Auto Body Tacoma

Is your vehicle ready for the cold weather? Temperatures and wind chills that can take your breath away. Snow and ice that make stepping outside a dangerous proposition. You know all too well how winter affects you. Have you ever considered how cold weather affects your vehicle? After all, you don’t want to be broke down in freezing weather.

If you live where it snows, you know the damage that snow, ice, loose gravel and salt can do to your car. Minor scratches and nicks turn to rust, your heater gets a workout it may not be prepared for, and your windshield must deal with the temperature stress of a warm interior and a freezing exterior. Check out these tips for preparing your car for cold weather:

Tacoma Wa Windshield Safety

• Thermal shock is the term engineers use to describe the stress caused by drastic differences in outdoor and indoor temperatures. If you have a small ding in your windshield, thermal shock can cause your minor ding to turn into a major crack.
• Repairing a small ding costs as little as $50 to $60. Replacing a cracked windshield can cost hundreds of dollars; on some cars, the cost may be even higher. Once a ding or star (star-shaped with points spreading out) expands, windshield replacement is often the only option. It’s important to repair small chips and dings quickly.
• Repair not only saves the windshield it preserves the factory’s seal of windshield to auto body. Passenger side air bags deploy off the windshield, preserving the factory installation is an important safety consideration and keeping the factory’s original adhesive set also helps avoid air and water leaks.”

Tacoma Wa Fluids

• As any mechanic will tell you, checking fluids is the least expensive and easiest preventive maintenance you can do. Change your oil frequently (consult your owner’s manual for recommended frequency), and don’t forget to change your engine coolant (diluted with 50 percent water) and transmission fluid, about every two years. Pure engine coolants can freeze at zero degrees, but mixing with water prevents freezing and provides great protection for the cold weather.
• Though fluids like oil and transmission are commonly checked, other fluids integral to your vehicle’s performance, may go unnoticed. Power steering, brake, radiator and battery fluids also should be filled to recommended levels.
• Don’t forget to top off windshield washer fluid. If you’ve ever driven after salt trucks have come through to melt snow and ice, you know the importance of windshield washer fluid. Do not dilute washer fluid with water since it can freeze during winter’s harsh temperatures. While you’re at it, you might want to change the wiper blades to prevent poor vision in already poor driving conditions.

Tacoma Wa Batteries and Corroded Cables

• Winter mornings are rough on older batteries. The average life of a battery is 3 1/2 years. If your battery is older than that have a mechanic check the battery and cables to ensure your car starts quickly and reliably.

Anything Made of Rubber in Tacoma Wa

• Worn, bald or badly aligned or balanced tires can mean accidents on ice, rain or snow. Make sure to do a safety inspection on your tires for adequate tread, proper inflation and alignment and rotate your tires every 6,00 miles. If you live in unusually snowy areas, you may want to consider snow tires for added traction, or keep chains in your trunk or garage to help you through heavy snowfall.
• Rubber parts under your hood should be checked also. Radiator, heater and vacuum hoses, among others, should be checked for cracks and bulges. Also, inspect all belts for damages and splits.

Rust, Minor Scratches and Nicks in Tacoma Wa

• Road salt can turn a slight scratch or nick to an ugly rust spot that’s impossible to avoid. And it can spread. Avoid costly body work by restoring spots before they turn into larger problems.

Boots in Tacoma Wa

• Front-wheel drive vehicles equipped with CV (constant velocity) joints should have the boots checked for rips and cracks. Boots protect CV joints, but when the joints are exposed to salt, ice and snow, they can damage the joint. Replacing a joint can costs hundreds of dollars, but replacing a boot can save you a a much more costly repair.

Tacoma Wa Spark Plugs

• Worn or misfiring spark plugs can affect how efficiently a vehicle burns the fuel/air mixture, ultimately affecting engine performance. Worn spark plugs waste gas and increase exhaust emissions, so have them checked and replaced often.

Tacoma Wa Car Brakes

• Brakes are your most important safety equipment and they should not be neglected. Don’t postpone needed brake work. It’s dangerous to drive with poorly performing brakes, especially in snowy weather. Postponing brake service also can cause the cost of overhauling your brake system to skyrocket.

Tacoma Wa Auto Lights

• Last, but not least, check your lights. Accidents can occur if you can’t see where you’re driving, or if other drivers can’t see you, especially as we approach winter’s short days and long nights.

Maintain your vehicle regularly to provide years of service with better performance and safety.

Tacoma WA ASE Certified Mechanics

How good are you about changing your automobile’s air filter? Most manufacturers recommend that you check the filter — which is designed to trap dirt and contaminants before they reach your engine — every time you get an oil change, and replace it whenever it’s dirty or has been driven 20,000 miles, whichever comes first. For people who regularly drive on dirt or sand roads, that could be every 5,000 miles, but not everyone does it in a regularly.

If it’s too dirty, the air filter won’t trap dirt particles, which can damage motor cylinders, walls, pistons and piston rings, severely impacting gas mileage and motor performance. An inefficient engine can cause air pollution. The situation has gotten so bad in some states, they now require vehicles to pass engine emissions tests to stay on the road. In many cases, drivers find out their vehicle’s failed because of a dirty air filter.

When replacing your air filters, here are some things you should keep in mind:

• To check if you need a new air filter, just lift it out (it isn’t fastened down) and hold it up to the sun or to a strong light. If you can’t see light streaming through it, try dropping it lightly, bottom side down, on a hard surface. This should knock some of the dust from the filter. If there is no light visible through the filter after doing this a couple of times it needs to be replaced.
• When buying an air filter, look for well-known, quality-brand filters; you can often get them quite cheaply at discount stores. Generic air filters may be cheap, but they aren’t always of good quality, and if your air filter lets a lot of junk get into your carburetor, you may find that a cheap filter is very costly in the long run. If you need help determining which air filter is the one you need, go to your local auto supply store or to the parts department at your dealership. Give them your automobile’s make, model, and year. Make sure that the filter you get matches your old filter in size and shape. If it doesn’t, you’ve been sold the wrong filter for your vehicle.
• If you decide to change the filter yourself, always do so with the motor off, and never start or run the engine with the air filter out of place. Most filters can be easily replaced by removing snap clips, a clamp or several screws. Make sure you use the filter specified for your vehicle’s engine; do not try to make a filter fit. An improperly fitting filter can allow unfiltered air into the motor, causing engine damage.