Tips for keeping your vehicle in shape during the chilly Saskatchewan winters

On those cold, frosty, icy winter mornings, it can be challenging to start up your vehicle and with cold temperatures continuing, there are a few things to know about your vehicle in the winter.

Regina Automotive Warehouse says the best thing you can do is make sure your vehicle is plugged in overnight as the first thing to go is the battery. When the temperature gets anything below around -20 to -25 C is a good time to plug in.

“If you’re lucky enough that it does start all the hydraulics, like everything’s hydraulic — the power steering pump, the transmission, all that stuff is hydraulic. And those pumps are just working, trying to push a fluid that’s like syrup through the system. So it’s really tough on them, for sure,” Rodney Finnie manager at Regina Automative Warehouse said.

Finnie says monitoring your battery’s charge is important as the battery could have enough juice for one start but not another.

Finnie said it is a good idea to let the engines warm up.

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“Don’t just jump in it and go, that is the worst thing you can do.”

When you start the vehicle up in the morning, let it run rather than quickly driving away as fluids work their way through the engine.

Finnie recommends not running your car through the day unless it is for a long period of time as it drains the battery.

Finnie said that starting your engines the night before does not do any good for your vehicle.

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“You’re pulling power away from the battery for the next start,” he said.

“It actually is detrimental because it’s pulling power out of the battery and if you don’t let it run for 15, 20 minutes, half an hour afterwards, then the battery never does get fully charged again. So it’s actually less power in that battery.”

Lastly, he said people should make sure to get their vehicle checked out in the fall, including oil changes, battery tests, block heaters and tune-ups.