3. Check Your Brakes
While you’re changing out those snow tires for the summer ones, take a look at your brakes. You’re harder on your brakes in the winter than in the summer, applying the pedal more frequently due to nerve-wracking road conditions and avoiding collisions with other motorists.
Check the brake pads – both the inner and the outer pads – at each wheel to ensure even wear and enough material to safely drive until the next time you check them, which may only be when you put those winter tires back on.
4. Change Your Oil and Check Your Fluids
Think about the temperature differences your vehicle experiences throughout the winter months. Your engine, in particular, goes from well below the freezing point to full operating temperature dozens of times per month. That change in temperature is the prime situation for moisture to form in your crankcase, contaminating your oil.
When springtime comes around and the mercury stays above the freezing point, change the oil and filter. All that moisture needs to come out and to prevent corrosion on internal moving parts. As well, water in your oil simply doesn’t lubricate your engine very well. While you’re at it, check the rest of your fluids to make sure they aren’t contaminated with water, and make sure your engine coolant is rated for the peak temperature you’ll see during the coming summer months.
5. Check Your Battery
It’s no secret that your battery is worked hardest during the winter months. The sluggish, cold parts in your engine demand extra power to crank over, drawing all the reserves from your battery. Now that it’s warming up out there, your battery doesn’t need quite as much power to start, but could be weakened by a harsh winter of cold starts. If it packs it in during the spring, it’s going to be a sudden surprise.
Have your battery tested in the spring to make sure its reserve capacity is still good, its cells aren’t damaged, and that it’ll last you through until the next winter.
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