Don't ignore basic car maintenance
Keeping up with a vehicle's basic maintenance is the best way to keep it on the road this winter.
Checking the oil, fluids, battery and tires, which Tony Iarrapino, owner of ADI Automotive in Summit Township calls general service, is the best way for people to keep their cars rolling.
“It wouldn't hurt to get your battery checked before it gets old. Extreme cold and extreme heat is always hard on a battery,” Iarrapino said.
He recommends making sure tires have ample tread.
“You never know when it's going to snow or how much it's going to snow. We pull cars from ditches sometimes with bald tires,” he said.
Service stations where workers would check the oil and other fluids when a customer came for gas have given way over the years to convenience stores where these services are not offered.
So it is up to drivers to check their own oil and fluids even if there are no signs of leaks because new and old vehicles can consume oil during normal operation, Iarrapino said.
Having properly inflated tires with good tread is important, but winter weather will put all vehicle systems to the test, said Randy Pfeifer, service manager at Baglier Buick, GMC, Mazda in Butler Township.
“Temperature seems to be a stress test on a vehicle. Cold will test every system in your car and show you the weak points,” Pfeifer said.
Tires are marked with low and high air pressure limits from manufacturers, and he recommends filling closer to the high limit because the pressure in tires can drop one pound per square inch (psi) with each 10-degree drop in outside air temperature.
The type of tires drivers need for the winter depends on where they have to drive.
People who have steep driveways might need snow tires and possibly studded tires while all-season tires could suit people who don't have to climb steep hills, Pfeifer said.
Car owners buying new tires for the winter should replace all four instead of just the front two because worn out tread on the rear wheels can cause a vehicle to fishtail under hard braking, he said.
Fred Pfeifer, no relation to Randy, a mechanic at Dinnerbell Garage in Butler Township, said tire tread must be 2/32nd of an inch to pass state inspection, but he prefers to have more tread to handle winter driving.
“I like going into winter with 5/32nds personally,” Fred Pfeifer said.
All-season tires provide sufficient traction for front, all and four-wheel-drive vehicles, and snow tires might be necessary for rear-wheel-drive vehicles, but the amount of tread is the most important factor, he said.
For good visibility, he said drivers should have wiper blades that aren't worn out and make sure their windshield washer fluid reservoirs are full before bad weather sets in.When winter arrives, people should clean snow and ice from their windshields and wiper blades before activating the wipers and make sure the wipers are all the way down before parking their cars.Activating the wipers when the blades are frozen on the windshield can damage the blades.“If they're frozen down, don't turn them on. You can rip them off,” Fred Pfeifer said.Checking windshield defrosters should be done before winter, he said.Old batteries should be replaced before the temperature drops.“If your battery is five or six years old, I would want to have it replaced before winter time,” he said.They also recommend carrying battery jumper cables, a flashlight, shovel, blanket, partially filled water bottle, snacks, a first-aid kit, cell phone and a back up cell phone charger that can be used if the car isn't running.
