HOUSTON – Houston is a commuter city where many families rely on cars, so making sure your vehicle is in prime condition ahead of winter weather is key to staying safe on the roads.
Professional Auto Care has been serving the Houston community for 40 years. They tell KRPC 2 when winter weather hits, they see an influx of cars rolling into the auto shop for repairs and maintenance. Owner Karolena Serratos says she wants to help people learn how to take care of their cars so they can be proactive to avoid car issues. Serratos suggests checking four things before temperatures fall into the twenties Monday night.
First on the list is tires. Professional Auto Care recommends checking tire pressure and filling tires to the proper pressure to avoid having a deflated or flat tire.
Second is the battery, without it, your car will not start.
“The cold weather puts a lot of stress on your battery, so you want to make sure it has enough juice before the cold weather gets here,” Serratos said.
Coming in third is something many of us don’t think of, checking the engine cooling system coolant temperature.
Serratos says this is critical to the car’s functioning.
“So, the engine cooling system’s job is to absorb heat and dissipate it for the engine and how it does that is it has coolant that circulates. If the freezing point is not correct and you have coolants becoming frozen, you can have a blockage, or something can crack,” Serratos said.
Last on the list is simple and easy to check, windshield wiper fluid. If you currently have it filled with water, you want to swap that out for windshield wiper fluid that can withstand freezing temperatures. The water in the windshield wiper fluid reservoir may freeze and crack it, leaving you with a leak the next time you try to fill it up.
“You’ll have that peace of mind when that cold weather gets here that you are going to be able to get to point A to point B without one of those four things causing you grief,” Serratos said.
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