Take These Steps to Prepare Your Car for Winter
Winter weather means tough times for your car. For months, it experiences an onslaught of cold, salt, snow, and ice. Your trusted automotive technician can help prepare your vehicle for winter’s harsh conditions to make your ride more comfortable, reliable, and safer.
Change Your Tires
Perhaps one of the most debated parts of winter maintenance—except where legislation prevails—is if you should change your tires in winter. Tires differ in their construction and tread pattern.
Winter tires are manufactured to be softer so they don’t harden in cold temperatures and turn your vehicle into a 1.5-ton sled on skates. The tread is also deeper, which allows snow and slush to pass through while improving your vehicle’s grip on the road.
All-season and all-weather tires are made of harder compounds, and they have shallower treads designed to direct water through. All-weather tires are approved by Transport Canada for winter driving, but they’ll wear down faster than tires dedicated to warm and cold weather. Transport Canada has not certified all-season tires for winter use.
Check Your Battery
When the temperature drops, your vehicle’s charging system works twice as hard. Here’s why:
- The chemical reactions needed to power the battery slow down in colder temperatures, meaning your battery needs to spend more energy starting your engine.
- Heated seats and the steering wheel often run for much of each journey.
- Windshield wipers work more in winter than summer because they have to clear ice and snow, often every day, several times a day.
- The rear window defrost, which doesn’t run in the summer, uses a lot of power.
Regardless of the age of your vehicle, you’ll need to replace your vehicle’s battery every three to five years. If your battery is nearing the end of its life, replacing it before winter hits will help avoid a drained battery in -40 ˚C weather.
Top up or Replace Your Fluids
Engine oil keeps your engine running smoothly, but it requires a certain viscosity (thickness, if you will) to do its job. Because many areas of Canada experience a wide range of temperatures over a year, you may need two types of engine oil: one for warmer and one for colder months. When you get your oil checked, ask if your vehicle needs a different oil for winter.
Auto technicians often also top up or replace your coolant and windshield washer fluid. Coolant maintains your engine’s operating temperature, and windshield washer fluid comes in summer and winter formulas: Summer mixtures contain detergents and other ingredients that help remove dirt, including flattened bugs, from your windshield, whereas winter windshield washer fluid helps with defrosting your windshield. However, you can find washer fluid that works all year round.
Check Your Interior
Your vehicle’s interior also takes a rough beating in the winter. One task you can do on your own is ensure your floors are clean and your mats in good repair.
Water from melting snow and slush can pool under the mats and leak through the floor, leading to hard-to-treat rust. Although clapping the snow off your boots before entering the vehicle helps, undamaged floor mats add a strong layer of protection.
When you take your vehicle in for its fall/winter oil change, ask the technician to change your cabin filter, which will have collected pollen, dust, and other potential allergens from spring, summer, and fall. A clogged cabin air filter can reduce airflow, leaving you with a colder interior, a battery draining faster than it should, and higher gas consumption.
Pack an Emergency Kit
Despite the best winter preparations, road incidents can happen. If you get stuck in below-zero temperatures, make sure you can survive until help arrives or until you can get back on the road.
Include at least these basics in your winter emergency kit:
- non-perishable food, such as granola and protein bars
- water stored in plastic bottles that won’t break if the water freezes
- first-aid kit to treat minor injuries
- seatbelt cutter in case the seatbelt becomes jammed
- candle in a deep can and matches to provide both light and warmth without draining your car battery
- wind‑up flashlight to flag down help or inspect your car without worrying about replacement batteries
- whistle to signal for help
- roadmaps to help you navigate and plan routes during emergencies when your phone or GPS doesn’t work
- copy of your emergency plan, which should include contact numbers and relevant instructions on how to handle emergencies
- power banks and charging cables to ensure your personal devices stay charged and allow you to call for help and access emergency resources
The friendly technicians at your local NAPA AUTOPRO service centre will be more than happy to help you prepare your vehicle for comfortable, safe winter driving.