what to do to winterize your car?

[armin922]

so as the ? says, what do u all normally do? i have a pontiac bonneville SLE with 97000 miles idk if that makes a difference with winterizing or not but as of right now i have done an oil change making sure all the fluids are full, and tire pressure good.

[RyM3rC]

Make sure there's antifreeze in the cooling system.

[CRed05]

I don't do anything different personally. You need to always make sure fluids are full and pressure is good. I might sometimes run a thinner oil.

[Guest Removed]

dont do this

 

http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75320

 

 

coolant flush, brake fluid flush and so on...keeping up on normal maintence and you dont really have to worry other then maybe switching to winter tires

[Tshensley]

coolant flush is usually the big one to make sure you on top of if you havent been sticking to your scheduled maintenance

[Rustlestiltskin]

coolant and oil

[Clifford Automotive]

Nothing

[2 Sweet]

I bought some sweet wiper blades.......

[zeitgeist57]

Unless you want to replace the battery in the spring, I'd disconnect it or, better yet, plug it into a battery maintainer.

 

My wife's Passat has had a worn clutch, and has sat in my garage since September. I went to start it this past weekend and it was dead as a doornail. Took a jump and ran just fine, but dead again yesterday. Good thing I've got a 3-year free replacement battery...

[armin922]

ok thanks alot!

[Guest Removed]

Unless you want to replace the battery in the spring, I'd disconnect it or, better yet, plug it into a battery maintainer.

 

My wife's Passat has had a worn clutch, and has sat in my garage since September. I went to start it this past weekend and it was dead as a doornail. Took a jump and ran just fine, but dead again yesterday. Good thing I've got a 3-year free replacement battery...

 

 

there is a fuse in the box to pull to keep the ecu's memory from draining the battery out like that.

[Mr. Jones]

I drive mine to winterize them.

[Dave1647545494]

if you've kept up on the maint there really isn't anything extra you need to do except maybe make sure you have a snow brush and some extra washer fluid

[Mojoe]

Depends on whAt you do with your car in the winter. If you are the guy who has to be at work, or you drive to areas with more snow, or you're on call and have to drive reguardless of roads, here's my prep.

 

Fall:

coolant flush

any brake work. Even if it's close. I just don't want to fuck with it in the winter.

Usually, new boshe icon wiper blades. You can't drive if you can't see.

Rainx the windows.

Clean the air filter or change it.

 

Tires:

I just put on winter tires today. In the past I have had pretty good all seasons. This year I know I will be where the snow is and on long drives to get there. So I put on a snow tire so I don't have the limitation of some in my travel plans.

 

This is my prep for a Subaru legacy.

 

The fd gets put away and the battery disconnected.

[31rx7]

I do a seasonal air change in my tires (http://tinyurl.com/25u6b5) and change my blinker fluid (http://tinyurl.com/yzhk3mp).

[87GT]

All you need is a shovel in the trunk.

[Cordell]

Basic check up, and make damn sure the coolant is good.

[Mattsv8]

I tear it down about 80% check all welds frame for twist 4 link bolts rod ends. rebuild the th 400 get driveshaft rebal.tear the motor down for season freshup and if all goes well i get it back in by spring

[SiColin]

Does anybody switch to a thinner oil?

 

I always check tire pressure once a week and make sure all fluid levels are where they should be.

 

For the work truck I add anti gell to the fuel and don't let the tank get under half full. Of course always make sure its plugged in at night and check the breaker.

[Cordell]

Does anybody switch to a thinner oil?

I always check tire pressure once a week and make sure all fluid levels are where they should be.

 

For the work truck I add anti gell to the fuel and don't let the tank get under half full. Of course always make sure its plugged in at night and check the breaker.

 

Only if you switch to a thicker oil in the summer. There really is no need to switch oil weight in Ohio, the temp stays in most cars/oils recommended range.

[SiColin]

Thats what I figured I never do but I was just curious to see if there would be any benefit.