A-Musing: Automotive Reflections

In December 2010, there were a series of ultra-severe snowstorms in southwestern Ontario that hit the areas of Hwy 402 and Hwy 22 near Sarnia, Ontario.  Heavy, drifting snow, white-out conditions and a complete lack of visibility trapped and immobilized hundreds of motorists, stranding them in deep snow for many hours, even days on end.   Many motorists stranded were without food and water, and had to save fuel and thus endure the cold by turning off their vehicles.  People were rescued by military choppers, by locals who opened their doors to some of the stranded, and by some on snowmobiles.   

Hopefully you will never be caught in such severe weather, but nevertheless, the key with winter driving is not just to drive carefully and respect the fact that snow can start blowing spontaneously, but to be completely prepared with key items to keep in your vehicle that will help you survive should you ever be stranded. 

It is worth noting again to keep your fuel tank at least half-full in winter before an anticipated snowstorm, and even when you are not driving long distances.  Not only does this minimize moisture from getting into the gas (which could cause fuel line freezing and hard starting), but in winter, you just never know if you'll be stranded, and need to run the engine to stay warm.  It is penny-wise, pound-foolish to keep the gas tank constantly low or at ¼ tank because you are going to have to eventually spend the money on gasoline anyways if you do a lot of driving, and as a bonus, putting in extra gas in winter will reduce the number of times you need to brave the cold to pump gas into the car, saving you time.  It just makes perfect sense to keep your tank at least half-full.

1. DON'T turn on your wipers until you lift them up off the windshield to ensure they are not frozen to the windshield.  You could damage your wiper linkages if the blades are frozen due to freezing rain, or after a big snowfall.  Clear the snow around the wiper arms too before operation so they can move without obstruction.

Also, remember turn off your wiper system before you shut off your car!!!  This is so they won't operate on their own automatically when you start the car up. 

I cannot emphasize how important this is because if you break your wiper linkages, it can be quite expensive labour-wise to remove the windsheild cowling and fix the linkages.  Worse-case scenario is you could kill your wiper motor.  Do you really wanna spend a few hundred and be without your car for a few days because you didn't check that the wipers were frozen to the glass???  Dealers rarely stock wiper parts either, meaning you may need to wait a day or two for parts to come in.

2. Buy some "silicone lube" and spray the front bumper, wheel wells, rocker panels and behind the mud guards to minimize snow sticking to the area.  Silicone lube is also good for rubber weatherstripping to prevent them from freezing to your doors and trunklids after freezing rain.  This is particularly important for those who have minivans and SUVs with automatic side sliding doors, or power rear liftgates.  Don't strain the motors by leaving the weatherstripping dry.

To prevent weatherstripping from tearing if they happen to be frozen to your doors, try to lift or pull on the door latch gently first to confirm, then reach with your fingertips on the bottom and sides of the doors, and gently pull the door away as you have the latch up to get it to safely separate.


3. Fill up your gas tank FIRST, then go for the car wash if you need it!  In winter, water easily freezes, and you don't want your fuel fill-up door to freeze on you and not let you fill gas.  A frozen fuel filler door can also damage the release mechanism, so be careful!!!

Drive on......