Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 19/01) - Keeping your car warm running smoothly in winter requires advanced action.

Many vehicle owners ignore the nagging symptoms of squeaks and strange squawks telling them something is wrong with their car.

Jon Stevens gets cars ready for winter at Kingland Ford in Yellowknife. - Merle Robillard/NNSL photo

Paying attention to warning signs and fixing problems early will save you money in the long run, according to the Automotive Industries Association of Canada.

This means checking the engine for frayed or loose belts and hoses, and the connections in your battery. Sometimes, a battery is fine but its connections are corroded.

These days, dealerships can perform tests to find defects in batteries, which otherwise may not show up until the cold weather hits.

In extreme cold, a battery can lose more than half its cranking power. "But if a vehicle is in good operating condition, it shouldn't have to crank that long anyway," said Garry Doering, service manager at Kingland Ford in Yellowknife.

Doering said battery blanket warmers, which are little pads that sit underneath a battery and generate about 60 watts, can help maintain battery temperature.

At the first sign of winter, car owners should also switch to synthetic oil.

Oil lubricates your car, protects your engine, cleans out dirt and combustion byproducts. But, over time, oil loses its ability to flow.

The problem gets worse in winter if you don't use synthetic oil.

Doering said Kingland Ford conducted a test to see how regular engine oil stacks up against synthetic oil. Employees placed the oils outside overnight at -40 C.

"In the morning, we couldn't even get the regular engine oil out of the bottle," he said.

Block heaters, remote starters

Consistently plugging in your car is crucial, even if you think it is unnecessary.

Doering sometimes overhears customers bragging about starting cars, without a block heater, in freezing cold temperatures.

"It's great that it started," says Doering. "But how much damage has that done to the engine?"

Kingland Ford now orders all vehicles with block heaters and covers remote starters under warranty.

Remote starters allow you to start a vehicle from the comfort of home. "Vehicles warmed up for 15 minutes before you start driving see less repairs," he said. "It (a remote starter) benefits the longevity of the vehicle." Small interior car heaters are also popular with customers, but Doering advises against them.

He said people switch on electric heaters and then drive away too quickly.

"The vehicle gets warm, but the engine and transmission stay ice cold," he said. "That's extremely hard on a vehicle."

Debate over winter tires

Steve Dupuis, service advisor at Yellowknife Chrysler Ltd., believes winter tires work better than all-season tires. "The roads are very slippery up here," he said. "I'd go with a winter tire."

Others believe that winter tires are unnecessary, even in the North. Years ago, rubber tires slid across ice and snow like hockey pucks, said Doering.

But the new styles of all-season tires provide better traction.

Under-inflated tires do cause problems. Each time the temperature drops by 50 C, tire pressure decreases by one pound. And, according to the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, under-inflated tires increase gas costs by five per cent and cut a tire's lifespan by 25 per cent.

Frank Phillips, owner of Target North Services in Fort Smith, agrees.

"Tires should be up to at least 35 pounds of pressure," he said.

"All-season tires are fine," he said. "Once you learn how to drive in the winter, it's not a problem."