Tires
You can't walk on snow and ice in sandals - your car also needs to be changed for winter. We have written about winter tires many times, so we will briefly recall only the main points.
Winter tires are marked M+S (Mud+Snow – " Mud+Snow"), Winter ("Winter") or W. These inscriptions are sometimes accompanied by pictograms in the form of a snowflake or cloud.
It is better to choose narrower tires than those you drive in the summer - naturally, within the size range allowed for your car. The tread must push through the snow and mud slush to the hard surface, and narrow tires cope with this better.
It is not advisable to drive in winter on all-season tires – those marked with the indexes AS (All Seasons) or AW (Any Weather).
Their "winter" capabilities are weak; all-season in the full sense of the word can be considered only if we are talking about Europe with little snow, and not about Russia. The above applies to SUV tires to a lesser extent. In all-season design, they are significantly "winter" than passenger car tires. If you have an SUV, AS and AW tires are acceptable in winter. But, of course, worse than M+S or Winter.
Studded tires hold on ice and snow better than non-studded tires. But on clean asphalt, when braking with studs, the probability of wheel locking, skidding, and braking distance increase: steel studs slide well on asphalt. Another danger is that drivers blindly believe in studs and, when braking on asphalt, expect them to have the same dead grip as on ice. By the way, new generations of non-studded winter tires behave almost no worse on slippery surfaces than studded ones.
Some people only put studded tires on the drive wheels for the winter. And on the driven wheels they leave... summer tires. Don't do this, it's dangerous. On a slippery road, the probability of a non-studded pair of wheels slipping is very high, even in relatively harmless situations - the coefficients of adhesion and resistance to lateral slip are too different.
Do not stud tires anywhere. This is a responsible process that requires good equipment and specialists. Skewed, insufficiently or excessively sunken studs increase tire wear. And, of course, do not contribute to safety.
Engine
The main problem in winter is starting a cold engine. It most often occurs with carburetor engines, but in severe frost, the owner of a car with an injection engine can also face it. The reasons are known - thickened oil, a drop in battery capacity and poor evaporation of gasoline. We will consider oils and batteries separately, but for now - a few words about the experience of countries with cold climates, where pre-start electric heaters are widely used - a kind of "boiler" in the engine cooling system. You drive up to your home or office, plug it into the socket, turn on the timer... By the right time, the engine will be warmed up, and some designs also provide heating of the interior.
Electric heating devices have been available on the Russian market for several years now. The most popular are Finnish heaters, which can be equipped with timers. The cost, including installation, is about $250. For about $100, you can buy a domestically produced heater (for VAZ models and Volga), but it does not have a timer.
The main disadvantage of electric heating is that you need to have a special panel with a socket at home or office. This is good for the Finns, but if we have the corresponding infrastructure, it will not be soon and not everywhere. Another solution is an autonomous heater on liquid fuel, which is also built into the engine cooling system and works on the principle of a hot water boiler. The fuel for it is gasoline or diesel, depending on what your car's engine runs on.
The Russian market offers autonomous heaters manufactured by Eberspacher, Webasto, as well as products from the Shchadrinsk Automobile Unit Plant (ShAAZ).
The heater can be installed at specialized stations, of which there are already many in Moscow and throughout Russia. The warm-up time is no more than 15 minutes, and only 200 g of gasoline or diesel fuel is consumed. Such heaters (besides the timer) can be equipped with a remote control device. The cost of an autonomous heater on the Russian market is about $1000.
Another benefit of heating systems is that their use increases the engine life. For reference: each cold engine start at -20°C is equivalent to a run of 800 km. By the way, according to modern views, the engine will reach operating temperature faster, and its wear will be less, if after starting it does not stand still, but starts moving as quickly as possible, avoiding, of course, excessive load on the engine.
Oil
Oil changes are usually made based on the car's mileage, not the season. But since oil is changed on average once every six months, why not do it before winter?
The vast majority of modern motor oils are, to one degree or another, all-season. It is believed that you should fill in what the manufacturer prescribes in the car's operating instructions. But winters are different - both slushy and warm, and freezing cold. And it is completely unclear whether the manufacturer assumed that his car would be used in Russian winter conditions and that it would require "colder" oil.
If you decide to deviate from the instructions, when choosing oil, you can use a simple method of determining its temperature suitability - for insurance. Let's call this method "rule of 35".
The motor oil marking must include the designation of its viscosity class according to the SAE scale. For example: 15W-40. This means that this oil meets the viscosity requirements for winter oils of class 15W at sub-zero temperatures, and for summer oils of class 40 at positive temperatures.
Remember the number 35. If you subtract the "winter" viscosity class index from it, in our example it is 15, you will get a value called the maximum pumping temperature, i.e. the temperature at which the oil still retains fluidity.
35-15=20. This means that 15W-40 oil can be used at temperatures down to -20°C.
Accordingly, the lower the "winter" viscosity class index, the "colder" the oil. 10W – up to -25°C; 5W – up to -30°C.
This is the "rule of 35". Simple and useful.
Battery
Frost has struck, and the battery, which just yesterday was cheerfully turning the starter, refuses to do so point blank. No wonder - when was the last time you charged it?
If the battery is relatively young (up to 3-4 years), then before winter it is enough to wash it from the outside, clean the terminals and fully charge it - if the car was constantly used in the city, the battery charge is probably far from the nominal. If the battery is old and does not charge to the nominal capacity, change it without hesitation, otherwise it will certainly let you down in winter - the capacity already drops sharply with decreasing temperature, and then there is also increased energy consumption - heater, seat heating, lights, wipers, rear window defroster...
By the way, according to experts, the average lifespan of a battery is about twelve months, after which it begins to gradually wither. And the peak sales of starter batteries, according to sellers, falls precisely in the fall.
The times when a car owner would run off his feet in search of a new battery are long gone - the variety of brands and models on store shelves is dazzling. Which one to choose is a personal matter. Let us just note that there are two price groups on the market now - batteries costing over $60 (usually up to $100), for example, "Bosch", "Steco", "American", "Fiamm", and batteries priced below $60 ("Mutlu", "Inci", "Centra", "SAEM" etc.).
Higher prices for batteries of the first group are determined by their more advanced production technology. These batteries, as a rule, are categorized as maintenance-free. Special types of electrolytes and hermetically sealed design of such batteries increase their service life and provide high starting currents, guaranteeing engine cranking even in severe frosts. Leading manufacturers currently use mandatory plate packaging technology, as a result of which it is possible to avoid short circuiting of the battery in case of their destruction.
Cheaper batteries require periodic maintenance - checking the density of the electrolyte and measuring its level. Let us remind you that the density of the electrolyte for the winter period should not be lower than 1.29.
Often, when buying a new battery, people try to choose one with a larger capacity, just so that it fits into the space allocated for it. But capacity is not the main thing. What is much more important is the starting current that the battery provides. After all, even for a battery with a large capacity, this indicator (due to high self-resistance) may be lower than a battery with a smaller capacity. In addition, a battery with a larger capacity requires a higher recharging current, which your car's alternator will not provide, and the battery will discharge more and more during operation, which will have a deplorable effect on its service life.
By the way, if you buy a battery that is different from the standard one, pay attention to the location of its terminals - there are batteries with "reverse polarity", the terminals of which your car's wires may not reach.
Ignition system
If you have a new foreign-made car, and even with an injection engine, you can stop reading. But if the car is used, with a carburetor engine - then it's a different matter.
Actually, the fuel and ignition systems are not connected to each other. But on modern injection engines you will not find either the memorable mechanical distributor or the breaker contacts. And on carburetor engines - as many as you like. And in order not to mess around later in the cold, the contacts need to be cleaned, the distributor cap - too (or better yet, replace it). Even better - replace the classic ignition system with an electronic one (if there are still car owners who haven't done this).
Don't forget about the high-voltage wires. After a couple of years of driving on our "salty" roads, it is advisable to change them, and better - for wires with a silicone sheath, which are less sensitive to temperature changes. In addition, frost does not form on them, which is often the reason for the lack of spark. By the way, a banal cause of ignition problems can be corrosion or poor tightening of battery terminals.
Separately - about spark plugs. Usually they are changed after 15-20 thousand kilometers, i.e. once every one and a half years (we do not take ultra-modern ones that can withstand 100 thousand km or more). Don't skimp on spark plugs - heat them, clean them and adjust the gaps. Change them at least once a year - it's inexpensive. And install new ones just before winter. Fuel system
It is often the cause of unsatisfactory engine performance in winter. And all because of the water condensate accumulated in the fuel tank. If the tank has a drain plug, the water can simply be drained, if not, it can be "neutralized" using so-called "moisture displacers". Almost all leading manufacturers of auto chemicals present on the Russian market (STP, Loctite, WynnXs, Aspokem), offer similar preparations that are poured into the fuel tank and gradually clean the fuel system.
It would not be a bad idea to install a new fine fuel filter, clean the carburetor, and if the engine has an injection system, make sure the injectors are clean.
Owners of diesel foreign cars, especially if the car was previously used in a country with a mild climate, should take care to equip the fuel system with special heating devices. Practice shows that starting a diesel engine at -20°C can be difficult, since the fuel loses its fluidity (how "winter" the diesel fuel that is sold in our country in winter is - one can only guess). One of the effective measures is the use of heated fuel lines and filters. In this case, you can start a diesel engine even at -40°C. Heating is carried out by elements that are powered by a standard battery.
The current they consume is about 5A; turning on the heaters for 5–10 minutes has virtually no effect on the battery capacity.
Body
Winter is not the best season for a car, especially when driving on streets generously sprinkled with salt. It is during this period that the body is most exposed to corrosion, and its anti-corrosion treatment is highly desirable. However, according to employees of some authorized service centers, for a number of new foreign cars, especially those with a galvanized body, factory treatment is quite sufficient. But if you have, say, a new Skoda (not to mention domestic passenger cars), then experts recommend carrying out a complete anti-corrosion treatment of the bottom, wheel arches and hidden cavities of the body. It would also be useful to install mudguards.
The cost of a set of these services averages $250–300 and depends mainly on the type of protective preparations used. There are quite a few of them on our market now. But first of all, it is probably worth paying attention to those that are used in countries with a climate similar to ours. These can be Finnish Mercasol AL with aluminum additives, Swedish Noxudol on a metallized base, Canadian Rust stop or Tektyl.
Anti-corrosion treatment requires strict adherence to technology, and although almost all manufacturers of protective materials produce them in packaging for household use, it is still preferable to carry out the treatment in a specialized service center. It is worth finding out in advance what technology it is produced by. In any case, before applying a protective coating to the bottom and arches, the car must be cleaned of dirt, washed and thoroughly dried.
Since you are doing anti-corrosion treatment for several years, it is better to be present near the car and personally observe this process.
Winter is not an easy test for the paintwork of the car body. Sharp temperature changes, snow mixed with salt, ice crust - all this leads to the appearance of microcracks in the paint. The surface of the body can be protected with a special compound suitable for use at low temperatures, for example, Plus Teflon or Color Magic. Treatment with these preparations is carried out approximately once a month - after the obligatory washing of the car and its drying.
The question of where to keep a car in winter is usually not really an issue – those who have a garage, keep it in the garage, those who don't – outside. Oddly enough, from the point of view of preserving the body (from corrosion, not from theft), between trips and overnight, it is better to leave the car outside - when the body is cold, the corrosion process is slower. In a cold garage, the heat emitted by the car is enough to warm it up a little, and the melted snow and salt actively do their dirty work for some time. Well, and in a warm garage, even if you thoroughly washed the car from salt from underneath, it will stand wet all night...
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