Car Winterization
Car WinterizationCar Winterizing
1.If your car needs a tuneup or is due for its regular service, get it done now. Bad hoses, belts, water pump, spark plug wires, distributor cap, etc. can leave you stranded in the winter. Better to fix them at your convenience than after you've been sitting in your stalled car for three hours waiting for CAA. (Just kidding No one has ever had to wait three hours for one of your tow trucks, have they? Naahh!)
2.Make sure your battery and charging system are up to snuff. Your mechanic should check the battery, charging system and belts. If you find that you need a new battery, get the biggest, meanest, ugliest battery that will fit in your car. Two things to remember about batteries: First, the battery that started your car easily in the summer may not have enough oomph to do it in winter, when the oil isn't as "fluid" as it was last July. And secondly, batteries lose power as the temperature drops. So, not only do you need MORE power to start the car in winter, you also get LESS power from the same battery. Batteries are rated by a measure called "cold cranking amps" (CCA), the maximum number of amps that the battery can deliver at zero degrees (F) for 30 seconds. Good, powerful batteries are rated at or above 600 CCA. We've never really liked this CCA thing because some batteries rated at 600 CCA can just barely make the 30-second criterion, and some can pump it out much longer--clearly better batteries. Along come our pals at Consumer Reports. When they rate batteries, they do the CCA test *and* report how long the battery puts out the 600 amps. So, take a look at the October 1997 issue of Consumer
Reports to get the ratings of the really good batteries.
3.Check the cooling system, making certain the antifreeze will protect your car to the winter temperatures you'll experience in your area. For most areas, you'll need a 50-50 mix of coolant to water.
You can check this yourself with a little device that you can buy in auto parts stores for a couple
of bucks. You suck up a little of the anti-freeze from the radiator--or the overflow container and see how many of the little balls float. It's cute. If this is beyond you, most real gas stations will do it for you in a...
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