The Car Care Council has enumerated different ways to prepare your car for the winter season and keeping it safe and working while it’s snowing. Since car engines require constant heat to keep it working, frozen temperatures are natural hazards when it comes to safekeeping your car.
First, this might not come as common knowledge to most people—but always make sure that during the entire winter season, your gas tank is at least half full. This prevents moisture from building inside the gas tank and lessens the possibility of your gas lines freezing.
Next, if it’s not possible for you to take out the car battery, regularly check if it can still perform well despite the cold temperature. Aside from this, it’s also advisable that you rev your car engine or start it for a few minutes every day if you’re not going to use it for long periods of time (e.g. if you’re going to keep it in the garage for a week).
If you’re going to go out into the city of Dallas or using your car for a long drive to go to another state, it’s imperative that you check the brakes multiple times before leaving your driveway. Make sure that they still work well, and consider the slickness of the road that’s most probably covered in a little ice, sleet, or rain. It’s naturally going to be slippery, so your safety at this point depends on your car’s brake system.
If you’ve been planning on getting a car tune-up, do it before the winter season. The colder weather is most likely to bring about more common car problems, like harder starts, a more sluggish car engine performance, and the like.
If you’re going out at night, check to see if all the lights are working-brake lights, taillights, and headlights. Also check your windshield wipers if you think it’s going to snow.
Other emergency precautions you must take into account are making sure that your spare tire hasn’t deflated and that the emergency toolkit stowed in your trunk is full of snacks or crackers, screwdrivers, bottled water, flashlights, blankets, and a first aid kit.
