Cooler but still well above normal this week

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Although some workplaces around the state are closing due to the extreme cold, most Minnesotans will still need to go about their daily lives even though it's cold this week. For many people that means driving.

Steve Reinarts, an instructor at Dunwoody College of Technology, offered some tips for taking care of your car when it's cold out.

1 - Have your oil, coolant and batteries checked out

"A simple maintenance inspection would solve a lot of problems, and alert the owner of what's really needed for their vehicle."  

"Servicing the oil is very critical, you want to make sure that you have the correct weight oil in the vehicle."
 
"Coolant is a big thing, we want to make sure that the strength of the engine coolant is sufficient enough to handle the temperatures. The cooling system is designed to prevent the engine from overheating, but it's also designed to prevent the coolant from freezing as well."

"The reserve capacity in a battery greatly diminishes as the temperature decreases, so questionable batteries are the ones that are going to be more prevalent over the next few days. They lose their capacity to be able to start the engine. Get their battery inspected every couple years."

"Everyone has an opinion. My experience from my years of working on vehicles is that you've got to let the vehicle run for at least a minute or two minutes. Anything more than that will help ensure that all the engine and transmission lubrication is getting distributed throughout the component. If we start up and go, the oil and transmission fluid are a lot thicker than they would be on a warmer ambient temperature...Worse case scenario, leave it run long enough that all your warning indicators go off."

"You want at least a quarter tank of gas, and that's all year round. In all fuel injected vehicles, the fuel pump is in the fuel tank, and gasoline actually helps cool the motor, so if we run below a quarter tank of gas, the fuel pump is exposed. It can tend to run kind of hot."
 
"Especially for emergency situations, you want some fuel in there where you can run the vehicle, of course you want a clean tailpipe if you're in a snow bank, but you want to be able to run the vehicle to keep it warm inside if, God forbid, you get stranded out in the middle of nowhere."

"For every 10 degrees negative change in ambient temperature, you lose a pound of tire pressure. When we drop down to 20 below, you're going to drop down a couple pounds of tire pressure."

Jon Collins

Author

Steve Reinarts, an instructor at Dunwoody College of Technology, offered some tips for taking care of your car when it's cold out.


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