Motors and ice have never been the best of buddies. When the mercury dips below zero degrees, all sorts of automotive problems begin to appear. At precisely the time when your engine needs a little extra help, your car battery may give up the ghost and lose its charge. Engine oil can often become thicker, making starting more stressful on both the engine and the owner. Door locks can sometimes even freeze you out of your vehicle, and when you finally start moving, your tires may have to fight to maintain adequate traction on a slippery route in icy conditions. Seeing where you’re heading can be difficult as an icy mist gathers on your windows, and even those smug motorists with heated windows may find themselves having to clear the side windows to allow suitable viability.
This is a time for care and a little extra preparation. To help us slide through the colder periods without disaster, there are measures you can take and products you can buy at your local car parts retailer to take the bite out of cold weather driving. What follows are a number of hints and tips that will help you to survive against the frost gremlins.
Flat car batteries and hard to start motors are common issues. The chemical that produces power in batteries cannot always provide enough power when temperatures fall. Also, oil in the engine thickened by the cold makes the starter motor work harder when you turn the ignition key. At freezing for instance, the power of a battery can drop by almost 15%, while the engine requires about 150 percent more cranking power. At freezing, the battery has lost up to 35 percent of its energy just when the engine’s asking for two and a half times more work.
Ensuring both the battery and power wires are in perfect condition is critical. It is recommended that you keep a good set of jump leads in your trunk. Even better, use a portable battery which eliminates the necessity for having a good Samaritan on hand willing to assist you by using their car to jump start yours. As you’re probably aware, when people are in a hurry to get to work, you may find a bit of goodwill difficult to find. These rechargeable power sources contain a 12-volt battery inside a hard cover, along with positive and negative points for jumping a battery.
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