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Hi there smart drivers. Rick with Smart Drive
Test talking to you today about prepping
your vehicle for winter driving. We have
a special guest on the channel today:
Rich de Man. He's the local neighborhood
Mr. Fixit - there isn't too much that Rich
can't fix!
He worked for more than a decade for the
City of Calgary maintaining their fleet,
and he's also rebuilt a couple of
vehicles from the ground up. He's also a
red seal welder. So very handy -a nice guy
to have around in the neighborhood,
especially for those you don't know one
end of a screwdriver from the other. So
today
Rich is going to give us an overview of
things that you need to do to prep your
vehicle for winter driving. So without
further ado, we're going to hand it over
to Rich. Alright Rick, a lot of things
that people overlook when getting their car
prepped for winter. I'm going to just go
through the engine compartment and point
out a few of the items that people all too
often take for granted and go undone.
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So Rick, I'm going to start with the cooling
system. This vehicle doesn't have a
capped radiator system; it has a
cap-less radiator. So in which case the
place to check your radiator fluid is
right at the overflow tank. Now keep in
mind that it is under pressure as well
as a radiator. So you got to be careful
that it's not hot when you remove that
cap. that's a great point!
You're going to get a good hot explosion
on your hand or your body - it's not a
good experience!
So this is where we would normally check
the rating for our winter months, which
basically means that you're checking
with a radiator bulb tester - you're checking to
see that you're on an adequate rating. So
as the temperature drops down, you want
to know that your engine block isn't
going to freeze. On a typical coolant temperature is between
-30°C and -35°C (-21°F to -30°F) for your rating.
You know that the cold comes, your engine
block isn't going to freeze over. So
that would be in Celsius?
Yes that is in Celsius. Now another
thing while I'm here - we've got your
windshield washer fluid. There's winter
rated washer fluid. You want to make sure
you're always topped up. With slush and
snow on the road
you never know when you're going to need
that. So you don't want to be out of that.
As we go through the engine compartment,
a few key factors keep in mind.
Winter is a lousy time to break down, let
alone breaking down when it is nice. So you
want to be sure that all your engine
belts - your drive belts are in good
condition. And that they're adjusted - the
proper tension. You've got your hoses -
your vacuum hoses.
So just just backing up
there Rich, for just moment. How
would somebody know that their belts are
the proper tension - like what would be a
good indication? Would they push on it or...?
A good indication is if you go to a
section of your drive belt where you've
got a long flat stretch.
Okay, and you just physically take your
fingertips and you push down. Put a
little pressure on it - you shouldn't have
too much deflection. It should be
somewhat taunt. If you have anywhere
between half and inch
to an inch, that's way too much.
You want be sure that there's some
some pressure there - right!
Okay! If you push on that, it should spring
back; it shouldn't have any slack in it
whatsoever.
Perfect ok. Outside of that Rick, we've
got our belts...
sorry, our our hoses. You want to be
sure that all your hoses are in good
condition. There's no cracking - they're
not dry and brittle. Very important as
well with your cooling system. If that hose
can't push water or coolant - if it's
cracked,
if it's brittle. You want to be sure that
they're in good shape. As well, not too
soft, no broken or loose connectors.
That's a big thing. Over here, your brake
fluid. You want to be sure that you've
got the proper brake fluid for your
system - Dot 3 is fairly usual. Some of the
newer vehicles are even running Dot 4 & 5.
Okay. So you want to be sure that you're at an
adequate level on your brake fluid. Now
the brake fluid--the master cylinder is
going to be up on the firewall for most
of these vehicles? That's
very common. Up on the back
on the driver's side.
Yes it will normally be located right
where you see this one, directly in front
of the steering wheel.
Okay. You want to maintain your battery as
well. Nothing worse than having a dead
battery on a cold
winter morning when you've got to be
a work. You get out there and you've got
a dead vehicle. Okay. So keep your batteries
up to snuff. Most batteries nowadays
are maintenance-free. So what you want to
do is if you have the glory of having a
gauge in your vehicle, it'll show as either
a voltage gauge or it'll just show as a
battery gauge.
Okay. You can use that as somewhat of an
indicator, if you get out your battery's
dead.
That's an indication that you're
charging system has got an issue. Okay.
Your batteries not receiving a
charge, or it could be as simple as your
batteries will no longer
accept a charge.
Okay. So that's that's another key factor
that people often take for granted
that the battery is just going to keep producing -
they're going to keep going. But all
these issues are things that you really
want to keep maintained.
Usual oil changes will reveal any of
those problems. Okay. And if somebody's
concerned about their battery and they
think that it hasn't been checked in
awhile, how could they get that checked to
know that it is working if they don't
have a volt gauge on their dash or those
types of things?
Okay, any of your local automotive shops,
the fellows even at your speedy oil change
centres, they'll have the battery tester.
Okay. ma hydrometer yeah so they'll check
A hydrometer and also they will
go over your charging system to be sure
that your belts are tight and that they're
providing proper charge.
Okay, perfect. So that's underneath the
engine - is there anything that we should
do outside of the vehicle - the body?
There is - one key thing, any time of year let alone
it being winter coming around the corner,
you want to maintain proper tire
pressure. Okay, very important in how
your vehicle is controlled while it's being
driven. If your tires are too low or too
hard that vehicle isn't going to respond
the way it normally would if the
pressures are adequate. Okay so we'll start
with a spare tire here.
We've got the vehicle's spare
tire.
Now quite often, you'll notice that
somewhere around the tire it's going
to show all the information that applies:
the size, and as well, most
importantly your tire pressure. So if you look
anywhere around the writing it will
usually be in fine print - it will tell
you what the tires adequate air pressure
is - single load, dual load - whatever the
application is for that vehicle. It'll
generally say on your tire. One key thing
to keep in mind with tires and
especially directional tires, it will
show you with a little arrow -it will say
right on the sidewall of the tire if its
directional. So you want to be sure that
it goes on the proper side of the
vehicle - left side, right side. The arrow
will point as to the tire's normal
rotation when in forward travel. So keep that in
mind. There are space saver tires,
otherwise known as the donut, that you can get
as well.
Now those donuts - those are not a
permanent solution to having a flat tire.
They're meant for temporary use. So be sure to
get your tire repaired or replaced
whatever need be.
Don't run your doughnut tire - and you
know - don't run that tire for a month
because you're going to need a new donut
if that's the case. Get it to a repair shop, put
the original tire back on. Now this
winter tire, Rich, has steel studs in it.
Now steel studs aren't allowed in some
jurisdictions, like some of the United States
and Ontario, and places like that? These
are only allowed in British Columbia, Canada in
the winter months?
That's right. Now there is a specific
time where you have to have those
studded tires off of your vehicle And the
police will ticket
you. If you are running studded
tires out of the winter season--there's is a
designated season and I know that that
changes in other provinces as well. Right.
I'm not one hundred percent certain what
the time frame is in and Britsh Columbia, but you can
see with these studs how they do damage to
the pavement. So if it's not the time of
year to run a stud tire,
do yourself a favor - replace them, and save
yourself from getting a ticket.
So that's the tires. Now
you mentioned on the outside of this
that there was a tire pressure on the
tire. Now is that the best place to find
the tire pressure for your vehicle?
Well, that depends
on the tire. It might not be the pressure
that the car calls for.
So what you do is, you go around to the
driver's side of your vehicle and
there's always an ID tag there that
explains proper tire inflation. Now
it's generally located on the driver's
door post. So there'll be a tag there.
If you haven't got that tag there - in
most cases your owner's manual will have
that information. As well you
just go through your glossary and it will
show you exactly where you find it. And tire
gauges, you can pick those up at any...? Tire
gauges - you can pick those up at pretty much any auto parts
store, Canadian Tire, all the jobber shops
have them. Even some of the service
centers, they have them. Okay, anything on the
outside of the vehicle, we should do to
the body of the vehicle? Should we...
Yeah, you can do a few things Rick. A good
practice is on an exterior to do a
winter pre-wax.
Sso what that involves is just a rub on-
rub off wax. And what that will do is that
will really help. It will aid in the salt
and the snow not sticking to the body
causing premature rusting or
corrosion. That's something that you just
don't need. So it's a good idea on a nice
day or if you have a garage where you can wax it.
Throw a coat of wax on it and it'll help
protect it through the winter months. Now is
there any kind of wax - any brand wax that
you might recommend that would be better
than another? I generally
try to stay away from
silicon-based waxes.I like resin
waxes. Silicon actually - a thinkg a lot of
people don't know about the silicon
waxes - is you get them on there - sure they
look nice and shiny and all. But silicon
actually attracts UV rays.
If you get a good resin-based car wax,
you're gonna pay a little bit more for it, but
in the long run your paint job is going
to last a lot longer.
Perfect - that's that's great information.
So just a quick review of stuff that we
should check under the hood, All
right sure. Your belts, your hoses. One very
important thing - all your fluid levels.
Your fluid levels consisting of brake
fluid, transmission fluid, engine oil, windshield washer
anti-freeze, coolant and as
well if your vehicle is equipped with
power steering, you want to make sure
that your power steering is
up to snuff as well.
It's all controlling the vehicle right!? Yeah because this
vehicle here that we're looking at - it
doesn't have a power steering pump, which
is somewhat unusual?
That's right - it's a rack-and-pinion
system. There are still a lot of vehicles
built with that system. Most vehicles will
have a power steering reservoir and a
cap where you can check and fill your
fluid. And that's generally in from
the driver's side of the vehicle near
the front of the engine.
And don't forget your tire
pressure. Very important, even more so in
the winter months. You want to be sure
that you've got total control of your vehicle
as much as you can have. Part of that is
chalked up to having proper tire pressure.
Excellent!! Okay, thanks very much to Rich
de man for going over what we need to do
for prepping our vehicles for winter
driving. Question for my smart drivers: do
have any tips for prepping your vehicle
for winter driving? Leave a comment down
in the comment section there, all that
helps us out.
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test, thanks
very much for watching. If you like what
you see here share, subscribe, leave a
comment down in the comment section. As
well, hit that thumbs up button. Check out all the videos on the
channel here, and head over my website. Lots of
great information over there for
those of you working towards getting
your license or starting a career as a truck or
bus driver.
Thanks again for watching. Good luck on
your road test. And remember pick the
best answer not necessarily the right
answer.
Have a great day. Bye now!
Without further ado, we're going to pass it over to Rich, hang
[BLOOPER #1] on we'll be right back with that
information!
You got excited there didn't you? [LAUGHING]
yeah yeah I kinda did. [BLOOPER #2] He currently works ...
what do you... what else was I gonna say?
I worked as a welder fabricator. Oh
right - you are
Yes! [MORE LAUGHING]
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