Winter Auto Maintenance Checklist

Winter is upon us, and winter driving comes with it. While safety is an important consideration all year long, there are certainly some auto maintenance jobs and safety checks that are specific to chilled air and winter driving that are a good idea to check into before we’re knee deep in the season. To be sure you don’t end up a road popsicle, or even worse end up with your holiday budget on ice thanks to unexpected repairs, have a look under the hood to be sure things are ship shape. As with any change of season, you should go to your regular maintenance log to make sure you are up to date on the maintenance items that should be taken care of throughout the year. The change of seasons is a great time to go through some once-a-year or twice-a-year auto maintenance tasks.

Winter Specific Maintenance
In addition to the added perils of winter driving, the change in weather can bring peril to your car’s systems. Freezing temps, salted roads and wintery precipitation can gang up on your car if you don’t give it a baseball-bat sized maintenance session. These winter maintenance jobs will keep you out of trouble:

• Check your antifreeze
  Your antifreeze (the juice that goes in your radiator) is an essential part of your car’s winter protection. Your car contains a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. Make sure the level is full and the mixture is close to 50/50. Many service stations and repair centers will check this mixture free, or you can buy a tester for around $5. You did remember to perform a radiator flush last spring, didn’t you? 
• Inspect your tires
  The last line of defense between you and an oak tree are your tires. Winter is not the time to get cheap about your tires, so take the time to check the tread depth. The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says you need at least 2/32″ of depth to be safe. It’s been my experience, especially in winter weather, that anything less than 4/32″ (1/8″) be replaced soon. The old penny test is as reliable as anything to find out whether your treads are ready for winter action. Also, be sure to check your tire pressure. Believe it or not, they lose a little pressure when it gets cold, so pump ’em up. 
• Replace your wipers
  Wipers? What do your windshield wipers have to do with winter weather? Two things. First, anything falling from the sky is going to end up on your windshield, and unless you have a team of beavers riding on the hood of your car the task of clearing it falls on your wipers. Second, in areas that see snowfall in the winter, you’re also driving through that soupy muck that’s left on the road once the highway department does their thing. This muck includes a lot of sand and salt, both of which end up on your windshield. It takes wipers that are in top shape to keep your windshield clean and safe. 
• Check your windshield washer fluid
  You’ll be using lots of washer fluid as you try to keep your windshield sparkly. A mile stuck behind an 18-wheeler will have your windshield looking like a Desert Humvee if you’re low on washer fluid. *Tip: Don’t fill your washer fluid reservoir with anything except washer fluid, it won’t freeze!

Annual Maintenance Procedures
On top of the checks you need to perform to ensure safe winter driving, now’s a good time to do some annual maintenance. These aren’t necessarily specific to winter driving, but it’s a good point on the calendar to get around to doing this stuff.

• Clean your battery posts
  Starting problems are a bummer any time of year. Regularly treating your battery to a cleaning can keep electrical gremlins at bay. 
• Inspect your spark plug wires
  Cracked up plug wires affect performance, gas mileage and general reliability. Be sure yours are in top shape. 
• Inspect your brakes
  Brakes are not a good area to cut corners. Be sure your brakes have enough meat left to get you through the season. 
• Check Your Engine Oil
  This should go without saying and should be done at least monthly. But in case you’re an amnesiac … you should also do an oil change! Cold weather safety should be a concern for anybody living in a cold climate. These tips will give you the upper hand when Old Man Winter tries to put a chill on your winter travels. If you’re extra curious about staying generally safe in winter weather, the National Weather Service has an excellent Winter Safety & Awareness guide that covers everything from how storms brew to a list of history’s billion dollar winter wonders.

How To Change or Install New Windshield Wipers

Why You Should Replace Your Wipers Today

Pick a sunny day to replace your wipers.

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Why is it that we never seem to remember to change our windshield wipers? You know you need ’em, you know they’re cheap, you know how easy it is to install new wipers, but your windshield is still carrying those worn out, useless strips of rubber.

There’s one time we always remember to change our wipers – when it starts to rain. Unfortunately that’s the worst time to tackle such an easy job. The next 10 minutes of your time, outside in the dry, sunny weather, should be spent replacing your windshield wipers, so check out these easy steps.

Removing the Old Wipers

Depress the tab to release the wiper.

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The first step to replacing your windshield wipers is getting the old worn out wipers off. Be careful when removing them, the wiper arm is metal and your windshield is glass. One clumsy move and you could scratch or crack the windshield – not good.

To remove the old wiper, pull the entire assembly away from the windshield, it will prop itself in the raised position. With one hand holding the wiper arm, use your other hand to depress the small tab on the underside of the wiper where it meets the metal arm. With the tab depressed you can slide the wiper off the arm by pulling the center toward the bottom of the wiper arm.

Safety Step: Don’t Crack Your Windshield!

Park the wiper arm safely on the windshield.

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The metal windshield wiper arms that hold the wipers are spring loaded so that they keep your wipers pressed to the windshield in a storm. Unfortunately this means that without the soft wiper on the end, that metal arm can do some serious damage to your windshield!

Prevent the wiper arm from snapping back and hitting your windshield by carefully resting it against the windshield while you are getting your new wiper ready to install. Even if you just turn around to grab it, play it safe and “park” the arm in the down position.

*Park the wiper blade against the windshield to keep it from snapping back.

Lining Everything Up

Line it all up before the install.

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Looking at the empty wiper arm and the new wiper, especially the attachment point, can be a little daunting. It can be hard to picture how it all goes back together. The key to getting it done quickly and easily is to line everything up before you start trying to click it all into place.

• Looking at the side of the wiper where it attaches to the metal arm, you’ll see that one end of the plastic clip is flat and the other has a curve across the top. Rotate the plastic clip until this curve is pointing toward the wiper blade.
• Now hold the wiper upside down next to the metal wiper arm, where you’ll see that the curve in the arm (hook shaped) matches the curved top of the plastic clip.

Clicking the New Wipers Into Place

Slide the arm into the wiper like this.

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Now that you’ve lined everything up you can put it all together. There’s a trick to this part, too.

• With everything lined up, lower the wiper over the wiper arm, putting the arm between the sides of the wiper and with the open end of the “hook” facing the plastic clip.
• Move the hook over the plastic clip, then pull the wiper upward so that the clip’s rounded edge slides into the hook.
• Pull it tight so the assembly clicks into place.
• Carefully lower the wiper back to the windshield.
• Repeat the whole process for the other side and you’re done!

How To Change A Tire

Changing a flat tire is a basic skill that every driver should have. It will save you money on a road call and it will get you back on the road much quicker.

Remember that these are general instructions. Read your owners manual for the proper procedure for changing a tire on your particular vehicle.

Never go underneath a vehicle supported only by a jack. If you have to do so, use an approved jackstand to support the vehicle.

Always wear eye protection when working around your vehicle.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 30 minutes

Here’s How:

1. Park the vehicle on a hard, level surface. If you can’t, the surface should be as level as possible.
2. Place the vehicle in the PARK position if it has an automatic transmission or in REVERSE if it is a manual transmission.
3. Apply the parking brake and remove the key from the ignition.
4. Place a wheel chock, or brick, diagonally opposite the wheel to be changed. If you are changing the LF tire you should chock the RR tire. Placing wheel chocks at both wheels would be an added safety step.
5. If your vehicle has separate wheel covers, use the pry bar to remove them. Place the pry bar under the edge of the wheel cover and gently pry it up. Do this at several points around the wheel cover to loosen it, then remove it completely.
6. If you have a wheel lock key, fit it to the wheel lock and place the lug wrench on it. Turn it in a clockwise direction until the wheel lock cracks loose.NOTE: There are some vehicles that have left handed threads on the lug bolts. These can generally be identified with the letter “L” stamped in the end of the lug bolt. If this is the case, turn the lug wrench/wheel lock in a clockwise direction.
7. Place the wheel lock in a safe place where it won’t roll away and crack the other lug nuts loose. At this point you just want to crack them loose, not remove them. If a lug nut is difficult to loosen, place the lug wrench on the lug nut until it is as close to horizontal with the ground as possible. Then stand close to the end of the lug wrench as safely possible and do a little jump. This will crack the stubborn lug nut loose.
8. Now place the jack in position as per vehicles instructions. This is usually under the body just forward of the rear wheels and rearward of the front wheels. If the ground is grassy, sandy or soggy place the plywood under the jack.
9. Slowly and steadily raise the vehicle until the tire is just touching the ground. Using the lug wrench remove all the lug nuts and place them aside.
10. Raise the vehicle until the wheel clears the ground and remove the wheel.
11. Place the replacement wheel onto the wheel studs and start the lug nuts by hand as far as you can. Wiggling the wheel will help in doing this.
12. With the wheel on and secure, lower the vehicle until the wheel touches the ground. Use the lug wrench to tighten the lug nuts. There is a certain sequence you must follow. If you have four lug nuts, the sequence is tighten the first nut, then the opposite nut, then the one clockwise to the right and finally the one opposite.If you have five lug nuts the sequence is a star pattern. If you have six lug nuts, the pattern is the same as the four lug nut pattern with two more lug nuts.(See diagram)
13. Lower the vehicle completely and give the lug nuts a final tightening. Standing on one end of the lug wrench will insure the lug nuts are tightened sufficiently.
14. As soon as possible go to a tire store or repair shop and have the lug nuts properly torqued.

Tips:

1. A “bottle” type hydralic jack will make jacking the car up a lot easier. A 12″ square of ¾” plywood will serve as a base if you are on grassy or sandy ground.
2. Practice this a couple of times to familiarize yourself with the job so you are better prepared to do it on the side of the road.
3. Make sure you know where your wheel lock key is and that is in fact in the car. Common places to find it are in the glove box and attached to the jack handle.
4. A four arm lug wrench generally offers more leverage and support than the lug wrench that comes with the vehicle.

What You Need:

• Pry bar, tire iron or large screwdriver
• Wheel lock key (If applicable)
• Wheel nut wrench
• Wheel chocks or bricks
• Jack
• Rubber mallet
• Work gloves