Protect my car from COVID-19?

[kmeeg]

(Please remove this post if you find that its useless)

How do you all keep your cars healthy during this lock down time?

 

Problems that I’m worried about;

1.  Dead or a weak battery

2. Petrol quality getting bad inside the tank

3. Rust on brake rotors

4. Tires getting flat spots

5. Axle boots or other rubber boots getting dried and cracked

6. Rodents getting in to the car and making it their new home

7. If your oil change and maintenance was already due and now its dues for months

8. Rust on moving parts due to less lubricant

 

Things I could try to protect my car;

 

1. Charge the battery once a while

2. Start the car and keep it running for some time

3. Move the car as much as possible inside the garden or if possible on a road without getting in to trouble with police?

4. Try to see what parts I can lubricate to avoid rust

5. Not using hand brake (parking brake)

6. Check for any signs of rodents getting inside from time to time. (Checking in engine compartment, under the car, inside the car)

 

• Any idea what can be done for petrol been degraded being inside the tank for a long time?

 

Clean / sanitize the car driven to get grocery when curfew is relaxed?

•  Would it be safe to use Dettol wipes to clean the interior? Steering wheel, seats, gear shifter, door handle, sun visor, a/c controls, radio controls, etc..?

• Exterior I guess washing with car shampoo would be sufficient?

 

Refueling after all this COVID-19 thing is over -

• Anyone worried that gas stations would have bad quality petrol for stored for months? Petrol starts degrading after couple of months right? Would it be the same like some time back we had bad fuel and having to spend thousands to fix fuel pumps?

 

Your advice is much appreciated..

 

KMeeg.

 

[Kavvz]

5 hours ago, kmeeg said:

 

 

(Please remove this post if you find that its useless)

How do you all keep your cars healthy during this lock down time?

 

 

 

Problems that I’m worried about;

 

1.  Dead or a weak battery

    

2. Petrol quality getting bad inside the tank

    

3. Rust on brake rotors

    

4. Tires getting flat spots

    

5. Axle boots or other rubber boots getting dried and cracked

    

6. Rodents getting in to the car and making it their new home

    

7. If your oil change and maintenance was already due and now its dues for months

    

8. Rust on moving parts due to less lubricant

    

 

 

Things I could try to protect my car;

 

 

 

1. Charge the battery once a while

    

2. Start the car and keep it running for some time

    

3. Move the car as much as possible inside the garden or if possible on a road without getting in to trouble with police?

    

4. Try to see what parts I can lubricate to avoid rust

    

5. Not using hand brake (parking brake)

    

6. Check for any signs of rodents getting inside from time to time. (Checking in engine compartment, under the car, inside the car)

    

 

 

• Any idea what can be done for petrol been degraded being inside the tank for a long time?

   

 

 

Clean / sanitize the car driven to get grocery when curfew is relaxed?

 

 

•  Would it be safe to use Dettol wipes to clean the interior? Steering wheel, seats, gear shifter, door handle, sun visor, a/c controls, radio controls, etc..?

   

• Exterior I guess washing with car shampoo would be sufficient?

   

 

 

Refueling after all this COVID-19 thing is over -

• Anyone worried that gas stations would have bad quality petrol for stored for months? Petrol starts degrading after couple of months right? Would it be the same like some time back we had bad fuel and having to spend thousands to fix fuel pumps?

 

Your advice is much appreciated..

 

KMeeg.

 

 First: Such a pretty, pretty wagon-Look at the gleaming paint! Was this picture taken after a cut and polish or something?

Not sure about all the items on your list but as far as sanitizing the car: I don't use dettol for sanitizing. I rub down the door handles and steering wheel, interior switches and other commonly used surfaces etc. with rubbing-alcohol and I guess its too early to tell but so far I haven't had any issues. I feel it maybe better in the long run to use a simple alcohol based cleaner rather than using cleaners which may leave a residue. 

Also as covid-19 is said not to survive longer than 48-72 hours on plastics and most synthetic material, if I do go out and know I won't be using the car for a while; I just leave it outside in the partial shade for a few days.  (Apparently covid and other similar viruses can't survive temps higher than 58 C so leaving the car outside in partial shade should in theory, raise the interior temperature above that level; essentially sterilizing the whole car - or so I hope! ) 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Kavvz

[kmeeg]

24 minutes ago, Kavvz said:

 First: Such a pretty, pretty wagon-Look at the gleaming paint! Was this picture taken after a cut and polish or something?

Not sure about all the items on your list but as far as sanitizing the car: I don't use dettol for sanitizing. I rub down the door handles and steering wheel, interior switches and other commonly used surfaces etc. with rubbing-alcohol and I guess its too early to tell but so far I haven't had any issues. I feel it maybe better in the long run to use a simple alcohol based cleaner rather than using cleaners which may leave a residue. 

Also as covid-19 is said not to survive longer than 48-72 hours on plastics and most synthetic material, if I do go out and know I won't be using the car for a while; I just leave it outside in the partial share for a few days.  (Apparently covid and other similar viruses can't survive temps higher than 58 C so leaving the car outside in the partial shade should in theory, raise the interior temperature above that level; essentially sterilizing the whole car - or so I hope! ) 

Completely forgot about the rubbing alcohol. I guess that's much safer bet for interior cleaning. Thanks for reminding that.

I guess when the car is not used for sometime I guess let it stand for  2 or 3 days might be the interior friendly method for sanitizing.

 

(Not related to this topic)

As for the paint it was given a complete repaint in 2008 (as far as I can remember) when the engine is send for the overhaul. Since its mostly inside the garage and not used often the paint looks new.

 

 

[Kavvz]

3 hours ago, kmeeg said:

 

As for the paint it was given a complete repaint in 2008 (as far as I can remember) when the engine is send for the overhaul. Since its mostly inside the garage and not used often the paint looks new.

...and 12 years later it still looks amazing! ?

[Kavvz]

Double checked what I said above and found this on a reputable website: 

"Heat is very effective at sanitizing and disinfecting objects from coronavirus. If anyone tells you that coronavirus is resistant to heat, they're wrong. In fact, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 may be even more sensitive to heat than the earlier SARS-CoV virus. Experiments done in China in 2002 with SARS-CoV in culture medium (Duan, Biomed Env Sci 2003) showed that coronavirus became undetectable after 30 minutes when heated to a temperature of 167°F, but recent tests with SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong showed that it became undetectable after just five minutes at only 158°F (70°C). The time required to kill SARS-CoV-2 increased as the temperature was reduced, such that the time by which it was undetectable increased to 30 minutes at 132°F (56°C), two days at 98.6°F (37°C), and two weeks at 71.6°F (22°C). At 39°F (4°C) the virus remained detectable at two weeks when the experiment ended (Chin, Lancet 2020)."

So in theory just parking the car outside with the windows closed for a couple of hours should be good enough to sanitize the interior of the car. You can leave the clothes you wore in the car to sanitize as well, if you want to save yourself the bother of washing them...Just make sure not to scare the neighbours when you walk back to the house in your undies  

Edited April 24, 2020 by Kavvz

[kmeeg]

1 hour ago, Kavvz said:

Just make sure not to scare the neighbours when you walk back to the house in your undies  

??

[The Don]

I think the jury is still out but the chances of picking up the virus from a metallic surface like a car is very remote. I certainly wouldn't bother washing the car every time I drive it. I would however wash my hand thoroughly when I am done with driving. The CDC has published a paper confirming that surface based transmission is very low compared to live person to person contact / proximity to an infected person. 

I would definitely run the car for about 1/4 hour every 2 weeks, even if it is just to start the engine and move it around a little. Car will come to temperature pretty quickly in our climate. Investing in a trickle charger might not be a bad idea considering how expensive batteries are.

I won't worry about fuel much. Yes they break down and leave deposits but that takes quite a long time. I recently started a car with ancient really rotten petrol. It needed some encouragement but once started ran fine. Note it was a carb car and yes the carb needed a clean. If you have high pressure petrol injection I would be a little bit more concerned.