Check Your Antifreeze

Your antifreeze (the juice that goes in your radiator) is an essential part of your car’s winter protection. Your car contains a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. Make sure the level and the mixture is close to 50/50. Many service stations and repair centers will check this mixture for free, or you can buy a tester for around $5. You did remember to perform a radiator flush last spring, didn’t you?

Inspect Your Tires

The last line of defense between you and an oak tree are your tires. Winder is not the time to get cheap about your tires, so take the time to check the tread depth. The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says you need at least 2/32″ of depth to be safe. It’s been our experience, especially in winter weather, that anything less than 4/32″ (1/8″) be replaced soon. The old penny test is as reliable as anything to find our whether your treads are ready for winter action. Also, be sure to check your tire pressure. Believe it or not, they lose a little pressure when it gets cold, so pump ’em up.

Replace Your Wipers

Wipers? What do your windshield wipers have to do with the weather? Two things. First, anything falling from the sky is going to end up on your windshield. Second, in areas that see snowfall in the winter, you’re also driving through that soupy muck that’s left on the road once the highway department does their thing. This muck includes a lot of sand and salt, both of which end up on your windshield. It takes wipers that are in top shape to keep your windshield clean and safe.

Check Your Windshield Washer Fluid

You’ll be using lots of washer fluid as you try to keep your windshield sparkly.

Tip: Don’t fill your washer fluid reservoir with anything except washer fluid. It won’t freeze!

Radiator Flush

The coolant in your radiator doesn’t last forever. Over time it can break down and start to corrode the inside of your radiator. This can lead to cooling problems and radiator repair. A radiator flush once a year is cheap insurance against radiator repairs.

Replace Your Air Filter

You should replace your air filter twice a year, so now’s a good time to get that 5-minute job out of the way.

Tire Checks

Summer traveling could mean driving in the rain. The tread on your tires must be adequate for rainy weather, or you could end up in a ditch or worse. Checking the tread depth on your tires takes one minute. While you’re at it, you should check tire pressure as well.

Replace Your Windshield Wipers

Winter weather can be brutal to your windshield wipers, making them almost useless if you get caught in a summer rain shower. Replace them at the beginning of summer and you won’t have to worry.

Inspect Your Brakes

It’s a good idea to inspect your brakes twice a year just to be sure everything is up to snuff. Car safety should always be a top priority. Go ahead and check your brake fluid while you’re at it.

Check Your Battery

Corrosion is very likely to build up during the winter weather driving. Check your battery posts and cables to ensure you’ll have no starting problems.

Check Your Headlights

Sometimes you don’t notice that you have a bulb out. Now’s a good time to take a look to see if you need to replace a headlight bulb. Not only is it unsafe to drive with one headlight, you can get a ticket!

Change Your Oil

The oil change is the must-have of all auto maintenance tasks, but if you aren’t doing them regularly, you’re shortening the life of your engine and greatly reducing its efficiency. Oil changes are a must.

Recharge Your AC!

Recharging your car or truck’s air conditioning system may not seem like a crucial maintenance job…because it’s not. But who wants to drive around sweating? Sitting in traffic with sweat stains in your armpits is not a good look. While it may not shorten the life of your engine, it can surely affect the length of some other important relationships. Give the people around you a break and get your AC up to snuff.