Winter Driving

The colder months of the year here in Charlotte can take their toll on your car, especially if you live up north or in the Mountains. But a few simple preventative measures will keep your car looking good and protect it from the ice and slush. Your car will thank you and you'll thank yourself when you get ready to sell it.

Here are a few tips for protecting your car from Charlotte's cold weather:

• Have all your vital fluids checked. Vital fluids include; oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, your coolant and your washer fluid. Carolina Tire & Auto will perform a 27 point inspection on all these vital fluids for free. You do not want to be out in the cold and have your coolant not working below freezing or your oil level to be too low. These all can cause serious damage to your engine, not to mention strand you out in the middle of I-485 waiting for a tow truck.
• Tires - Take a penny out of your pocket and put President Lincoln's head into the tread in at least 3 spots. If you CAN see his head, it's time to replace your tires. Winter in no time to fool around with trying to "stretch the tread life" out of your old tires. Your life is worth much more than saving a few hundred dollars on tires. During winter, even in Charlotte, NC it is recommended to put on winter tires or snow tires. Not because of all the snow we don't get, but the roads that continually have 42 degree weather and below can get just as slick. Winter tires have a "sticky" compound and tiny bubbles for better grip in these type of road conditions. Carolina Tire & Auto Repair recommends winter tires on most vehicles in Charlotte, NC.
• Batteries: With every service performed at Carolina Tire & Auto Repair we always perform a free battery, starter and charging system check. If your battery is low or dead, you are not going anywhere. If your alternator isn't charging your battery, it may cause strange electrical problems and or kill your battery.
• Bread and milk: If you have not had any of these services performed at Carolina Tire & Auto Repair, it's time to stock up on bread and milk in Charlotte as you are not going anywhere.
• Driving safely: If you have had your car serviced at Carolina Tire & Auto you know that your car has been serviced professionally for these items. Be aware that snow and ice are very slippery and require you to slow down and just go slow to where you need to go. Do not jerk the steering wheel or slam on your brakes. In this case, you will get to where you're going if you go slow.

Good driving and we'll see you at Carolina Tire & Auto for all your seasonal changes to your car.

Carolina Tire & Auto Repair

10822 Pineville Road (I-485 & South Blvd)

Pineville, NC 28134

704-553-9800

Coolant and your Cooling System

Coolant is a fluid which runs through the engine for the purposes of maintaining the correct operating temperature of many components, including the engine, transmission, and in some vehicles, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems and fuel systems. Coolant is also used to create heated air from your climate control system. Coolant is a mixture of water, an agent that prevents freezing (ethylene glycol or propylene glycol), and a small amount of corrosion inhibitor.

Manufacturer-specified and proprietary coolant types are becoming common. Make sure to use the coolant the manufacturer recommends; the wrong coolant can damage your vehicle. Some manufacturers suggest coolant should last the vehicle’s first 100,000 miles, however checking the “specific gravity” of the coolant during regular maintenance visits is a method of verifying coolant strength for prevention of freezing. Other tests can be done to verify the strength of corrosion resistance, which, when low, can be damaging to the cooling system components.