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Winter Tips: A Baker's Dozen (and Then Some) from Tom and Ray
Last winter, we recommended that the best tip we could offer was to move to
Hawaii. We got lots of mail asking for air fare and time off from work,
and a bunch of other comments--mostly unprintable.
Okay, we admit Hawaii is not for everybody. I mean, how many pina coladas
on the beach can a person take in one lifetime, anyway?
So, here are some *serious* tips for winter.
First of all, remember this: Any small problems you had in good weather
will be bigger problems in bad weather. For example, if you had the
slightest trouble getting old Betsy started in warm weather, you can
absolutely count on staying home when the temperature goes "south," so to
speak.
What can you do to get ready for the coming glaciers? Here's a little
checklist to help you make it to April relatively unscathed:
- If your car needs a tuneup or is due for regular service, get it done
now. Bad hoses, belts, water pump, spark plug wires, distributor cap, etc.
can leave you stranded in the winter. Better to fix them at your
convenience than after you've been sitting in your stalled car for three
hours waiting for AAA. (Just kidding, Triple A! No one has ever had to
wait three hours for one of your tow trucks, have they? Naahh!)
- Make sure your battery and charging system are up to snuff. Your
mechanic should check the battery, charging system and belts. If you find
that you need a new battery, get the biggest, meanest, ugliest battery that
will fit in your car. Two things to remember about batteries: First, the
battery that started your car easily in the summer may not have enough
oomph to do it in winter, when the oil isn't as "fluid" as it was last
July. And secondly, batteries lose power as the temperature drops. So,
not only do you need MORE power to start the car in winter, you also get
LESS power from the same battery. Batteries are rated by a measure called
"cold cranking amps" (CCA), the maximum number of amps that the battery can
deliver at zero degrees (F) for 30 seconds. Good, powerful batteries are
rated at or above 600 CCA. We've never really liked this CCA thing because
some batteries rated at 600 CCA can just barely make the 30-second
criterion, and some can pump it out much longer--clearly better batteries.
Along come our pals at
Consumer Reports. When they rate batteries, they do the
CCA test *and* report how long the battery puts out the 600 amps. Great,
says us. So, take a look at the October 1997 issue of Consumer
Reports to get the ratings of the really good batteries.
- Check the cooling system, making certain the antifreeze will protect
your car to the winter temperatures you'll experience in your area. For
most areas, you'll need a 50-50 mix of coolant to water.
| Protection |
Freeze-up Protection |
Boilover Protection |
Corrosion Protection |
Minimum 50% anti-freeze
50% Water |
-34ºF |
+265ºF |
Exceeds all ASTM and SAE standards for corrosion protection |
Maximum 70% anti-freeze
30% Water |
-84ºF |
+276ºF |
You can check this yourself with a little device that you can buy in auto
parts stores for a couple of bucks. You suck up a little of the
anti-freeze from the radiator--or the overflow
container and see how many of the little balls float.
It's cute. If this is beyond you, most real gas stations will do it for
you in a couple of minutes.
By the way, this is very important. If the stuff freezes, it expands, and
it's bye-bye engine block.
If your coolant hasn't been changed in several years, get the cooling
system flushed. The rust inhibitors in antifreeze break down over time and
need to be renewed. Plus, draining out the coolant and refilling the
system removes dirt and rust particles that can clog up the cooling system
and cause problems in winter and summer. For you real cheapskates out
there, yes, it is true that you can remove and "strain" it to get out the
junk that's accumulated while saving the coolant. We've even heard that a
loaf of Wonder Bread works great for this, although neither of us has
actually tried it.
- If you have leaks in the cooling system, get them taken care of now.
While many people think of overheating as a summer problem, cars can
overheat in winter, too, if they run low on or out of coolant. And
overheating can cause expensive engine damage whenever it happens. Plus,
if you have no coolant--or low coolant--you have no heat!
- Make sure your windshield wipers are in good shape. Winter
wipers--with the rubber coverings that keep ice from collecting on the
blade--have become very popular. They're great in the winter, but make
sure you take them off in the spring. Winter wipers are heavy, and if you
use them all summer, you'll eventually wear out the wiper motor.
- Keep your gas tank close to full, for a couple of reasons. In the
summer, you can take a chance and run down to fumes (my brother usually
fills up to fumes). But, in the winter, if you do get stuck or stranded,
the engine will be your only source of heat. And you don't want to have to
worry about conserving fuel and saving the planet right at that
moment...you want to stay warm. (And make sure you keep a window open a
crack if you're sitting there with the engine running. We can't afford to
lose any listeners or visitors to this Web site from carbon monoxide
asphyxiation.)
The other reason for a full tank is that warm daytime temperatures will
fill the empty space in the tank with moisture, which will condense during
the cold night. This water will sink to the bottom and, sooner or later,
rust out your tank.
- Make sure your windshield washer reservoir is full. On a snowy or
messy day, you can easily go through half a gallon of fluid trying to keep
your windshield clear. For that reason, it's also a good idea to keep some
extra fluid in the trunk in case you run out. And make sure you get the
good stuff--stay away from the half-frozen blue stuff outside your local
gas station! Even though it may say "Good to Minus 30!" some of these
cheap blue fluids freeze around zero degrees. If you live in a very cold
area, you also may need to supplement your windshield washer fluid with
some concentrate.
- A lot of folks ask us about carrying sand in the back of the car. If
you have a rear-wheel-drive vehicle that needs help in the snow, you can
put a few bags of sand over the rear axle--that would be somewhere in the
trunk. It won't do as much good at the very back of the trunk as it will
right over the axle, so line it up with the center of the rear wheels. In
fact, you can make things worse by putting too much weight too far back.
In essence, by weighing down the rear end too much, you "lift up" the front
end and lose some steering and braking ability.
On a front-wheel-drive car, don't bother with sandbags. An enormous weight
(the engine, that is) is already over the wheels that are powered.
- If you live in western Siberia, northern Minnesota or some place like
that, think about adding a block heater to your engine. That's a small
electric engine heater that plugs in at night. And for less than a hundred dollars
you can be virtually guaranteed that your car will start, even on
the coldest of mornings. A side benefit of this is that you'll have
instant heat in the morning. Actually, this might be the main benefit as
far as your tush is concerned.
- Make sure your rear window defroster works.
- Know your car. Every car has different handling characteristics. You
should know what your car can and cannot do in the snow. You should know
if it has antilock brakes and traction control, how they work and how they
help. In fact, you should practice using these features in an empty
parking lot before you have to use them on the roads. See your owner's
manual for details.
- If you really have to drive in the snow--that is, if you can't call in
sick or tell the boss you'll be in later--and if you live in an area where
it snows a fair amount, you should get four--count 'em, four--good snow
tires. Nothing will make a bigger difference than four good snow tires.
Because it's such a pain to get your snow tires remounted and balanced
every year, splurge and get yourself four steel rims while you're at it and
mount the snows permanently on those rims. That'll make the changeover in
the fall and spring a snap. Of course, at this point you'll have to rent a
two-bedroom apartment to store all that stuff in! But we didn't ask you to
live in Upper Moosejaw. By the way, lots of tire shops will offer to store
your regular tires over the winter and then store your snow tires in the
summer. This is a great deal. The only potential problem is that when
they file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they'll have four of your tires in the
basement.
One question we get asked frequently is, "If I have a front-wheel-drive or
all-wheel-drive car, do I need to have snow tires?" The answer is yes. If
you really, truly need to get around in the snow, four snow tires are the
single best thing you can do. And the reason you'd still want them on a
car with decent traction is because they not only help get you started,
they also increase your traction when you're braking and turning.
- Make sure you have some basic supplies in your car in case you do get
stuck. Invest in a substantial snow brush and an ice scraper (using your
jacket sleeve and credit card isn't all it's cracked up to be). It's good
to have a shovel, a bag of sand or kitty litter (unused) to help with
traction, and the aforementioned extra windshield washer fluid. A blanket
is a good idea--just in case. If you have any winter clothes you don't
wear anymore, especially an old pair of boots, throw them in the trunk, too.
There are two other things we like to keep in the trunk. One is a bag of
Doritos. Why keep Doritos in the trunk? Well, if we keep them in the
glove compartment, our kids eat 'em. Plus, getting stranded in snow always
makes us hungry. (By the way, did that Frito-Lay advertising contract come
through yet?) The other item we carry is Robert A. Caro's biography of
Lyndon Johnson. It's 900 pages, so it's sure to keep us occupied until
help arrives, and beyond.
- Winter driving emergencies are among the few legitimate uses for a
cellular phone. So, if you're cellularly inclined, and you promise not to
use it to chat while you smash into other innocent people, a cell phone is
certainly a plus if you get stuck.
- If you're in an area that permits or requires tire chains, they should
obviously be in the trunk, too. And be sure you've practiced putting them
on before you need them. Trust us--applying tire chains is much harder
when you're knee-deep in slush in the dark and other cars are whizzing by
you. If chains are too much, you may want to throw one of those ladderlike
devices in your trunk. They unfold to provide a steel surface for the tire
to grip if you're stuck in snow or ice. These are for sale under several
different trade names, one of which is Tiger Paws.
- You can't see through snow, so make this "preflight check" before
every winter car trip:
Once snow or ice does arrive, take some extra time to make sure your car is
clean and your visibility is good.
Clear off the entire car, not just a little peephole in the windshield.
First of all, you need just as much, if not more, visibility in poor
conditions, because you have to keep your eye peeled for every other
knucklehead on the road. Make sure every glass surface is clear and
transparent by using a snow brush and/or ice scraper. Your sideview
mirrors and all lights should be brushed and cleared as well.
Now, if you haven't been smart enough to do so already, clean the snow off
the rest of the car. Why? Because the rest of the snow will either A)
slide off the roof and cover your windshield as you're slowing down; or B)
fly off onto someone else's windshield and cause him or her to smash into you.
- When driving in the snow, do everything slowly. Even with good
coolant, snow tires, traction control, all-wheel drive and the bag of
Doritos in the trunk, keep in mind that driving in snow, sleet and ice is
very treacherous. And even if you maintain control of your car, not
everyone else will. So, don't ever get lulled into a false sense of
security. Do everything slowly and gently. Remember, in the snow, the
tires are always just barely grabbing the road. Accelerate slowly and
gently, turn slowly and gently and brake slowly and gently. To do this,
you have to anticipate turns and stops. That means, what? Going slowly
and leaving plenty of distance between you and other cars. Rapid movements
lead to skids and loss of control. Drive as if there were eggs on the
bottom of your feet--step on the gas and the brake pedals so gently that
you don't break the eggshell.
If you're nervous about driving in winter, consider spending some time
practicing. Go to an empty parking lot and try sending the car into a
little skid on purpose. Slam on the brakes, then practice turning into the
skid and see what happens--and practice until you're comfortable regaining
control of the car. Doing this in a large, empty parking lot allows you
the luxury of skidding without ending up flat on your back, looking up into
the eyes of seven different EMTs. The more comfortable you are maintaining
control and regaining control, the better a winter driver you'll be.
Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget your laptop computer with the
cellular Internet connection so you can kill time here at Car Talk
while you're waiting for the tow truck.
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