When winter is about to come, people make several preparations to keep themselves safe from the cold. They stock up supplies, change their wardrobe, inspect their heating systems, and so on. And the same goes for your car – you also need to prepare it for the cold weather if you do not want to be frozen and stranded in the road, far from any service station or repair shops.
Here are some suggestions you might want to consider to keep your vehicle from breaking down in the cold:
- Check your battery
The first one on your list should be your battery. Why? Because even if everything else in your car is in good condition, if your battery is not – then there’s a great chance that your car will still break down in the cold. The dropping temperature freezes the water in the battery, losing most of its strength. To prevent this, drive your car every day. Because whenever you start the engine, it recharges and warms up the battery. Drive for at least ten minutes to recover the battery loss from starting it. This will also help warming the engine to prevent the oil from getting thick.
If you have used the battery for 3 years or more, you can also consider replacing it especially if you’ll be travelling a lot on winter.
- Inspect your brakes
On days when the roads are slippery, especially after snow or rain, you have to make sure that your brakes are in good condition. It would be hard to brake on such slippery roads and poor brakes could possibly cause accidents. To avoid this, inspect your brakes and replace the brake pads if necessary. Also, do not slam hard on your brakes as it can easily wear out your brake pads.
- Replace your windshield wipers
Replacing your wipers once or twice a year is very important. You wouldn’t want a blurry windshield on rainy or snowy days, right? If you’d be using it for an extended amount of time, it wouldn’t be able to clean the windscreen well. You can also remove it if you wouldn’t be using your car for the meantime. This will prevent exposure to snow and cold, which can actually cause it to crack.
In addition, you must use a winter-blend washer solution. It contains antifreeze agents, which is a great option on winter days. Always keep your windshield-washer tank full.
- Change tires
Opting for a winter-grade tire is a good option. If you live in areas where it snows hard frequently, it can be a good investment. However, if you do not have enough budget for this and if the place you live in doesn’t snow that much, you can choose an all-season set of tires. A winter-grade tire is preferred by many because it has better traction than other tires. This is because of the rubber compounds and tread patterns in it that is specially designed to grip snow.
Also, you must always check your tire pressure during winter. The cold weather causes the pressure on your tire to drop, which is not safe. You can purchase a tire pressure gauge or have it checked regularly in gas station or repair shops.
But most of all, you must have presence of mind and alertness when driving in snow. By doing so and following these suggestions, you can prevent further accidents.
If you follow all these tips and you still have car troubles in the middle of the road be sure to call your local tow truck provider to assist you. Many of them are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Up next – Driving tips for rainy days