Car wars: Desert summer heat hard on autos

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.

Motorists may not notice it, but our cars do.

The Las Vegas Valley is tilting into a more direct alignment with the sun.

"The Earth is tilting more, and more direct sunbeams are coming down to our position here in the desert," said Ernie Cobb of the National Weather Service's Las Vegas office.

It happens every year. Which means by June 20, the normal high temperature will have climbed just about permanently into the triple digits -- 100 degrees or hotter until at least the latter part of September.

And car repair shops are already receiving the casualties.

"Starting to pick up. Sure is," said Don Williams, owner of Qualified Automotive in downtown Las Vegas. "Something that was weak (in a car's engine) through the winter, it didn't matter. But in summer, now it shows up."

"Just about everything goes," said Robert McKintire, owner of Madrid's Pit Stop repair shop in Las Vegas. "Batteries die. Fuel pumps die. Alternators plug up. There's more work in the summer."

Why? Because it gets unearthly hot.

"Cars are not designed for here," said Wayne Higdon, owner of Dad's Garage. "The under-hood temperatures blow the water right out of a battery. Just turns it to vapor and it goes away."

Then the car won't start.

Last year between June and August, tow trucks hired by the American Automobile Association helped 29,203 Las Vegas motorists with stalled vehicles, said Jennifer Mack, AAA spokeswoman.

That was up 64 percent from the winter months, between November and February, when just 17,855 motorists called for help.

"The No. 1 reason is a dead battery," Mack said. "The No. 2 reason is deteriorated belts and hoses. The heat tends to bring out any problems and exacerbate them."

When the belts and hoses go, coolant escapes and cars overheat. They end up on the side of the road. The Nevada Highway Patrol answers many of the calls for service.

"People don't maintain their cars the way they should," said Trooper Alan Davidson, spokesman for Nevada Highway Patrol.

They don't take care of themselves either, he said.

"All our officers are carrying water."

Davidson, AAA, and auto repair shop owners all have the same advice: Go to a repair shop. Have mechanics do a full check of your car.

That way, when the heat really hits, your car can breeze through it.