Effectively Preparing Your Car For Winter With Pitstop
December 21, 2012The winter months are long and hard as a road user, and it’s important to prepare yourself effectively for the harsh elements. Doing nothing will leave you with a car that won’t start, but there’s plenty of day to day maintenance involved that requires more than just throwing piles of cash at the nearest mechanic.
Fit Appropriate Winter Tyres
Your first port of call is pumping your tyres up – the cold weather causes tyre pressure to drop. It’s also important to check the tread depth and wear on your current tyres as anything below 1.6mm will require you to get new tyres fitted. Winter tyres have depth treads starting at 3mm giving you great grip and control on those icy roads.
Get Your Car Serviced
Ensuring everything is in good working order, and ironing out any faults is really key ahead of the winter months. Getting a winter service from us here at Pitstop will ensure your car is running smoothly all season (and beyond), and will help you avoid mornings sat on the drive desperately trying to turn the engine over.
Check Everything Under the Bonnet
As a minimum you should make sure that your oil, engine coolant and screen wash levels are all at least at the minimum. During the winter, a higher concentration of screen wash will prevent it from freezing – particularly useful if you don’t keep your car in a garage. If you’re unsure, we’re always happy to help.
Look After Your Battery
Winter weather makes car batteries work that bit harder thanks to cold temperatures and the extra strain of fog lights and heating systems. Watch out for those battery warning lights, and make sure you keep it charged up so take extra care to not leave your lights on overnight!
Keep an Eye on Your Lights
With shorter and shorter days, it’s important that you can see the road and other users can see you as well. Winter is a bad time for fog so it’s a good idea to check all of your head lamps, not just your side lights, to ensure that you’ll actually be able to see past your bonnet on the way to work.
Whether you need winter tyres fitted or help with minor maintenance or repairs to get your car ready for winter then look no further than Pitstop Motoring Centre. We’re one of the leading car garages in Hitchin, and can help you with everything from full services to headlamp repairs. For more information just call our friendly team on 01438 721422, or get in touch via our online contact page.
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