Winter Car Care Written by Kevin Schappell Continued from page 1 - Salt or sand for traction - Blanket in case you are stranded and need to keep warm - Good first aid kit (not just for winter) - Road flares 4.Check all belts and hoses. As temperature drops rubber tends to stiffen and break allot easier. Make sure all your rubber hoses and belts are in tip-top shape. 5.Treat your gas tank to a can of gas line antifreeze before cold weather strikes. The additive will remove any water in system and prevent your fuel lines from freezing. 6.Check your tires for wear. Make sure you have plenty of tread left to get you through snow. Nothing is worse than 3" of snow and bald tires. Kevin Schappell maintains http://www.carbuyersclub.com where he gives advice on buying, selling, insurance, and financing. A mechanical engineer and car guy, Kevin has decided to spend his online time helping others learn about automobiles. To learn more about how your car works, Kevin has createdhttp://www.mycarwizard.com The Exhaust System Written by Kevin Schappell Continued from page 1 If you live in an area, which uses salt on roads in wintertime, make sure to wash underside of you car with water every few weeks. Salt speeds up corrosion process and getting it off as soon as possible will help stop corrosion. Make sure you run engine after washing to drive off all of water on pipes. Noticing a decrease in your gas mileage? Your oxygen sensor could be going south on you. As time goes on oxygen sensor begins to wear out and becomes less accurate. This sometimes results in a rich fuel mixture where your engine burns more fuel than is needed. Most of time your check engine light will come on and alert you to a failing oxygen sensor. I suggest changing oxygen sensor every 60,000 miles just to be safe. Even though your check engine light might not be on, you could be using more gas than is needed. Pay a few bucks and change sensor, your wallet will thank you when you have to buy less gas down road. The next part in line to go is muffler. Most of time mufflers rust through and need to be replaced. There are allot of options out there for replacement mufflers. Some cheap and some expensive. It holds true... you get what you pay for. If you plan on keeping your car for any period of time, spend extra cash and get an OEM muffler or a high quality name brand muffler. On rare occasions catalytic converter will become clogged and need to be replaced. Symptoms include loss of power, heat coming from floor of your car, glowing red converter or a sulfur smell. Never let a mechanic tell you that you can do without catalytic converter. Removing this component is illegal in most states and can lead to a hefty fine to government if you are not careful. That's about it for exhaust system; just remember that rust is biggest enemy to your exhaust system. Take above-mentioned steps and your exhaust system will last a long time Kevin Schappell maintains http://www.carbuyersclub.com where he gives advice on buying, selling, insurance, and financing. A mechanical engineer and car guy, Kevin has decided to spend his online time helping others learn about automobiles. To learn more about how your car works, Kevin has createdhttp://www.mycarwizard.com     <Back to Page 1   ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005 Terms of Use