Winter Approacheth

It dipped down into freezing for the first time this winter season in my area the other night. While it wasn’t as brutal an early winter dip as some of the country saw, 24 degrees isn’t a temperature I was prepared to walk out the door and greet that morning.

Two days before I was prepping for winter, and as we live in the salt-belt windshield washers are pretty crucial for winter driving. My washer pump had broken on my stunning little Kia scooter, and so I was under the car hanging a new pump on it. While I knew better than to risk it this time of year, I had dumped some plain water in the reservoir to test the new pump figuring I would get a load of real washer fluid in it before it froze hard.

I didn’t and it did.

There was no damage; later in the day it thawed and pumped fine. But the whole thing starting me thinking about winter and the stress it puts on automotive systems. As the temperature plummets lubricants get thick, battery capacity goes down and slush can freeze a wreak havoc on ABS and speed sensors. The lube is no small concern as it can cause engine and transmission systems to build pressure slowly, shock absorbers to move stiffly (if at all) and make final drives wickedly hard to turn.

It is rare in this day and age that coolant gives problems, at least until something in the cooling system breaks. Coolant now has a potential lifespan of longer than a lot of people own cars. But if you make a lot of short trips as part of your driving cycle and your car is 6-7 years old with only 50K miles on it, it would likely be worth changing your 100K mile coolant anyway. Acids form in it over time and they can damage other engine parts.

There was a time that cars weren’t even drivable in 0 degree weather until they had warmed up a little. Modern fuel systems are so good that most cars run just as well from an extreme-cold start as they do in 40 degree weather. Remember thought, just because they can doesn’t mean they should. I am not a fan of idling vehicles, but I am a strong fan of taking it easy on a vehicle while driving it in cold weather until it is up to operating temperature. 

Thinking ahead while driving in winter is crucial, both to you and your car’s longevity. Not doing so potentially increases your risk of being stranded, getting into a wreck, or at the least, reducing the life of your car.