Hi everyone, the winter season is well underway, and while this year hasn’t been particularly bad we all know how quickly the weather can change. With unexpected weather, comes car troubles. In this blog, we’d like to go over the ways that cold weather can affect your car and the best strategies to prevent them.
Deflated tires are a common problem in winter months because lower temperatures create lower air pressure which causes car tires to deflate. Fixing this problem is fairly simple – just check your tires regularly throughout the winter and add air as needed. We recommend checking at least once a week if you live in a very cold climate. Or you could get winter weather tires which are always a good idea as they are more durable.
A dead car battery is also a problem sometimes caused by cold weather – especially if your battery is older. It’s a real pain when you go through the trouble of cleaning the snow and ice off your car and it doesn’t start. Fortunately, charging a car battery is fairly simple. You can purchase a car battery charger at most automotive or department stores for around $50. Simply connect the cables to your car battery, charge and you are good to go. But note, if your car battery is more than 3 years old we recommend that it be replaced which you can do right here at Barry’s Auto Body and Collision Repair.
The last problem we’re going to detail in this blog is thick oil – the colder the weather the thicker the oil gets. In extreme cold temperatures – 20 degrees below 0 fahrenheit – the engine’s oil pump may not even recognize the oil to circulate it. The fix here is to switch to low-viscosity oil in the winter months. Synthetic oil may also be an option. Be sure to read your car’s owner manual to find out what type of oil the manufacturer recommends to use in cold weather conditions.