Some items and tips on winter preping your car.
I live in Northern Canada were the temp fall well below -25.F to -40F, so i have to ensure my vehicles are properly winterized or risk freezing my ass off when one of them breaks down and leaves me stranded.
1. New oil and filter 5w/30 or 10w/30 Not much difference in viscosity between the two. (5w/30 reccommended) easier cold starts.
2. If your unsure about your coolant, have the system flushed use 50/50 mixture. Some garages will by-pass the heater core when flushing, ensure they don't, The entire system must be flushed and never run straight coolant!
3. Plugs (Ensure you properly gap the plugs to specs) Wires , cap & rotor
4. Have the battery load tested. Check it yourself if you have a good digital mulitimeter. On older batteries (4 yrs or more) The amperage output could be 1/2 of a new battery. Don't be fooled by a good voltage reading, its the amperage you need on a cold start. If your battery is rated for example
650 cold cranking amps) make sure it can still put that out! If you have a multimeter you can test for this by switching the meter to the amperage output setting and placing your leads on the + and - of the starter and have someone crank over the engine. This is one of the main reasons people become stranded. I always replace my batteries every 4 to 5 years regardless.
5. Run a bottle or 2 of good injector cleaner through the fuel system.
6. Check all your hoses & clamps
7. Stay away from discount gas bars during winter months, they tend to have a higher water contamination than the big name gas bars. If you have to use them always add a bottle of gas line anti-freeze at every fill up. You will thank me for this later.
8. After starting your engine leave it idle for a minute or 2, this allows the oil to warm up a bit and reach the upper part of the engine. Nothing worse than hearing metal on metal valve clacking. Personally i always allow about 5 minutes.
7. The rest is common sense, tires, wipers, etc.
Regards
Vic.
