Helping Your Car Survive The Winter Months

The cold winter months can be a harsh time for your car. Not only does the freezing weather have a negative effect on the mechanics, all the salt on the road makes your bodywork more prone to rusting. However, there is no reason why you should let the cold get the better of your car, if you follow some easy and simple to follow steps you can ensure that the winter has no harmful effects on your car at all. This article discusses a few simple ways in which you can care for your car over the winter, from regular washing to warming the engine up properly...they're all free and can potentially save you a great deal of money in unnecessary garage bills.

Regular Washing

Over the winter, many of our roads our gritted with salt. This helps stop the public highways from freezing over and causing extremely dangerous driving conditions. However, some of that salt will end up on your car. You will usually see it as a brown slush. Particular areas to look for are the wheel arches and the chassis of the car. If you leave this on the car it will eventually cause your paintwork to rust away. To prevent this, simply wash these areas on a regular basis to make sure all the salty slush is removed. When doing this, make sure you get right under the arches and give it a thorough spray; ideally with a pressure hose.

Anti-Freeze

Anti-freeze can be purchased from most garages and shops such as Halfords. When temperatures drop below freezing your fluids (washer and radiator) will freeze up over night. Obviously this isn't great, particularly if you happen to be driving first thing in the morning when fluids are still likely to be frozen. Anti-freeze is a basic solution that you can add to the radiator and washer fluids to help prevent them from freezing. Make sure you always read the directions on the bottle before using it, and make sure you only add it to the appropriate fluids.

Warming The Engine

Motor engines rely on parts moving smoothly via the use of slick engine oil. For the parts to move as the need to, the engine oil must be at a certain temperature. If the engine oil is too cold it becomes thick and 'gloopy' and thus doesn't provide enough lubrication. This can cause engine parts to rub against each other, thus potential causing engine damage. Most people will probably notice gears feeling stiff in the morning, this is the same effect. To prevent this, try to get to your car a little bit earlier in the morning and run it on idle for a while before you drive. This will give the engine a chance to warm up to a temperature whereby everything can work as it should.

Protect Your Car From The Weather

In an ideal world, every car would have garage space for storage over the winter. If this is possible, this really is your best option. Keeping your car garaged over night will protect it from the worst of the weather and go a long way to keeping it in great condition. If this is not an option, there are many car covers available that can help give your car a form of protection. They all vary in price and will also vary in the level of protection they offer.

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