RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – For many of us a trip to the mechanic can be unexpected and put a dent in the family budget.
Such things can be avoided if steps are taken now to winterize your car.
The most obvious is– check your tires. Check pressure, tread, and make sure they are appropriate for travel in the snow.
Windshield wiper fluid should be for temperatures below minus 20 degrees.
Antifreeze should be made for your car’s model.
“Your headlamps, tail lamps, your brake lamps, your turn signal lamps. take a look at all of them,” says Jeff Pheasant, Owner of A Master Mechanic in Sparks.
Pheasant says foggy head light covers can be fixed like new for better line of sight.
See if the car heater is in good working order. Antifreeze may need to be added, or there could be a leak.
And the air conditioning needs to be working, even in winter. “It dehumidifies the air in the car and keeps the windshield from frosting up,” says Pheasant.
Pheasant recommends a battery jump box instead of jumper cables. Another car is not needed. And he says they may be more forgiving with newly designed cars and batteries.
We took video of a commercial grade box but there are others which are for personal use less than $100.00 dollars
“Let’s say you are out getting a Christmas Tree for the season and your battery goes dead you accidentally left your lights on,” says Pheasant. “Or maybe the battery is bad, and you get out and go to start your car and it’s not going to start. You have that jump box and you don’t have anyone else around. You are going to be able to get out of there. Or if your cell phone is going dead, you can hook that up the cell phone and it is going to charge it for you. ”
Not a bad investment–consider freezing weather can drain battery power by 30% to 60%. Pheasant says not sure if your battery will make it this winter?
A Master Mechanic is willing to check it at no charge. The car doesn’t have to be inspected in the garage, the battery can be tested in the parking lot on Glendale in Sparks. In Sparks, Terri Russell KOLO 8 News Now.
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