Winter !

[Zak33]

Its check up time people Dont let your car freeze or let ya down.

First.....TYRE TREAD....forget the LEGAL limit.....1.6 mm across 2/3 the tyre, a visible on the rest....its DEADLY like that.

We want 3mm across all of it.......you have 4 little bits of rubber holding all your skill and prowess on the road......SORT THEM OUT Its not worth not doing.

Water and Anti Freeze......is it strong enough? If you have ANY DOUBT.....go to the local garage and ask them to check the strength....even if ya give a Mechanic a couple of quid....

If its not....BUY SOME ANTIFREEZE....it is SO CHEAP..and it helps COOL the car in summer as well as stopping you cracking your block in winter.

Oil...just cos its winter doesntmean stop dip sticking......get it CHECKED.

Squirters....windscreen....front and back.....little pin to clean them, re aim them........rinse the bottle out...get all the chalk out....sort it....then in with the screen cleaner. Go to Homebase or BnQ and buy a big bottle for a fiver....and as it gets colder....make it stronger.

[Zak33]

Bulbs......all of them. Get your mate round the back and check they ALL work.

Number plate bulbs too. If there condensation in your headlamps, from over keen hosepipe use get a hair drier on them AND have the headlamps on....take the bulb out to let the steam out ....and dry them.

CLEAN YOUR WINDSCREEN inside and out...I sit in hundreds of cars...every week......people seem to think they only need to use "The Force" and not actually see.....CLEAN THE INSIDE. When another cars headlamps hit your screen, or some waster has his FOG LAMPS on...amke sure your class is CLEAN. If its dirty...it'll diffuse the light and you'll see nothing but glare.

Next...WINTER SUN....it happens right about now....the sun is so low and so bright..you come round the corner and BANG..BLIND

Think about where the sun is while you drive in early morning and late evening. It might save your life...slow down if you are about to go HEAD TO HEAD with the big orange ball in the sky.

If you have ABS.....USE IT today. Get on a quiet road....no one behind......30 mph....STAND ON THE ANCHORS....feel it......live with it a few times...

so if you use it....it wont be a suprise. Cos its like having a hammer drill go off under your foot.

[Zak33]

and with ABS....KEEP BLOODY PUSHING.

DONT LET OFF....keep going at that pedal really really hard. Vauxhall has undertaken studies that found most punters, when they feel the ABS cut in.....ease off ! It doesnt work like that

PUSH HARD WITH ABS<,,,,and keep bloody pushing.,,,

Its such a problem that they now have a system that monitors how quickly you lift off the gas and hit the brakes.....if you do it really fast (emergency stylee) the brake pedal goes all soft and gooey !!!! and that sh1ts you up so much you push even harder.....in actual fact the brakes work 120&#37; better in that one occassion and you pull up with ABS rattling like a superstar...and you survive.....but it needs saying again....

PUSH HARD WITH ABS AND DONT LIFT !

[Zak33]

except in snow.....then gently...but thats another day

Right......FROST.......unless you are brave....dont pour a boiling kettle on your screen .

Nuff said.

Another good bit of advice: If you are on a long journey, get theheater on hot, point it at the floor and open your windows....and heat the lower half of your car up....the longer you can survive that, the better. You see your carpets hold mmoisture, and that means you steam up too fast. Wet shoes, in and out, all winter long....its a recipe for WET!

[Lowe]

Some fantastic advice in here. Heed it well people!

[sdp]

Yup I cleaned the inside of my windsreen for the first time yesterday and it made a huge difference. Gonna clean it every day now

The rest of that - oil, water, tyre pressure, lights etc I like to check every 50-100 miles anyway - the joys of owning a 20 year old car

My mate had tyres that were about 50% bald with like 1mm of tread across the rest of the surface and he was stopped by the police a while ago. They said they were legal like that! Could'nt believe it.

[Jiff Lemon]

Jeff's tip for the day....

If you insist on using De-icer (for it is evil) , then keep it in the house - NOT the car!

[Moby-Dick]

Nice tip for cold days - start the car , then set the turbo timer for 10 mins.

Take the keys out , lock the doors and go back inside for a cuppa :-)

10 mins later you have a nice warm / defrosted car

[Raz316]

Keep some de-icer at work aswell!

[Howard]

Originally posted by Moby-Dick
Nice tip for cold days - start the car , then set the turbo timer for 10 mins.

Take the keys out , lock the doors and go back inside for a cuppa :-)

10 mins later you have a nice warm / defrosted car

It's not good to leave a car running, if that's what your implying

[Moby-Dick]

and why not? Its on turbo timer the doors are locked , and even if you broke a window got in and tried to drive it off , the engine cuts out as soon as your drop the handbrake

[Shad]

It's not good because the engine oil takes longer to heat up as opposed to if you were driving around warming it up. I.e. after 10 minutes of sitting stationary, the engine might just about be near normal temp, but it would take 5 minutes of normal driving to get it there properly.

Great advice tho Zak. The cleaning of the windscreen also helps when the sun hits it at low angles, i.e. morning and evening.

[Moby-Dick]

I never thrash my car from cold (credit me with some degree of mechanical sympathy ) but I like to have my Heater actually blowing hot air which I wouldn't be doing from cold anyhow

[5lab]

you should drive a car normally as soon as you start a cold engine - leaving it to idle or ragging straight from cold is baaaad

[Howard]

Yeah that's what I meant Moby-Dick, it's not good to leave it idle.

[Lowe]

Originally posted by 5lab
you should drive a car normally as soon as you start a cold engine - leaving it to idle or ragging straight from cold is baaaad

Err, why on earth would leaving it to idle be bad?

I'd be interested to hear this one lol.