You see that car sitting on the side of the road on a cold winter night. There’s a good chance, whatever caused that car to pull over it wasn’t something the driver planned for. No one plans for their car to breakdown, especially not in the middle of winter. But, if it happens, the trick is to have a plan. If you have a plan for such an occasion, you’ll know what to do. You’ll be prepared.

Winter can reach bitterly cold temperatures here in McHenry County. With wind chills, winter carries potentially fatal consequences across the barren landscape. Traveling on such days is a challenge – a challenge to safe and warm even in your car. But, when you turn on the heat in your car the heated air pours out of the vents and warms you to the bone, right? It all depends on whether your car’s

This WWII B-17 landing at Chicago Executive Airport has four air-cooled engines. The cars on the road below, however, must have quality coolant and cooling systems. Some piston-engine aircraft are air cooled. The engines have oil to reduce friction within but no coolant. That’s not a problem for the aircraft as aircraft don’t get caught in stop-and-go traffic while flying. The air is constantly

Well, your antifreeze kept your engine block from freezing and cracking last winter. How should you reward it? How about giving it a physical examination and, if it isn’t up to snuff as a coolant, having it replaced. That might not seem entirely appreciative but it’s probably the smart move.The liquid in your radiator is supposed swing with power from both sides of the plate – in winter and

Remember last spring when you started wondering if the A/C was working up to par with the summer ahead? It’s time to start thinking in terms of your car’s heater and its ability to keep you warm.Your car’s heater is important for more than mere comfort, however. It’s also important for clearing frost and fog off the inside of your windows. In this case, an issue of comfort gives way to an

Of course, it’s not a good thing if the term ‘solid’ appropriately describes the antifreeze in your car. But, antifreeze is not the only fluid you need to consider as you prepare for the winter ahead. There’s also power steering fluid – make sure it’s filled to the ‘Full’ line; windshield washer solvent (we’ve already spoken about that); brake fluid, should be clear and full, transmission

There’s really no better place to start talking about winterizing your car than in terms of antifreeze (we call this coolant in the summer, though it still needs to apply its cooling capacity in the winter as well. You can call it coolant if you’d like. However, in the winter, before it can cool it needs to avoid freezing). Another term to know about antifreeze is specific gravity. This refers