Single digit temperatures impact cars and trucks

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Owner of A Master Mechanic Jeff Pheasant shows us what can happen when the owner of a car took what he thought was the quick way to clear a frosty windshield--with a pitcher of hot water.

“A lot of times people throw hot water on it,” Pheasant says of the windshield. “And it has a little crack in it. And it is going to continue to crack all the way across for sure with that extreme temperature change.”

Inside the shop, the lock on the driver side door needs to be replaced.

“The little hole that the key goes in has moisture in there it is frozen and the key won’t go it,” says Pheasant. He says the driver kept forcing the key.

“It actually pushed the lock out of the hole and broke the plastic.”

“Warm the key up.” He advises with a cigarette lighter.

Just two examples of what not to do to your car in these cold temperatures. Patience and a little TLC will go a long way in making sure your car can get you from point A to B.

Antifreeze, Pheasant says, is crucial in a good running car. Don’t add water, as if it freezes it can go to the engine, and then there will be an expensive repair. And make sure the antifreeze is made for your particular car, that information usually appears on the container.

Look at the windshield wiper fluid. Pheasant says it should be good up to 20 degrees below zero. And as with the antifreeze, don’t add water.

Pheasant shows us the emergency brake on an early model truck.

“The parking brake is applied,” he says. And on cold days “It gets wet and freezes.”

More than with a late model car, Pheasant says don’t put the emergency brake on in these chilling temperatures.

“You are going to find out in the morning time when you come to release that parking brake, it’s not going to release. It will stay applied. That’s going to take time to thaw out.”

Tire pressure can change in the cold. Make sure they are at the right pressure. Look at what the sticker on the inside of the driver’s door for what that pressure should be.

Batteries have a life of three to five years in a car. Pheasant says if that battery is close to its expiration date, the cold weather will push the battery to its end.

“The car will not give you a warning it’s not going to start. “You are just going to go out in the morning, and it’s not going to start.”

Copyright 2023 KOLO. All rights reserved.