For many people, winter has arrived, which means cozy sweaters, roaring fires, the holidays, and gorgeous snowfall views. However, if your car could talk, it would express how much it dreads these months. You see, driving in cold weather without making the necessary preparations for the winter can negatively impact your car engine oil.
How Does Your Car Engine Oil Get Affected On Winter Days?
Check out what the cold can do to your car engine oil and what you can do to help prevent issues to avoid costly repairs and maybe fatal accidents.
Hardening And Pressure Loss In Tires:
When it’s cold outside, a few different things can go wrong with tires. First, the temperature will affect tire pressure. Even when driving at night compared to traveling during the day, a dip in temperature can quickly cause your tires to deflate.
When the temperature drops, check your tire’s recommended pressure. All-season tires may experience grip and tread issues as a result. Another strong reason to convert to winter tires is that they are made to resist this issue with different materials.
Battery Issues:
Low temperatures limit your battery’s capacity to hold a charge; at 0 degrees Celsius, voltage loss might reach 60%. Additionally, starting your engine may require twice as much electricity as usual. However, even sub-zero starts should be fine if your battery is in decent shape.
After three years, a battery starts to lose some of its power. Therefore, having yours checked up at a garage is a good idea. Several indications indicate that your automobile battery may eventually fail, including a slow cranking sound and a clicking sound when the ignition is turned on.
Thickening Of Fluids:
Even though the majority of the fluids in your automobile include additives to prevent them from freezing, freezing conditions still impact them. Fluids become thicker and move more slowly as the temperature drops.
This is particularly risky when it comes to transmission fluid, which must travel efficiently to control vehicle performance. Slow-moving brake fluid, however, might also be disastrous. Even oil can become thick and perform poorly. Check your fluid levels and add or replace them as necessary.
Wipers And Windshield Susceptible To Damage:
Modern automobile windshields are quite resilient. However, some windshields risk cracking, particularly when misused in cold weather.
To prevent your wiper blades from freezing to your windshield, use the proper coolant, avoid washing with hot water in cold weather, and take extra care of your wiper blades. If other vehicles kick a lot of slurry into your windshield, especially slurry prepared with rock salt or other similar ingredients, this may be worse.
