Protect your ride from winter weather

FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – While 40 degrees may seem like a heatwave compared to our recent bitterly cold weather, Southern West Virginia is bracing for upcoming temps to dip to all-time lows.

Those frigid conditions can wreak havoc on vehicles; so I learned how to protect your ride.

The best way to prepare your vehicle for winter weather is to bring it in days before it’s forecasted to get bad. Davis Automotive shop foreman Brian Stevens says they check your antifreeze level (crucial for your heater to work).

“Make sure your fluids are good, your tires are good, and the windshield wipers,” Stevens said. “Get behind a tractor-trailer on the four lane it’s pretty critical you can see where you’re going.”

If you are not driving your vehicle every day — in these sub-zero temperatures Stevens says go out and start it.

“Let it run for half an hour, keep as many accessories off as you can to keep your battery charged up,” said the shop foreman. “The newer cars have a lot of keep-alive memory, which pulls on your battery.”

There are also things we should keep in our vehicle just in case: a good scraper and brush, and it doesn’t hurt to have a small shovel.

“Sandbag, something you could use to help you get some traction. You can buy a lot of the new jumper packs at any of the parts stores, they’re about the size of a cell phone,” Stevens said. “Keep them charged up and in your car. And then if you don’t have somebody to jump-start you, you can always connect that and get yourself going.”

Waiting ’til the last minute is never a good idea.

“We’ve had that, too. People roll in the first big snow — tires aren’t that good, antifreeze has been leaking for a while now, and they don’t have any heat,” said the shop foreman. Keeping the regular maintenance on the car is a big part of it.”

Brace your vehicle for the freezing cold.

“Easy to check, takes five minutes to look it over, and especially have your antifreeze tested for the protection, the concentration,” Stevens said. “Because if you’ve had to add water or anything back earlier and then you get these temperatures below zero, it can cause a lot of damage to your engine.”

 

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