WATER IN YOUR FUEL?
Water is not a combustible substance. Therefore, your gas tank is the last place you want water to accumulate. Have you ever had your car run sluggish or feel a drop in power when your gas tank gets low during the winter. This is because the constant change of temperature creates moisture. This moisture collects as water in your fuel tank. Then, when the water is sent down your fuel line and into your engine, it cannot combust. This creates strain on your engine and clearly reduces fuel economy. Too much water in your gas can stop the engine from running altogether. So what can we do to keep water out of our tanks and increase fuel economy? Well, here are a couple of tips to consider this winter:
1. Try to keep your tank as full as possible consistently. This reduces the amount of room that moisture can form/gather and ultimately reduce the volume of water in your fuel. In addition, this will keep any water from freezing in your fuel pump in colder temperatures.
2. Keep a bottle of Gasoline antifreeze, ie Heet, in your car. These products actually remove water from your fuel and can be the difference in actually getting your car home or calling a service.
3. Have one of our professionals at Complete Auto Maintenance Centers provide a Fuel System Flush. This assures your vehicle will run smooth all winter and drastically reduce the chances of getting stranded this winter.
WASHER FLUID
Have you ever been stuck in traffic, especially on the freeway, where the car in front of you is constantly throwing salt and slush on to your windshield? Even worse, when the sun comes out and you are still getting drops of water from the car in front of you, but when you use your windshield wipers all it does is smear the salt on your windshield; making it harder to see. This is not the time to run out of windshield washer fluid. It is not uncommon for us to go through more than 3 gallons of washer fluid in a harsh Michigan winter. Come into any one of our local Complete Auto Maintenance Centers and Top-Off your washer fluid as part of our standard oil change services. It is also helpful to keep a gallon in your trunk if you use a lot… which is hard not to do in traditional Michigan winters.
SURVIVAL KIT / WINTER KIT
A survival kit, stored in you trunk, filled with the essentials can, well…, help you survive. Getting stranded is no picnic; I am sure we can all agree on that. But, getting stranded where there is little traffic to lend a helping hand can be life threatening. In some cases, having a survival kit can be the difference between life and death. Here are a few items you should have packed in your survival kit this year.
1. Blanket(s)
2. Flashlight
3. Batteries
4. Jumper cables
5. Tool box
6. Road Flares
7. Hat, scarf, gloves
8. Food snack (granola bar, etc.)
9. A knife
10. While
11. Cordless flashing light.
12. Portable battery backup (for cell phones, etc)