Safety Topic- Cold weather car care

[motorcitymade]

Hi (mostly) ladies,

I believe with the exception of AlphaMare in Maine, the three Michangers here, including myself, are at the most northern latitude and subject to the merciles throes of winter. And Since the midwest is about to be obliterated by snow and sub zero farenheit temperaturs again, I want to give you all some cold weather car care tips straight from the automotive engineer.

Make sure your radiater has been flushed and filled with antifreeze. Do this every fall.

Keep you gas tank at least half full

Change you oil if it is nearly due.

Check you tire pressure and tread depth. Just pull into a Bell tire or Discount tire and they can do this I strongly recommend snow tires for those of us in the mid-west. Not only is the tread made to plow through snow, the rubber it's self is softer and therefore less brittle in artic temperatures. I do get a discount on Continental Tires shipped via Tire Rack online, If anyone is interested. Put snow tires on in November and take them off in March.

Just about every fluid in you car, including power steering fluid, can start to become less viscos at artic temperatures. You may hear whining or feel the power steering is less responsive. Pull over, and let the car warm up if this happens.

Gaskets. hoses, belts etc. all become brittle at artic temperatures. Remember the Challenger O-rings? Same thing. Let your car warm up at least 15 minutes before you pull it out of the driveway.

Put sub-zero washer solvent in your solvent resivoir TODAY and pump it through several times to coat the inside of the hoses. Washer solvent frezes solid at artic temperatures. You can get this at a Murray's or Auto Zone type of store.

Buy the spray-on ice melt for your windshield incase your solvent freezes in the nozzle. Also will soften up frozensolid wiper blades

By spray in lock de-icer. You can break a frozen door lock completely by giggling a key.

Door locks can get stuck and freeze open and not latch when you close the door. Keep a bungee in the car to secure the door shut in case this happens. Trust me on this one. I happened to me on Dec, 23.

Don't jump an old battery. If your battery is old, or you've had to jump already a couple of times, better to just buy a new one.

Clean off you car completely, including the roof. Snow blowing off you car can obscure your tail lights.

Keep these things in your car:

Jumper cables
kitty litter or water softener salt.
ice scraper
windshield de-icer
flashlight
whisk broom
WD-40
Bungee cords
blanket
extra clothes
candle/matches
bottled water
snacks
necessary medications and
a first-aid kit.

Good luck mid-westerners

[mare27]

Jan 4, 2014 16:42:57 GMT -6 motorcitymade said:

Hi (mostly) ladies,

I believe with the exception of AlphaMare in Maine, the three Michangers here, including myself, are at the most northern latitude and subject to the merciles throes of winter. And Since the midwest is about to be obliterated by snow and sub zero farenheit temperaturs again, I want to give you all some cold weather car care tips straight from the automotive engineer.

Make sure your radiater has been flushed and filled with antifreeze. Do this every fall.

Keep you gas tank at least half full

Change you oil if it is nearly due.

Check you tire pressure and tread depth. Just pull into a Bell tire or Discount tire and they can do this I strongly recommend snow tires for those of us in the mid-west. Not only is the tread made to plow through snow, the rubber it's self is softer and therefore less brittle in artic temperatures. I do get a discount on Continental Tires shipped via Tire Rack online, If anyone is interested. Put snow tires on in November and take them off in March.

Just about every fluid in you car, including power steering fluid, can start to become less viscos at artic temperatures. You may hear whining or feel the power steering is less responsive. Pull over, and let the car warm up if this happens.

Gaskets. hoses, belts etc. all become brittle at artic temperatures. Remember the Challenger O-rings? Same thing. Let your car warm up at least 15 minutes before you pull it out of the driveway.

Put sub-zero washer solvent in your solvent resivoir TODAY and pump it through several times to coat the inside of the hoses. Washer solvent frezes solid at artic temperatures. You can get this at a Murray's or Auto Zone type of store.

Buy the spray-on ice melt for your windshield incase your solvent freezes in the nozzle. Also will soften up frozensolid wiper blades

By spray in lock de-icer. You can break a frozen door lock completely by giggling a key.

Door locks can get stuck and freeze open and not latch when you close the door. Keep a bungee in the car to secure the door shut in case this happens. Trust me on this one. I happened to me on Dec, 23.

Don't jump an old battery. If your battery is old, or you've had to jump already a couple of times, better to just buy a new one.

Clean off you car completely, including the roof. Snow blowing off you car can obscure your tail lights.

Keep these things in your car:

Jumper cables
kitty litter or water softener salt.
ice scraper
windshield de-icer
flashlight
whisk broom
WD-40
Bungee cords
blanket
extra clothes
candle/matches
bottled water
snacks
necessary medications and
a first-aid kit.

Good luck mid-westerners

Thanks for all this expert advice!

I'm in Minnesota, where we're getting the same cold, but maybe not as much snow as in Michigan...
Hopefully I can stay home and not take the car out at all...Have S4 DVD, have some liquid refreshment and the heat is on!
Hope everyone stays warm and safe!

[motorcitymade]

Oof-dah. I love MN. I used to work for Sheldahl in Northfield; traveled there weekly from my hub in the motor city. Usually rented an SUV. The last time in the 90's it was this cold I was stuck there, actually somewhere in St. Paul that time. I once got snowed in there in a freak April storm, too. I always had a suitcase just for boots. LOL. The land of 10,000 Lakes is one of the only places worth leaving the Great Lakes for. Of course you do have the north shore, but it's Co-Co-Co Cold up there!

[mare27]

Jan 5, 2014 3:29:20 GMT -6 motorcitymade said:

Oof-dah. I love MN. I used to work for Sheldahl in Northfield; traveled there weekly from my hub in the motor city. Usually rented an SUV. The last time in the 90's it was this cold I was stuck there, actually somewhere in St. Paul that time. I once got snowed in there in a freak April storm, too. I always had a suitcase just for boots. LOL. The land of 10,000 Lakes is one of the only places worth leaving the Great Lakes for. Of course you do have the north shore, but it's Co-Co-Co Cold up there!

Yes, it is nice here, most of the time. But I have a whole closet that is just winter clothes and boots... Although I lived in California during the 80s and I would trade this weather for their's during any winter. As I get older, I am less tolerant of extreme weather.

But it is beautiful overall...Land of 10,000 lakes is an understatement. Spent time on the North Shore of Lake Superior every summer in my younger days, there and the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness. Never have been to Detroit area... maybe someday!  Stay warm, the worst is still ahead Monday and Tuesday.

[weegieburd]

Your weather merited a news story on the Beeb last night....stay safe and warm girls!

[mondayschild]

I've been wondering how all of you who live in the frozen tundra are doing. I'm in PA and it's been plenty cold and icy here, but not as bad as you guys have it. This is the worst we've had since '94, temperature-wise. That year we couldn't take down our Christmas decorations until April. We were frozen solid until then, one ice storm after another. This year has been walloping us every week with either low temperatures, snow or freezing rain.

Thanks for the many tips, mcm. As for me, I am lying low.

[lovejustified]

Thanks MCM. All of it is great advice.

If I can add my own two cents from here in the land of yo-yo temperatures; black ice is a problem here. Y'all are grownups so you probably know this but when in doubt listen to the level of white noise from wet pavement spashing up to the under side of your car. If it still looks wet but suddenly gets quieter the surface may have iced over.

[kmmo]

Like lovejustified, I live in an area of up and down winters. Some winters we get slammed with ice storms and below zero temps, other winters we barely get any snow at all and stay pretty cozy temperature-wise. We can get lulled into thinking we don't get bad weather and then get taken by surprise. Your car care tips are great MCM. We rarely do those things here and sometimes regret it.

I lived in San Diego for a couple of years, and while the weather was beautiful almost all the time, I missed the four seasons. I grew up in the southern part of the mid-west. I need my spring-summer-fall-winter to keep me centered.