Winterizing a car

[Yorkshire Andy]

Firstly there's no hard and fast rules as for electric cars goodness knows . But for old dinosaur ICE cars ....

Winter can be hard on cars in general bit you can prepare it best you can

Now I'm no mechanic but I know a fair bit


Cold weather is a sure fire way of finding who has a weak battery the cold affect the magic chemical reactions that make electric .. usually first cold snap there's someone out begging for jump leads... so the battery needs testing with a proprietary tester £20 ISH buys you a fairly clever box mines a bit more money but I paid about the £20 mark.a few years ago now

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175845818541 ... R6Db_YHmYg


How to use

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFCCF6ext ... VyIA%3D%3D



So that's the battery / alternator / starter motor tested in about 5 minutes

Worth smearing a bit of vaseline on both battery terminals whilst your at it




Next up is the cooling system

Antifreeze checks many neglect this and repairs can be very expensive (antifreeze/ coolant system cools the engine via a pump which circulates the water. Round the engine Into the cabin matrix (little radiator) to provide hot air for the cabin heater/ demister then once upto temperature the mechanical thermostat opens to let water flow through the radiator behind the front grill to keep cooling the water by forced air flow whilst driving or electric fan if stationary ... If this water solution freezes it can burst the radiator / thermostat / pump housing and in major cold snaps damage the engine block itself or push out the core plugs.....

So THIS SHOULD BE DONE WHEN THE CAR IS COLD NEVER REMOVE THE RADIATOR CAP IF THE ENGINE IS HOT ! THINK HIGH PRESSURE STEAM REMOVING THE SKIN FROM YOUR Hand ARM AND FACE I've seen it happen it's not nice and involves the specialist burns unit / skin grafts .......

There a couple of ways to test there's a hydrometer for those home brew enthusiasts... There a slightly more idiot proof galileo thermometer type think a turkey baster with floating discs or balls inside the more floating balls the better the protection the scale gives you the °c of protection or a refractometer...


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165177854937 ... BM4pX7guZi

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eraESC1oJ ... plIA%3D%3D

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385818701146 ... BM4pX7guZi


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AsqFELf7Y ... RvbWV0ZXIg




Colder wetter days have a good look at your tyres ideally you want a decent amount of tread well above the minimum 1.6mm and keep a eye on the pressure cooler days lower the pressure... Ideally if you ever replace your tyres look at All season tyres (live in the hills a set of winter tyres are probably a must). All seasons are a trade off but good enough in all but totally be extreme conditions.. and all decent all season / winters will carry this mark on the sidewall

multipleArticles_mountainSnowflake.png (8.23 KiB) Viewed 783 times

Check your lights regularly and replace blown bulbs

Keep windows clean inside and out the low sun can be a nightmare and if your wipers start streaking bin them for new ones
W iper blades checked before setting off on a cold frosty morning check they are not frozen to the screen before setting off (good way to avoid needing a new £200 wiper linkage assembly. Motor turns but the wipers don't move due to being stuck then good case the rubbers snap off the wiper frames and the frames scratch the windscreen or something goes snap in the wiper assembly and they don't move again ..)

A rain X type product on the windows is good but due to some fabulously complex physics reason attracts moisture / condensation and caused issues if the glass is cold. But once warmed up with the fan heater the positives outweigh the negatives.


Don't forget the bodywork and keep lights / numberplates / reflectors clean .. a good coat of wax will help the car stay cleaner by not letting muck stick autoglym do a ceramic spray which is fast to use and shrugs muck off well for a fairly long time

And giving the car a good wash regularly when they are salting the roads is only benifficial don't forget to wash the wheel arches and underside if you can

[Arzosah]

Amazing post, Y/Andy, thank you!

Oh, one question - what about hybrid cars? They have a small petrol engine? So a lot of the "ordinary" car stuff applies to that part of them, yes?

[Yorkshire Andy]

Amazing post, Y/Andy, thank you!

Oh, one question - what about hybrid cars? They have a small petrol engine? So a lot of the "ordinary" car stuff applies to that part of them, yes?

Yep with a few extra bits a smaller battery than a full ev and a motor

My car is classed by as a micro hybrid which is a good stretch of a yarn the alternator bangs a high charge into the battery during braking then freewheels unless the battery voltage drops too low supposedly reducing engine load therefore emissions ...to a point it's somehow ulez compliant despite averaging about 35mpg Managed to confuse the eco tree hugger who tried to tell me off for having a 4wd in Asda car park that I didn't "need" despite it being covered in mud it's fun winding up the self proclaimed "experts" and systematically being able to breakdown their argument got quiet a crowd by the time I'd finished... She wouldn't tell me where she last went on holiday and stomped off guessing it involved an aeroplane

[Yorkshire Andy]

My tester showed my battery low on charge but healthy and it needed charging ...
So this morning I got the pwm charger out on the kitchen table..

[Yorkshire Andy]

Whilst I had the bonnet open I also got my brake fluid tester out

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314806823681 ... OREALw_wcB

Hardly the most expensive tool to possess just take the batteries out after use if you use it once a year


Turn on
Dip the prongs into the brake fluid

Look at the lights .. amber ok red get the fluid replaced

Remove probes and mmediately hold in a bit of rag so you don't drop any brake fluid on the cars paintwork as it works better than paint stripper


Brake fluid absorbs moisture with age this moisture can damage some abs pumps although most now use brass or stainless valves. And in extreme conditions can boil due to heat transfer from the brake pads to the caliper to the fluid .. now normal every day drivers will probably never notice until you find a BIG hill with a fully laden car and drag your brakes all the way from top to bottom. But it pays to be careful when brakes are involved

[Yorkshire Andy]

My tester showed my battery low on charge but healthy and it needed charging ...
So this morning I got the pwm charger out on the kitchen table..

We I tested it after charge and it's not happy... So jumped to the internet a efb096 battery in Halfords 5 years ago just out of warranty typically

Then:

Now

Found a replacement on eBay form one of the better online supplies for £110 near as makes no odds



The car still starts but I know it sounds "sick" the digital obd gauge drops to about 9v when cranking.....

Rather than wait till my car won't start at 6:30am on a cold dark morning I've ordered a replacement .... Mate of mine waited 8 blooming yes eight hours for the aa this weekend... Begger that for a game of whatever ;p

[Yorkshire Andy]

Whilst charging my jump pack (jic) I also got the dry powder extinguishers out the cupboard and inspected them ready (used to work with a chubb service man he showed me how to do a service on extinguishers including a gauge test ) .. I prefer Afff (foam) in the cars but obviously it's water based so first frost in my reminder to swap them out of the cars in favour of dry powder for the winter ..

[Yorkshire Andy]

Well new battery was bench charged by my apprentice today after delivery (aka dad) as I got there tonight it came up fully charged on the charger display .. left it 30
minutes after removing the old battery to allow the bcm module to clear and left the fully charged battery disconnected from the charger to let surface charge disapate (car has stop start eco hippy system so this is the procedure ) refitted battery after cleaning the battery tray and applying wax oil type stuff to the tray whilst the battery was out ...

Fitted the battery and wow it starts almost instantly you turn the key for the last few months it was taking a couple of cranks to fire up...

So happy car poor wallet

If the cars not ready for winter now it never will be

Will sling things like chains and shovel in once the weatherman starts harping about snow... So if I use the daily express weather forecast I best get them out tomorrow