winter care

 

Your vehicle will need winter care to ensure the reliability of it. Winter is hard on both your car and the tires. As the air in your tires gets colder, it contracts and has less pressure. Tires correspondingly become under inflated. Check your tire pressure more often than you normally would. It is recommended doing so once a week. You might think a little deflation provides better traction, but doing so can cause uneven or unsafe tread wear.

Check the battery

Winter is especially hard on batteries. If your car won’t start in the extreme cold, one of the most likely problems is that the battery is dead. This is an easy fix by using jumper cables and they are not hard to use. But to avoid a dead battery altogether, keep the connections clean, tight, and free of corrosion. It also recommends replacing batteries that are more than three years old.

Oil inspections

As it gets colder, oil gets thicker. At about 20 degrees below zero, the oil gets so thick that the engine’s oil pump struggles even to pick it up and circulate it. It is recommended to switch to low-viscosity oil in the winter. Don’t forget to read your owner’s manual, as the manufacturer may specify an oil weight for cold-weather operation.

Other issues

If your car has liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, such as for infotainment, you may notice that they become a bit sluggish when the car has been sitting in extreme cold. That’s because, just like the engine’s oil and the battery’s electrolyte, molecules in liquid crystals slow down when the temperatures drop. In vehicles where this is an issue, there is not much you can do beyond waiting for the car to warm up. Installing an engine-block heater will help speed things along. If you notice an issue with your vehicle, it is always best to have it inspected as soon as possible. This will help you to ensure the efficiency when you need to drive this winter.