Winter-Proofing Your Car. Protecting your car from Berkshire winters
Posted on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 11:29 AM
Taking Care of your Car this Winter
I’m a car fanatic. And as anyone in the Berkshires knows, bringing that sports car out in the winter is never a good idea. When putting your car away for the winter, whether you live in the Berkshires or are going to drive a distance to get here, there are a few easy things you can do when putting your car away to protect it during the harsh winter weather. Putting your car in a garage as opposed to covering it will give your car much better protection from moisture, temperature and animals. When parking the car, you should not engage the handbrake, but rather chock the tires with blocks of wood. Handbrakes seize up and can become firmly rusted in just a few short months. You should also remove the battery, but never place it on a concrete floor. I have heard rumor that it discharges the battery and unless you are going to purchase one soon, I would advise against testing it. Change the oil; drive the car for 30 minutes to burn off any moisture, and use oil formulated for classic cars. They sit idle for a while and this oil will let the engine get a coating not found in conventional oil. Premium fuel does the same for your gas tank. You should top off your gas and add a stabilizer to it, to prevent damage. When car tires are sitting down on the ground for a long period of time, they develop flat spots, and a bad vibration that almost never seems to go away. You should jack the car up and place it on stands. Overinflating your tires is going to help prevent flat spots, so long as you only go over by 10psi. Another thing you should be sure to do is plug your tailpipe. Engine bays and exhaust piping make great homes when your car isn’t being run on a consistent basis. So unless you want little critters living in your car when you start it up again around springtime, I’d close up the pipe, but remember to unplug in the spring! Keep a list in your car and make sure you put everything you did on it. If you put everything from winter on the list and don’t desert it halfway through, it will make springtime re-assembly much easier. Follow these simple tips and you and your car should have an easier transition back into the summer driving season.