1. Corrosion
The salt that road crews use for melting the snow on the streets can damage the metal body of your car. The more you drive your car in the winter, the more the salt that will stick to it, especially to the brakes, wheel wells, and undercarriage. To counter this, you should wash your car regularly, paying close attention to the parts mentioned here. Avoid wiping the salt down to avoid scratching your car’s paint.
2. Loss of Traction
The tire pressure decreases when the temperatures are low, and once you drive your car for some time, it warms up and the air filling the tires causes the pressure to rise again. All season tires also harden when the temperatures drop below 45 degrees. The constant deflation and inflation of tires is quite stressful and coupled with the freezing of tires leads to loss of traction. To guard against this, switch to winter tires since they stay soft and stick to the road during the cold season.
3. Engine Block is More Vulnerable to Cracking
Your engine block will be more vulnerable to cracking during winter due to frozen coolant. You can check freeze-up protection using an inexpensive float-ball tester. Fortunately, you can guard against this by using the right type of coolant. It would be best if you avoided mixing the regular, green 2-year anti-freeze with long-life coolant, since it typically reverts to the shorter lifespan.
4. Thickening Fluids
All the fluids in your car system, i.e. motor oil, transmission fluid, and antifreeze will all thicken during winter. If this happens, they don’t flow as freely through the system and may cause the car to malfunction when least expected. You can counter this by topping up all the fluids before the temperatures drop.
5. Higher Fuel Consumption
During the cold season, your car will be struggling to function normally, which is why it is hardly surprising that your fuel costs will rise. With inadequate grip, your car will move slower and therefore consume more fuel. If you have to let the car idle for several minutes so that it can warm up will definitely cost more in terms of fuel.
Final Thoughts
The cold season can be particularly devastating for your car. Fortunately, with this new found knowledge of applicable car maintenance tips provided here, you should not have a hard time getting through winter without encountering too many problems with your car…
Courtesy of absolutecarcare
