Winterize Your Car
The winter solstice is tomorrow and that reminds us...you should winterize your car. You know. Because it's winter.
You should consider:
• Flushing the coolant system
• Replacing your wiper blades
• Replacing your battery if it's more than 4-ish years old
• Checking your tires/Switching to snow tires if you live someplace hilly/snowy
• Getting that 30,000 mile check-up you've been putting off
• Changing your oil
• Putting jumper cables in your car, as well as a first aid kit and a blanket. Even if you don't need it, you could help someone!
• Checking to make sure your jack and spare tire are in good working order
• Testing the 4-Wheel drive.
Happy winter driving! —MEGHANN MARCO(Photo courtesy William Selman, Thanks!)
How to Winterize Your Car [eHow]
10 Tips for Winterizing Your Car [MSNBC]
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Comments:
Or move to a place like Houston where its an unbearable hell like exsistance for 8 months of the year but very pleasant right now (I grilled is shorts and flip flops this weekend)
I have SmartTrac AWD (kicks in when the rear wheels spin), I've been wondering how to check it, without having to gun it in the rain.
Am I the only one that finds it incredibly sexy when Meghan talks about workin' on cars?
those are some great points. it's mid-seventies in jacksonville, fl today, so i'll be sure to write those down.
Don't forget, a great way to prepare for winter is to use old newspaper as cat litter!
Actually, konstant, it's been a very warm December up here in New England, but the snow will come soon enough.
As a Transplanted Southerner, I had to learn all of this car winterizing stuff when I moved up here a few years ago. I also had to learn how to drive in snow -- that was interesting.
nice chicago parking dibs pic. ;)
gee it snows even in houston once in a while!
i'm thinking maybe 2-3 years ago
Yeah, that couldn't be a Mass. saved parking spot. We never leave anything even remotely that useable in the spot. When the city cleaned the spots, one guy left an old refrigerator.
konstantConsumer:"it's mid-seventies in jacksonville, fl today"
Don't go using up your hurricane season sympathy capital too fast, now.
(and verily, excellent dibs photo meghann)
That's def a Chicago chair; we sometimes use other things but traditionally it's chairs. In some neighborhoods you could lose an arm for trying to move someone's chair.
Indeed it is Chicago. I'm homesick, what can I say?
AlteredBeast:
The article refers to part time 4WD (4 Wheel Drive) which is different than what I suspect your vehicle has, which is full time AWD (all wheel drive). If your car is AWD, then there's really nothing for you to do.
Yep, too neat for a Boston parking space. Besides, in Boston there'd be four cars and an MBTA bus crammed in there..and no halfway decent chair would last 5 minutes before being stolen.
Remember kids...just because you have four-wheel drive doesn't mean your vehicle stops or turns any better on ice.
I grew up in Massachusetts and learned to drive in the snow, so all this talk of winterizing just makes me that much happier that I live in Florida now. But then, I'm comfortable in 90+ degree, 90+% humidity summer weather and start getting chilly around 70-75 degrees, so...
I got a question: what about rust-proofing the undercarriage? Advised? Unnecessary? I'm driving a car bought in the Boston area in Buffalo, and one person I talked to said he thought it was more for cars coming from the West Coast.
Another suggestion:
KNOW how to jump-start a car and change a tire, even if you have AAA. Sometimes they take forever to send someone, so it's nice to at least have the OPTION of doing it yourself.
I have AAA and it's good to have if you need a tow or if hazardous road or weather conditions preclude changing your own tire, but it's nice to know I can do the basics myself and save myself the 90+ minute wait.