Winter is a tough time for your car in Centerville, OH. When the temperature drops and snow and ice become the norm in your area, your vehicle suffers all kinds of punishment. That often leads to a variety of car problems.

If these problems are left unchecked, you could be stranded by the side of a frigid road. To help you avoid that, here are four things that could go wrong with your car in winter so that you can get ahead of your car’s winterization needs this year.

Dead Battery

The most common problem that cars develop in winter is a dead battery. When this happens, your car won’t start. At a minimum, you’ll need someone to jump-start your vehicle so you can get it to the shop. Or if the battery’s especially worn out, you could end up waiting in the cold for a tow.

The worst part of all of this is that it’s by design. Car batteries rely on chemical reactions to generate power. Those reactions slow down in cold weather, making a battery failure far more likely in the winter.

The best solution is to have your battery inspected as part of car maintenance and winterization checklist. Most importantly, it would help to do so before the mercury drops.

Engine Oil Leaks

Although cars can develop oil leaks at any time of year, they happen most frequently in the winter. Why? It’s because the engine’s metal expands when it’s hot—like when you’re driving— and contracts when it cools down.

In the winter, there’s a bit more contraction, which may open tiny gaps between your engine’s components. As a result, you get an oil leak that wasn’t there in the summer heat.

In a way, winter oil leaks are a good thing. They may alert you to engine components and seals on the verge of failure. That allows you to have the necessary repair or maintenance before the problem gets bad enough to damage your engine.

Coolant Leaks

As odd as it sounds, your car’s coolant is essential in the cold of winter. That’s because it also contains antifreeze that keeps your engine from icing up.

Coolant leaks may happen more often in winter for the same reason oil leaks do—metal contraction. Your radiator and hose fittings can suffer damage from those forces, and it can cause coolant leaks.

The good news is the coolant comes in a variety of obvious bright colors, so you’ll notice any leaks right away. If you see a puddle of bright green or red liquid under your car, it’s likely due to a coolant leak.

If you act fast and bring your car to our shop, you can avoid letting old man winter have his way with your engine.

Failing Seals

Even though you can’t see most of them, your car relies on rubber seals to keep various liquids in and out. There are seals in your transmission. They’re in your engine. They even keep rain and snow out when you close your windows.

While seals usually work as intended, cold weather can cause rubber seals to shrink, harden, and fail. When this occurs, it can show up in fluid leaks in multiple systems. You should also know that most leaks caused by failing seals can lead to severe repairs.

If your car starts leaking and you can’t identify the fluid, you need to bring your vehicle to C’s Autohaus immediately. Doing so could save your car from catastrophic damage and you from potential harm if your vehicle fails while on the road.

Contact C’s Autohaus for Auto Winterization in Centerville, OH

If you’d like to avoid the four problems above or the countless others your car might develop in the winter, you should act now. Bring your car to C’s Autohaus for a winterization checkup. We’ll carry out whatever repair or maintenance you and your vehicle need to be ready for the cold winter.

Schedule an appointment today. Fill out this form, call us at (937) 428-6040, or drop by our shop at 1690 Thomas Paine Pkwy, Centerville, OH 45459.