MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The temperatures are dropping in the Mid-South, and it’s time to start thinking about getting vehicles ready for the winter.
ABC24 headed to Allen’s Automotive Center, which offers a Vehicle Health Check Card provided by Napa that lists everything that needs to be done to a car going into the colder months.
“If you get out on the road and break down, real cold outside, the car won’t crank. You’re freezing cold,” said Allen Vanlandingham, Owner of Allen’s Automotive Center. “You need to make sure all of these things are checked and done before you get out and get stranded.”
“With winter coming up, the things you really need to know about your car - there’s several areas that need to be checked,” said Vanlandingham. “Tires, tire pressure, tire depth.”
“Having your car straight during the winter is a serious thing. Because some people don’t know that your tire pressure can go up and down,” said car owner Javarius Johnson. “You’ve got to make sure your tires straight. You got to make sure your check engine light ain’t on.”
Pressures depend on temperature, and coolant in a car depends on temperature.
“You want to make sure the coolant is full, no leaks. You want to make sure the chemicals of the coolant are right,” said Vanlandingham. “These are important things that need to be done and checked before winter.”
“Also you want to make sure your belts and hoses are good. And you want to make sure that you’re charging, starting and alternator system is good,” said Vanlandingham. “Because, a lot of cars that have the stop and start systems, you’re sitting there in the engine is off and you’re running off the battery. So if you had a bad battery on a cold day out on the interstate in a traffic jam, your battery could go dead.”
“When it gets cold weather we definitely need to start thinking about different stuff,” said car owner Madison Aschenbrenner. “I just got my car. It’s pretty much brand new. So, I take very good care of it. I don’t let my tires get low.”
Another thing to consider are the wipers, which should be checked at least once a year.
“You want to make sure your wipers are good. Even in winter you have snow and ice and rain,” said Vanlandingham. “You need to check your brakes, fluid. You need to check the depth of your brakes. Make sure your brake fluid and the brakes are all in good shape.”
“We recommend check-ups once a quarter or every 3 to 4,000 miles on all of the vehicles we service,” said Vanlandingham.