When it comes to winterizing your car or truck I will explain how to fix them and do it yourself. While you are learning how to fix cars have some basic hand tools like wrenches and a good socket set handy. Winterizing your car requires no special skills or tools. The parts you will need to do it yourself is a oil and filter, thermostat, antifreeze, a thermometer and a set of wiper blades. Always keep a jug of wiper fluid with you in case that you run out.
The first task that you would want to do when winterizing is to check and change your engine oil. When you do it yourself make sure that you use jack stands for safety reasons. Some car manufacturers recommend that you run a thinner oil in the winter time. The reason is that oil is very thick when you first start your car in the cold weather. The thinner oil will circulate a lot faster and prevent the engine from starving for oil until it heats up. Check and read your owners manual to see if you can run a thinner oil in the winter time.
When you are learning how to fix cars and do it yourself getting a good repair manual for your specific car is a must. This repair manual will show you where certain items are located such as your engine thermostat. When you locate the thermostat which is usually connected to the top radiator hose make sure the engine is cool enough to work on. Replace your thermostat. Remember when you perform this task yourself it can be a little dangerous and you may want to leave it up to a professional to winterize your car for you.
I have always found when learning how to fix cars and trucks and getting them winterized having a digital thermometer is very important to have. You can point the laser at the inside vents to get a reading of how hot your heater will be. You can also point it at your upper and lower radiator hoses to check the coolants circulation as well as your heater hoses connecting to your heater core. The next item to winterize would be your wiper blades. Replace these by yourself by reading the directions on the box.
As you can see learning how to fix cars will save you a ton of money when you decide to do it yourself and winterize.
