How To Prepare Your Car For Winter
Preparing your car for winter is essential because winter can put a lot of demand on your vehicle parts and equipment. During winter factors such as wintry temperatures, freezing temperatures and salted roads can gang up to make driving very difficult. Some of the items you are going to need for winter include; anti-freeze, tire chains, windshield washer with coolant and an emergency kit that is complete with items such as dry food snacks, candles and match sticks flashlight, snowbrush, jacket, ice scraper brush, jumper cables and a shovel. There are several ways to prepare your car for winter, if you are doing the preparation yourself, find the best place to do your work.
Open the hood and find the reservoir that holds the windshield fluid and remove the lid and fill it with an anti-freeze resistant windshield fluid. Next, locate the windshield spray-nozzle on the hood of your vehicle. Nozzles are usually susceptible to getting clogged; this makes it hard to clean your windshield windows. Insert a pin into the nozzle hole to clear out any clogged debris. If the windshield wiper blades are ineffective, replace them with new windshield blades that can effectively cut through ice and snow. The next procedure is to locate your battery; loosen the battery cables and remove any signs of corrosion using an abrasive wire brush. If the battery cannot hold a charge replace it, because winter may be very straining to a non-effective battery.
You can also take your car to an auto mechanic, to have items such as the thermostat, brakes, battery and defroster checked. The braking system is especially important when it comes to vehicle safety. Inspect your spark plug cables and also check your engine oils; having a cracked plug wires can affect the overall vehicle performance and erode your vehicle fuel economy. When it comes to oil change, ensure that your engine oil is changed at least once a month. The other pertinent issue is to ensure that your tyres have adequate tread. To test your tyre tread, you can use the old penny test. Check the pressure on your tyres and that of your spare wheel. Tyres normally loose some air during winter, as such it is critical that you pump them up to the recommended level.
Visual inspections can be performed to check if your vehicles lighting systems are all functioning. Roads salts can also be used sparsely to clear snow; however, to preempt damage to your cars paint, the car has to be washed off regularly. It is also recommended that motorist keep their vehicles gas tank at least half tank full during winter to minimize the chances of moisture developing through the gas lines and to prevent freezing. Before driving out in winter, it is important listen out for announcements concerning roads advisories, road closures and accidents in the local radio or TV station. Another important thing is to plan your route ahead of time to avoid traveling through dangerous or blocked off roads.
