How To Prepare Your Car For Winter Weather In Canada
It is important to prepare your vehicle for the winter season. Temperatures reach freezing levels during winter; if you didn't prep your car for this, some of the vital components could get frozen and damaged due to severe temperatures.
The process of preparing your vehicle for the winter season is called Winterization. This article details the various actions to take to prepare your car for winter. The information in this post is exclusive to people living in Canada; however, if you live outside Canada, you could still follow the practices below.
Simple Ways To Prepare Your Car For Winter
Just as you prepare your home - ensuring your heaters are working - for the Winter season, your car needs the same concern and care.
1. Wax Up
Start with waxing your car's exterior. Waxing adds another protective layer over your car paint; this prevents the snow from coming in direct contact with your main car's finish. There are many types of car waxes; you need a wax that makes it easy for you to brush off the snow.
However, before applying wax or any other protective coating, ensure to fix any scratch or paint damage on your car’s body. Also, wash the car thoroughly before waxing.
2. Change to Winter Tires
It is advisable to change all your car tires to use winter tires. The benefits of using winter tires in the winter season cannot be overstated. When you use winter tires, it helps to drive well, and it also checkmates the possibility of collisions due to slippery roads. Winter tires guarantee up to 50% better traction on icy roads.
3. Get A Winter Emergency Kit
You need an emergency kit to cope in the winter season. The kit can include items like jumper cables, tow rope, water, energy bars, dried foods, rechargeable flashlight, blankets, hand warmers, heat packets, rain jacket, ice scraper, snowbrush, and many others. You can also include first aid kit if you don't have one already.
4. Buy Antifreeze Fluids
There are engine coolants and antifreeze fluids specially designed for winter. You can buy them to fill your coolant reservoir. However, before pouring antifreeze into the coolant reservoir, ensure to flush out the present fluid in the reservoir; the reservoir should be empty while you refill with the new antifreeze you bought for the winter season.
5. Check for Fluid Leaks and Fix Them
This is a very important step to take when winter is approaching. As you already know, the temperature can get to a freezing point; if such happens and your car's fluid lines (hoses) have pores in them, the fluids inside would get frozen, and that's a difficult situation to handle.
Hence, it is advisable to scrutinize all the components in your engine and ensure that none is leaking or broken. If you actually found a leaky or broken component, don't hesitate to fix it up.
6. Use All-Weather Floor Mats
Many drivers ignore this precaution, you shouldn’t be among such drivers. Your current custom car floor mat may still be looking good, but if it’s not an all-weather car mat, you need to change it as soon as you can.
Using car snow mats or all-weather car mats is one of the ways to prepare your car for winter in Canada. Regular mats are liable to freeze, crack, and break due to extreme weather temperatures, but custom-fit weatherproof mats won't do any of such. The Diamond custom-fit all-weather car mat is one of the best options in the market.
7. Change Oil and Do a General Tune-up
Importantly, if you've not changed your engine oil for a long time, it is advisable to change it before winter fully comes. Also, it'd be good if you perform a general "tune-up" such as changing the old fuel/air filters, faulty plugs, spark plugs, and other important little components that make the engine function at its peak. You may also need to brighten your dull headlights for clear visibility at night hours.
8. Car Cover
Yes, if you've not been using car covers for your vehicle, you need to get one. Car covers help to keep your car warm; although you may have a garage, it is still good to use car covers inside the garage. A car cover will further protect your car's finish from getting affected due to the weather.
Summary
Listed above are the main ways to prepare your car for the winter season in Canada. When you have all these ready, you won’t have any issues driving to any location within Canada all through the chilly season.