Getting Your Car Ready for the Winter Months

When talking about cars, most people believe that the technology and the general mechanics behind the proper running of a vehicle is “Put in key, turn, it start.” With all the advancement of technology, automotive or otherwise, this idea seems ironically pre-historic. People don’t know how to take care of their vehicles and when the vehicle leaves them stranded they question; “Why did it just stop running!” Well let me tell you, when you don’t check the oil or change it on a regular basis, eventually it will run out. When it does your car will refuse to run because it is dieing of thirst. 

Now that Winter is almost upon us, there are many things that we should check before requiring our mode of transportation to fight with mother nature. I think the most common thing to go wrong is our battery. Cold weather dramatically reduces the power of your battery. The “cold cranking amps” or CCA may be enough to start your car when it is 50 degrees outside, but when it dips below 30 degrees it may not be enough. Check for loose connections or corrosion on the battery box. Look to see if there is enough fluid in each chamber of the battery. The best thing that you can do to have security that your battery will not fail you this winter is check it with a battery tester. This tester will put a “Load” on your battery to simulate starting your car. It will tell you if you need to replace it or if it is still good.