Winter Prep Service at Mountain Auto Care in Durango, Colorado.

Every year your vehicle needs to be ready for our unforgiving Colorado winter. The last thing we want is for you to be stranded out in the cold. We need our vehicles to be safe and reliable. It's a good idea to get caught up on any neglected maintenance items anytime – but the stakes are higher in the winter.

There are some specific things that we need to do to have our vehicle ready for winter. The most obvious is having the antifreeze checked. If the antifreeze protection is not set correctly it can't properly protect your engine, radiator and hoses from freezing. If your vehicle does not seem to be making enough heat to keep you warm, your antifreeze level may be low or you could have a thermostat problem. Get it checked out here at Mountain Auto Care in Durango. If you are due for a cooling system service, now is a perfect time to have it done.

In the cold months, we always worry about being able to stop in time when it's slick out. The first thing for our customers to remember is to slow down and allow plenty of room to stop. A thorough brake inspection will reveal if the pads or any other parts need replacing. Check with us to see if it is time to replace your brake fluid. It accumulates water over time which really messes with your stopping power.

It is also a good habit to have your battery tested, which we do every time you are in our shop for any reason. A battery's cranking power really drops with the temperature. If your battery is weak in the fall, it will leave you high and dry in the winter when your cold cranking amps really matter.

You should always have a blanket or something to keep you and your passengers warm if you get stranded during the winter months. If you will be leaving a populated area and venturing away from civilization, pack more items such as food and water to help you survive. Keeping at least half a tank of gas in case you get stuck and need to run the car to keep warm and it will help keep your gas lines from freezing up. We would also recommend having a small shovel in your trunk which can be a very versatile tool, a shovel can help get your vehicle out if you get stuck. Also if you do end up stranded in your vehicle you can use it to keep the tail pipe clear of any blockage so you can keep the vehicle running safely to keep you and your passengers warm. You can also attach a bright colored cloth to the top of the shovel to use as a marker for emergency workers when they try to find you.

It's a really good idea for customers to replace their wiper blades in the fall before the bad winter storms set in. Living where we get a lot of snow and ice, you might want a special winter blade that resists freezing. And be sure to have enough windshield washer fluid, and maybe a back up gallon in your trunk.

The final thing for customers to consider is their tires. Any tire can lose pressure over time – up to one pound every six or eight weeks. For every 10 degrees the temperature drops, you lose another pound of pressure. So if it was 80 degrees outside when you checked your tire pressure three months ago and now it's 40 degrees out, you could be down 5 pounds of pressure. That's enough to be a safety issue and it's also hard on your fuel economy. We recommend running special winter tires on your vehicle as well. Your Mountain Auto Care professional can suggest the right tire design for your expected road conditions.

Give us a call TODAY to schedule an appointment!

Mountain Auto Care
349 E 8th Ave
Durango, Colorado 81301
970-247-4040
www.mountainautocare.com

At Mountain Auto Care we install quality NAPA replacement parts.