Every year, about this time, this blog focusses on the importance of winterizing your car. Winterizing your car is so important for folks here in McHenry County we’ll almost certainly hit the topic again before the snow flies and temperatures really drop – unless, of course, Old Man Winter throws an early curve ball or two.

Winterizing your car is what you might call automotive-reliability insurance. No one wants there vehicle to breakdown in the middle of summer. It’s potentially a significant inconvenience. But, when your car breaks down in the winter, potentially, it’s far more than an inconvenience; it’s a potential catastrophe. In the worst circumstances, it can be life threatening.

It’s also not just about you, the driver. It’s also about the people who ride in your car. Imagine if you find yourself stuck on the side of a road somewhere as a -40-degree wind chill howls outside the car. This is not a good scenario. But, if you have a six-month old in the carseat in back, it’s a very, very serious situation.

Hopefully, you can get on your cell phone and someone will come to get you or to help. If not, maybe someone will stop to help – and, hopefully, they’re not someone you’d rather kept going.

The point is that winter can be brutal. Frostbite and exposure are real possibilities if you’re not lucky or prepared, and some people would say that luck is what happens to people who are prepared.

Assuming that you’re sold on the idea of winterizing your car before winter actually arrives, what does winterizing your car entail? There are several mechanical areas of the vehicle to check. The best bet, unless you really know your way around a car, is to call on a professional you can trust.

Here are the basic points to cover winterizing your vehicle so you can have a trouble-free winter, in terms of your vehicle:

1. The Charging and Starting System: no auto winterizing is worth its road salt if it doesn’t include making sure the electrical system has what it takes to make the car start on the coldest days and continue to run once it’s running. This includes checking the battery, the alternator and the starter.
2. The Coolant System: No, that’s not a misprint. The coolant system is vital even in the winter, though it has to do double duty in the winter. When the car’s engine is running, it will develop considerable heat, even on the coldest days. Therefore, the coolant has to continue its work carrying that heat out of the engine before the engine is damaged, or even dies. But coolant is also vital as anti-freeze (its other name) when the car isn’t running.
If the ‘anti-freeze’ isn’t up to snuff, it can freeze on a really cold day. Engine blocks can crack when that happens. Plus, an adequate (full) supply of anti-freeze will provide for the supply of heat you want to stay warm inside the car. Checking the cooling system includes checking the hoses, the water pump and the thermostat.
3. Get a grip on traction: During the warmer months in McHenry County, traction is not such a big deal. You don’t even have to think about it. But, in the winter, ice and snow create a real challenge for having good traction. This is important when you want to go and, especially, when you want to stop.
To ensure you have good traction, have your tires checked (this is a good time to check the quality of your spare tire, too). Badly worn tires have a hard time grabbing the road. If you’re really interested in traction, you can put snow tires on your car for the winter month. Some auto repair shops will even store your summer tires in the winter and the snow tires in the spring, summer and fall.
4. Good vision is essential: With the snow, ice, road salt, and fogging windows, winter is also a time when drivers have a harder time seeing as clearly out the windows. Make sure you have a good set of wiper blades and that the windshield washer reservoir is filled with window cleaner that is mixed so it won’t freeze. If you’ve done a good job with the cooling system, you should also have confidence in your defrosters to help keep frost off the windows while you drive.
Good vision also applies at night, and even more so. This is so you can see (headlights) and so others can see you (headlights and all the other lights on your vehicle) when the sun goes down.
5. Make sure you can stop: Brakes need to work all year long but especially in the winter when you’re trying to break on slippery roads. You’ll also want that emergency brake cable checked. Over time, the emergency brake will corrode and rust. It’s recommended that you replace the emergency brake cable every 50,000 miles (unfortunately, auto parts stores only sell foreign emergency brake cables that have proven to frequently fail quality tests. You can order a quality emergency brake cable from Bruin Brake Cables and they’ll ship it, probably with same-day delivery in McHenry County).
6. Regularly change the oil: Once again, this is something you’ll want to do year round. But, in the winter, it’s all the more vital as the cold really tests an engine. In some cases, your car’s manufacturer may recommend switching to a lighter-weight, winter-grade oil.