Cold weather could cause serious car damages, tips on avoiding costly repairs

Having your battery tested
Having your block heater tested
Having good, clean, fresh oil

“The cheapest insurance you could have on your vehicle is doing regular oil changes at 5 or 6000 kilometre intervals, so it always stays clean and fresh,” Williams said.

“If you have good clean oil in it, the engine will be able to spin over faster, which will make it start better. The other thing that can happen with that thick oil, once it does fire up, then it could over pressurize some of the seals that are rock hard and cold at the time. You could create leaks that could happen,” he continued.

Regarding batteries, Williams explained even new batteries can struggle in the cold, so getting it tested to ensure it will start in the cold could save you from being stuck in the cold.

“At -20°C, a brand new battery is only at 40% of its full capacity in the cold and at -30°C it drops even more,” he said.

Williams adds proper antifreeze coolants should be a top priority. Antifreeze coolants can cost anywhere from 15 to 30 dollars, and it could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in repairs.

“Your antifreeze freeze point should be tested to make sure at -30°C it’s not going to gel up, because if it gels up and can’t flow, you can have an overheat problem with your engine, which could cause severe damage and very, very expensive repairs,” he said.

As for the weather, theres no official day on when to expect the cold to end, but when it does it will likely be a sudden shift.

“This kind of a pattern can stick around for a week or two weeks or even three weeks sometimes. But then eventually it breaks down, and when it breaks down, it can change quite quickly,” Jackson said.

Jackson explained the current system is called an omega system due to it being shaped like the great letter omega, or “Ω.” One the bottom ends of the omega pattern break down or shift, Jackson says this is when warmer weather will be on the way.

“If that ridge shifts inland more, we’ll be in a more of a southwesterly stream of air and that will bring more Pacific frontal system through us.

Local news. Delivered. Free. Subscribe to our daily news wrap and get our top local stories delivered to your inbox every evening.

by Tommy Osborne

Cold weather could cause serious car damages, tips on avoiding costly repairs

What's Trending