Winter Care

[east6A10]

Hi, Its my first time having a car during winter and wanted to know what are the normal problems and wear and tear faced during winter.It snowed heavily last night. so Today I checked my car and saw some condensation build up in the engine, I can see theres some creamish mustard residue on the oil filler cap. Is this normal? im kinda worried because this might show that ive just blown my head gasket. Please advece coz im kinda worried here. Thats gonna burse my budget for the month. Thanks

[Seerlah]

Change your oil (and plugs if necessary) before the winter to a vicosity that is suitable for the winter. I placed in 0w30 (5w30 is also good). And not really an engine preventative, but I did a wax job on the paint before the salt trucks decide to send my vehicle a winter welcoming gift. Make sure you have your tire pressures to a nice setting (safety is good). Less for the winter. I usually run ~40psi (good gas mileage) and will go down to ~35psi (better grip in snow). Other than that, your car along with everybody else's is going to get a beating for the winter. But the Quattro does make it interesting .

[SpoolinPelican]

I usually try to spray off the underside of the car and in the wheel wells after a big snow. Well, after the salt is gona off of the roads. As for the condensation, I have never really noticed anything but it makes sense to have it. You have a motor running in operating temp above 175 then its obviously under 40 since it snowed.

Its fairly easy to take care of your car in the winter. Change oil and nice coat of wax as stated. I usually try to wash as often as it is warm enough. Oh and WATCH OUT FOR POTHOLES!

[BADB5A4]

I have the same brown stuff under my cap. Its due to the engine not reaching full op temp and should disappear after a good trip where it can get up to full temperature.

It might also be helpful to shoot some graphite into your door locks,also found it a good idea to put some treatment on the door/trunk seals like Mother Back to Black or Armor All to prevent the doors from freezing shut after washing it.

Dont know what else, maybe an anti freeze change if that hasnt been done in a while.

As far as tire pressures though, you would want to keep more pressure in for snow as that will allow them to dig down past the snow to pavement. Lower pressure keeps you floating on top. For proof look at ralley car tires, they look like bike tires compared to normal summer rubber.

[Two A's]

Yeah^^^ the less surface area a tire has in the snow the better it will get down to the pavement. for example lower tire pressure is great for sand.....flatter tire equals more surface area to grab sand with. The narrower the tire the less likely it will sit on top of the snow

[oface]

Skinny tires are better for snow driving, not really more pressure. Lowering your tire pressure is good on days that it's icy. Which is much more to worry about than a snow.

Coming from an Alaskan, make sure your antifreeze is mixed correctly, Winter weight oil, and blizzacks or studded snow tires.
And let your car warm up 10 minutes before you drive on a cold engine.