According to the valid on the territory Russian Federation traffic regulations, children under the age of 12 are not allowed to be transported without using special devices- special belts or child seats.

Make sure the selected seat is suitable for the child's weight and height and that it is properly secured. In this case long way will not be debilitating.

It must be remembered that the child will have to spend a lot of time in the salon, and therefore he must feel comfortable and be protected from direct sunlight. If there are no curtains on the windows of the vehicle, it is recommended to install them. If possible, try to make frequent stops every 2 hours in extremely hot weather.

How to arrange your luggage correctly

An important step in getting your car ready for your trip to the South is getting your luggage right. Competently placed things in the trunk and in the cabin will ensure the safety and comfort of passengers and the driver on the road.

Essentials must be placed within the vehicle's passenger compartment within easy reach. It is recommended to place heavy and bulky items at the very bottom. luggage compartment to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. The heaviest items should be placed in the front of the luggage compartment and should be as close as possible to each other and to the sides of the luggage compartment in order to distribute the weight evenly.

It is recommended not to carry luggage inside the car, as even the lightest items can harm passengers and the driver in the event of emergency braking getting a significant speedup. When using the station wagon, do not load luggage compartment higher than the seats, because this reduces the visibility of the road, and with hard braking, all objects above the seats will be in the cabin, posing a threat to passengers.

Good luck on the road! Not a nail, not a rod!

Common sense dictates that modern car will cause fewer problems, will be more comfortable and will not break down on the road. If you have a choice, it is worth driving a less worn car, but if there is no choice, it does not matter. The problem of old cars is exaggerated by those who do not drive them.

The vehicle must go through the following stages of preparation:

• maintenance of the engine and chassis, troubleshooting;
• checking the level of liquids and adding them, changing the oil in the engine and gearbox, if necessary;
• spare wheel check;
• equipment with a set of tools, spare oil, brake and coolants, timing belts and generator, first aid kit, tow rope, jack, flashlight, pump or compressor, fire extinguisher, reflective vest and emergency stop sign.

You need an up-to-date set for the trip car documents, insurance and, if you are traveling abroad, a green card. To confirm driving license in countries that have acceded to the Vienna Convention on road traffic 1968, it is enough to have a national driver's license with you. This list includes most of the countries in Europe and the former USSR, about 80 states in total (see Wikipedia).

Household rider

It may seem like there is enough room in the car for all the things you want to take with you. This is an illusion: with a large amount of junk, find the right thing will become more difficult and there is always a risk that you will want to buy a large item on the trip, but do not put it in the trunk.

Each traveler will need one set of outerwear and three sets of underwear. In addition to automotive first aid kit on hand you must have a personal one with aspirin, paracetamol, smecta or other remedy for digestive problems, medicines for allergies and against blood-sucking insects. Put the usual products in the cosmetic bag, without which not a single day is complete, in most cases they do not take up much space.

For spending the night outdoors, you will need sleeping bag, a tourist mat and, for self-catering, a gas hob with one burner. These are optional attributes, but they hedge if something goes wrong.

Keep a spare credit card and some cash in your luggage, separate from your main wallets.

Do the same with copies of all documents (preferably in color).

Luggage should be packed and positioned in the car so that full unloading requires a minimum of shifting and a minimum of time.

Route planning

Kalu Ci / Unsplash.com

We will proceed from the fact that a typical road trip- this is not a march, not a marathon and not a trophy expedition, but comfortable ride by car during an average vacation, which can be spent from four days up to two weeks.

Soberly assess the possibilities. A driver with long-distance driving experience will travel 1,000 kilometers in a day, or more on a two-lane expressway in one direction. But such a pace is tiresome and requires a fasting day or a second driver.

To determine how much you need to travel per day, mark the reference points of the route on the map - cities, historical places or natural objects where you plan to stay overnight. Then determine the distance and route between these points.

It is undesirable to stay at one point for less than a day.

Moving over 500 kilometers is a small test for the driver. It is also better to see less on the road in order to see more at the destination.

I'll tell you about my experience. The desire to make the trip as rich as possible blurred the impressions: we visited many cities, but saw little.

We arrived in Yaroslavl at 16 o'clock. After a day of driving, spending the night in the field and a cursory visit to Uglich and Rostov the Great, I wanted to take a shower, have a hot meal and just relax. We did not go out for a walk until eight in the evening, and after four hours we returned to sleep.

The next half day we examined the city, and in the late afternoon we went to Vologda, but not by main track, and through Rybinsk and Poshekhonye: I wanted to see these cities with at least one eye. There was not enough time to get to Vologda before dark. We drove along a very bad road and were forced at some point to return to the previous fork.

We got to Vologda the next day, when it was time to return home, which is 700 kilometers. Three hours in the historic city of 300 thousand is too short to feel its atmosphere.

Financial question

The more travelers in one car, the cheaper the trip is for everyone. True, it becomes more difficult to plan a route, but if you agree before the start, then there will be no reservations and surprises.

Calculate how much money you need to buy gas and charge a third more. When calculating, proceed from own experience, but not technical indicators consumption. Online calculators simplify this process, but do not take into account the wrong turn and subsequent wanderings, and the deposit in case of excessive fuel consumption will take this moment into account.

Build a refueling fund before the trip so that during it you do not get confused about who is paying. Divide the remainder equally at the end of the journey.

Determine in advance where you will be located. There are several acceptable ways for friendly companies: a motel, a hostel, an apartment (can be rented through Avito, Airbnb and their analogs), a guarded paid camping or an overnight stay in nature in a wild way. Accommodation at a hotel is most often beneficial only to married couples. suitable for a single traveler or a couple in which at least one has a pumped account on the Couchsurfing.com website.

Use metasearch engines like Booking.com or Trivago to find all types of paid placements. On them you can find promotions, discounts and promotional codes provided by both the hotel and the service itself.

Before crossing state border make sure that you have some currency of the host country on hand, even if you prefer to pay by card.

Psychological aspect

Simon Schmitt / Unsplash.com

It's great if every traveler knows what to expect from a fellow traveler. Living together on a trip requires trust, mutual understanding and a search for compromises.

Konstantin Perfilyev, founder of the Dream Roads expedition project, claims that every joint trip should have a leader. There may be several organizers, but one person should coordinate the actions - an experienced traveler, to whom the rest listen to in matters of technology and tactics. Even if the driver drives everyone in his car, he will have to accept that someone else will probably be in charge of the process.

The company should not have a weak link that suddenly wants to go home or rest, contrary to the plans outlined in advance. If the trip is spontaneous, this is also not a reason to relax, lying on the couch in the hostel or playing volleyball after breakfast at the campsite when it's time to leave.

Outcome

• The car does not have to be new. The main thing is that it is reliable and undergoes maintenance.
• Just in case, check the possibility of using the Russian driving license in the host country, keep the documents in order and make copies of them.
• Do not overload the trunk. Imagine that you are driving without a car.
• If the trip plan is very busy, it is better to generalize it: remove unnecessary intermediate points in order to leave more time for the main and interesting.
• Take money for gasoline more than you need, and take care of the presence of the currency of the host country in advance if you are traveling abroad.
• To avoid conflicts, agree on everything in advance and choose a travel leader.

The time for vacations will start very soon and thousands of motorists will go to the seas or mountains. But before you go on a long journey, you need to put in order " iron horse". To do this, you should perform a few simple steps.

1. We estimate the external condition of the car.

After a long winter with constant temperature fluctuations, which are known to negatively affect the quality paintwork cars (this is important not only for those who have a car “spending the night” under the house, but also in the garage - after all, during the day it is exposed to precipitation and temperature fluctuations), it is extremely important to check the condition of its body. To do this, first of all, you need to thoroughly wash the car, and then carefully inspect the entire surface of the body. Having found scratches and chips hidden under the winter-spring mud, we remove them with polishing, and if the cracks are deep, we carry out local repair Car paintwork... It is also important to inspect the glass and lighting devices of the car - they can also have chips and cracks, which, when the temperature changes (high - during the day, low - at night) will lead to their further cracking. If scratches or cracks are found, it is better to polish them or "weld" them with special glue or photopolymers.

Since we touched lighting fixtures, we recommend that you check the angle of inclination of the headlights and, if necessary, adjust it.

2. We check the levels and quality of working fluids.

Having found and corrected the external errors of the car, we pay attention to the condition of the working fluids. The most important of them are and. The efficiency of work depends on the level and quality of the former. brake system, and this is the safety of the driver and passengers. The second, cooling, is no less important, since its main function is to protect engine components and assemblies from overheating, especially in hot summer time... If the filling of these liquids was carried out six months or a year ago, then it would be better, if necessary, to top up or replace them with fresh ones. Another liquid, the presence of which is not disputed, is washing. In summer you can use plain water or a special summer "wash". As practice shows, the effectiveness of these fluids when flushed from windshield midges are almost identical. It is important to check the level of freon in the car's air conditioning system.

Finally, check the level engine oil... If it has changed recently (two to three months before the planned trip), then, if necessary, add oil to the level recommended by the manufacturer. If there are about one and a half to two thousand kilometers left until the planned one, then it is better not to delay with this and change the oil a week before the trip. It will not be superfluous to check the oil levels in the power steering drive. If it is found that their levels do not correspond to the recommended readings, then it makes sense to check the tightness of the power steering and gearbox - perhaps a leak has formed somewhere and it is better to fix it before the trip.

3. We diagnose the operation of the engine and the state of the battery.

So that the "heart" of the car does not fail at the most inopportune moment, it is best to call a service station a couple of weeks before leaving on vacation and conduct computer diagnostics engine, fuel, exhaust and other systems. The errors of the motor functioning revealed in the process of diagnostics are eliminated. In addition, you need to carefully examine the condition drive belts attachments... We also check the status battery, the cleanliness of the terminals. If for last winter has developed more than half of its resource, it is better to replace it.

4. Inspect the condition of the suspension, brakes and steering.

During the winter on domestic roads you have probably been hit by wheels in holes more than once. And therefore the diagnosis of the front and rear suspension, as well as nodes of the steering system before a long journey will not be at all superfluous. Ask the service station to check the condition of the suspension assemblies, identify deviations and eliminate them. If you have already done camber / toe when changing winter tires for summer, then doing this procedure again - it will not hurt, since for, albeit not a long period of driving summer tires wheel alignment angles could be violated.

In addition to these procedures, attention should be paid to the condition of the tires, especially if they are not used for the first season: measure the tread height, inspect the surface and sidewalls of the tires. to the level recommended by the manufacturer, do not forget to check if the spare wheel is inflated. Also inspect wheel disks if they are damaged, it is better to roll them. After completing all these procedures, you need to balance the wheels.

Do not forget to check the status brake pads and discs - you may need to replace them or groove.

5. Putting together a set of things necessary on the road.

There are many little things that a motorist may need in a given situation. Let us dwell only on some of them, without which it is certainly not recommended to go on a long journey. So, this is a jack, a wheel wrench, a repair kit, fuses, spare lamps, an emergency stop sign, reflective vest, tire sealant, tire inflator compressor, tow rope, wires for "revitalizing" the storage battery. Naturally, a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher must be present in the car. It will also be useful to put an ax and a sapper shovel in the car, a portable winch will also come in handy - who knows what terrain the spirit of travel will throw you into.