Adnan Farooqui

As you all know that the monsoon season is upon us, we have already received the first installment of rains from above, with every day getting darker and darker cloud wise, we are surely going to have some torrential rains coming up in the near future. After all this is Karachi, the city which literally floods itself even when it only rains for an hour, and our cars are usually trudging along roads with bonnet high level of water on most major roads. It is essential for the durability and long running of your car that you go through certain procedures after your car has been literally "attacked" by massive amounts of water. I have created a sort of to-do list which is mandatory to be applied in order to maintain the car. I am also writing about some security features that you can adapt to make you drive safe in the rain.

1. Wiper blades: An essential component to maintain if you plan on taking those long drives while it is raining. Old wiper blades will not clean your windscreen effectively, and the rain water coupled with the dirt on your windscreen will obscure your vision badly making it unsafe for you to drive in a situation where visibility is very low. During such a season, have your wiper blades checked and replaced if they need to be, they are not the expensive and will help a ton.

2. Tyre Pressure: Make sure that the tyres on your car are properly inflated, improper inflation of tyres not only causes uneven wear on the tyres, but it increases the chances of your car slipping or sliding when you brake in an emergency situation on wet or damp roads. Be sure to have your tyres properly inflated, correct P.S.I for your specific tyre will be engraved into the sidewall of your tyre. Normally 30 P.S.I is used for most tyre types. *P.S.I stands for Pounds Per Square Inch.

3. Brake Pads or Calipers: These things are just as important as any other part of the car, old or worn brake pads will take longer to stop your car during an emergency braking situation. The state of the calipers can be judged very easily, if whilst braking, you hear a sqeaky sound everytime, it is for sure that your brake pads have been worn out and replacing them should be on top of your agenda. If you have noticed such sounds during driving, you should avoid driving at particularly high speeds in bad weather conditions.

4. Switch lights to parking mode: Often while it is raining, it tends to get foggy and visibility gets very poor, therefore leading to accidents. In order to warn other drivers about your presence on the road, you should have your lights turned on to parking mode, that is one turn of the light stick in your car, some models have buttons for every mode. Just to be safe, you should also turn on your hazard warning lights.

5. Do Not Overspeed: Overspeeding is hazardous even in good conditions, but in damp conditions, overspeeding can prove to be fatal both to you and other drivers on the road. In wet road conditions, your car might slip or skid when you drive rashly, keeping low speed is essential for a safe drive home.

6. Seatbelts: This may not be associated with helping you drive safe during rain, but this the most essential component of all. ALWAYS wear your seatbelts, they might save your life in a bad situation.


1. Full Service: Have your car thoroughly washed and cleaned after the season is over, while driving in the rain, the underside of the car gets muddy, and if you have driven in high levels of water, water may have entered inside your car, have it washed, vacuumed and shampooed to get that sparkling feel back.

2. Get the Engine Bay cleaned: You might be in for a scare when you pop the hood after driving through rain water mixed with mud. Though it will be done when your car gets fully serviced, make sure they pressure wash your engine bay and spray it.

3. Have Anti-Rust sprayed on the underside: Excessive amount of exposure to water may corrode the underside of your car, if not instantaneously, it will corrode gradually. It is better to have anti-rust treatment sprayed to your car, or go a more economical way and after your car has been washed from underneath, have diesel sprayed on the underside.

4. Modulate your brakes: Have the pads modulated after your car has been washed, maybe even rotated to get more effective braking.

5. Have Tyres Aligned: Not a necessary measure to adopt after rainfall, but its better to have it checked after every three months or so, you might just be noticing negative chamber in your car and wondering why it might be happening.

That's it, some basic precautionary measure you need to adopt, you will be safer on the road and can enjoy driving in the rain, and your car will be harmed as well. As i finish writing this, i have just noticed that it is raining outside :)

If you have any more queries regarding this, you can E-mail me


Peace!


Farooqu|