Keep your car running through the winter

Winter is coming, and with it, comes a number of potential headaches for vehicle owners.

Vehicles old and new need extra care in the winter to ensure they stay running and safe.

Area mechanics offered recommendations on what to do to get ready for a cold winter.

Tires

'Make sure you keep your air pressure up,” said Keith Hyde of Fairfield Tire and Service. 'The rule of thumb is that you'll lose about 2 pounds of pressure for every 10-degree drop.”

Brad Holdkamp of Brad Holdkamp Automotive in Mt. Pleasant has similar advice.

'As it gets colder out, we lose air pressure in our tires, and we don't even know it,” he said.

Holdkamp said newer vehicles come equipped with tire pressure monitors, although some only indicate that the tire pressure is not at recommended levels but do not specifically say what the pressure is.

Holdkamp said that the monitors can sometimes indicate that pressure is too high.

'The tire light will come on if you're over pressure just like if you're under pressure,” he said. 'I've had someone come in with 90-100 pounds of pressure because they just kept adding air to the tire when the light was on.”

He emphasized that the correct tire pressure is not listed on the tire.

'That will tell you the maximum pressure,” Holdkamp said. 'If you open your door, there is a sticker that will tell you what the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure is for front and rear tires.”

To get an accurate pressure reading, he recommended having an auto shop use a digital gauge to check the pressure.

'Cheap gauges can be miscalibrated,” Holdkamp said.

Some people also opt to put on snow tires for the winter, but to save money, most people stay with their all-season tires all year long.”

'The only time I'd suggest snow tires is for a two-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive pickup and put them on the back,” said Scott Slaubaugh, service manager at Cappers Auto Center in Washington. 'Not too many people use them any more.”

Slaubaugh said it is especially important to check the tread on all-season tires.

'You want to make sure they're past 6/32 tread, especially in the winter time,” he said. 'The best way to check that is to get the car up in the air so you can see the full tread.”

Batteries

'Your battery can be working great for you now in warmer temperatures,” Holdkamp said. 'But it needs more amperage in colder temperatures.”

He explained that if a battery is at half power during warm temperatures, it could drop down to 30 percent or lower in colder weather and not have enough power to start a car.

Dave Smithburg of Smithburg Automotive in Fairfield said that even a new battery could drop down to 50 percent at 0 degrees.

Smithburg said that it is important to not let a battery get too old.

'Battery age is a big thing,” he said. 'It's like a person's bones deteriorating as they get older.

'You need to keep your battery from getting too cold.”

When choosing to replace a battery, Hyde said, to be sure to go with the manufacturer's recommendation for the vehicle.

'Make sure you go with the manufacturer's recommendation as far as cold cranking amps,” Hyde said. 'Don't necessarily go for the cheapest battery.”

Antifreeze and heater

In order to keep a vehicle running in the winter, the antifreeze in the engine needs to be able to hold up and not freeze in subzero temperatures.

'One of the big things is to make sure your antifreeze checks to good below a zero-degree freezing point,” Holdkamp said. 'We recommend below -30 to -35 degrees. You never know how cold it's going to get in Iowa.”

Smithburg said vehicle owners should take note if their heater does not seem to be heating as it should, there could be a problem.

'You need to make sure your heater output is good,” Smithburg said. 'Older cars can start losing heat.

'If it's not getting hot enough to have to turn it down, it might need to be worked on.”

Typically, that can be caused by a faulty thermostat, plugged filter or plugged heater core.

'The heater core traps muck in the system,” Holdkamp said. 'Flush it when it's recommended by the manufacturer.”

Routine maintenance

Even while prepping a vehicle for the winter, it is still crucial to keep up with routine maintenance.

'You've got to make sure things are in order,” Smithburg said. 'You don't want to end up broken down when it's 5 degrees below 0.”

Hyde said it is good to be sure wiper blades are able to handle ice and snow, as well as maintaining a proper level of windshield wash.

Holdkamp recommended keeping up with all engine fluids.

'You want to keep up with all of your fluids throughout, like keeping up with your engine oil,” Holdkamp said. 'It's a small price to pay so you don't end up sitting on the side of the road.”