Go with luke warm water or you could crack your windshield.
It’s spring, time to forget about this winter stuff (except for spring skiing) and break out the motorcycles. (-:
…or you could just drive a correct (rear) wheel drive car and go up the hill forward. (-;
One that I’ve seen put many off the road. Never use criusecontrol on winter roads.The automatic speed control has a lead foot and will have wheels spinning,putting you out of control. Also halfway thru winter put the car battery on the trickle charger overnight.It will make your car like new. Winter driving uses lights,heater fan,wipers,rearwindow defogger.These all stress the cars electric system and the battery appreciates the help.
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Replace your battery at the end of Fall if it is 6 or more years old. This will prevent your car not starting when you are about to head to the hospital for your baby’s delivery (or other such critical travel). It also allows you to catch a battery sale and allows you more time for an intelligent choice of battery. After 6 years your battery owes you nothing.
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When going down a VERY slippery, steep hill the car should be in neutral. Those that don’t live in places with very steep hills and a severe winter climate like Ithaca, New York, can’t imagine how much better traction you get in neutral. With the car in gear, the idle speed is pushing the car forward while you are trying to restrain the car to 2 or 3 miles per hour. This causes the car to skid. If you try it once, you will quickly realize how much more control you have by putting the car in neutral in this very special situation.
there’s been several discussions on having your car in neutral going down hill, most people agree that it’s ridiculously insane to do such a thing.
I can “guarantee” that those people that say it is “ridiculously insane” have never tried it when attempting to go down an extremely slippery hill. It’s a HUGE improvement. I’ve been using it for 32 years with GREAT success on very steep hills under very slippery conditions (Ithaca, NY). The caveats are:
- Steep hill
- Very slippery conditions
- Very slow speed (i.e. creeping)
Under no other conditions should it be used.
RE: Driving away with the block heater plugged in.
I throw an old sweatshirt on the windshield when I plug the car in. When I come out to start the car later, I can’t miss that reminder that the car is plugged in.
Hey, be sure to change your Recirculating air to Fresh air flow on the heater controls. It only takes a few minutes in cold temps to steam up the windows from your breath and then it freezes leaving you driving at 40MPH in a car with Frosted Windows!! Adding some A/C to the defrosters will help clear it up faster AFTER the switch or lever is changed.
Pudgee - Chicago
This is correct! I recently found this out empirically and then verified it theoretically. I was driving my wife’s front wheel drive 1997 Toyota Corolla out of a friend’s snow covered and steep driveway when I found that I was unable to climb the incline going forward due to the drive wheels slipping. I tried perhaps 3 or 4 times but was not able to reach the apex of the incline. So then I retreated down the hill again and turned the car around. I then proceeded to back up the hill in reverse (so that the drive wheels were on the downhill side of the car) and made it out in the first shot!
When I got home I worked the problem on paper by drawing a free body diagram of a car on an inclined plane. After solving the problem symbolically, I researched the physical properties of that car, plugged in some numbers, and found that there is approximately 44% increase in weight on the downhill axle relative to the uphill axle and hence that much more traction on the downhill wheels. Brilliant!
My wife & I are long haul truckers and are out on the road for 6 weels at a time. Our Dodge Ram pick-up sits for 6 weeks at a time in the company yard. In Canada the weather cab get a tad cool at times!!! The last time we got home our Ram wouldn’t start due to a frozen gas line!! What a pain!! Hours later we got going after 4 bottles of gas line anti-freeze and 2 visits from CAA for a battery boost! SO, we now keep our tank full and conditioned with gas line anti-freeze. We also disconnect the negative battery terminal so as the battery slowly discharges the engine computer doesn’t have memory failure and forget how to idle! Visit our blog at http://11-degrees.blogspot.com
Thanks … Jo&Bill
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Keep your headlights on so the rest of us can see you (this goes double if you have a white car!). When you slow to a crawl, as you should in whiteout conditions, turn on your hazard lights (4-way blinkers), too.
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and the old standby: steer into a skid, smoothly, without jerking the wheel. Although most important for RWD vehicles, this also works with FWD, 4WD, and AWD. Those of us who grew up around frozen lakes got to practice this off the road. (But I can’t remember having to do this since I got my mini cooper with DSC.)
A winter survival kit, instant soup, candy, candles, cheap camp stove (the one?s that use sterno), a small pan to warm-up water, and melt snow to make water, matches, blankets, shovel.
And some advice, if the roads are bad stay HOME, if you are traveling and the road get bad stop as soon as possible, and check into a hotel early. There is no place you need to be that?s worth your life.
Oh I say check in early because if you wait, you might be sleeping in the lobby.
My opinions are subject to change with new facts.
Amen to staying home. Few things are worth the stress of driving in hazardous conditions.
Do only one thing at a time when the roads are bad. E.g., either brake or turn, but not both. That’s because every maneuver (braking, steering) reduces the amount of contact (grip) that your tires have on the road surface. Your car’s tires can deal with the double reduction of braking and turning when the roads are good, but when roads are icy, your tires can’t grip well enough to do two things at once. So if you have to steer around an obstacle on the road ahead, first brake, then take your foot off the brake, then turn. If you do it all at once, your wheels will lock up and you’ll slide straight into what you’re trying to avoid.
Needless to say – you have to be driving slowly enough to account for road conditions and visibility, or you won’t have time to brake then turn.
I learned that at Bridgestone winter driving school in Steamboat Springs, CO. Take what I learned and save the $450. Or spend the $450 and have a really fun and educational day learning to drive around obstacles on an ice-slicked golf course.
Driving slow is nothing to be ashamed about, but if there are more than three cars behind you, please pull off to the side to let others pass.
Here’s an article I wrote after attending a winter driving school with many “tips” in it.
http://www.nextautos.com/issue-19/when-ice-and-rubber-meet-ego-something-has-to-give
First, I used to be a devotee of the electric dipstick. For those of you unfamiliar with this device, it’s a stick that goes into the crankcase in place of the regular dipstick overnight, and an electrical cord just plugs into a socket, and Bob’s your uncle. Helps the engine start right up and keep running while you knock the ice off the windows. The only reason I don’t use it any more is that I moved into an upstairs apartment without an outlet. #$Q*@(!2!!%@#^#WE
Speaking of knocking the ice off the windows, I keep my old shower curtains - just clear ones, what I use - in the trunk and when it’s going to freeze I throw them over the car. One goes in front, held down by the wipers, one in back, held by the trunk lid, and the middle bits held by the doors. This is so cool if you’re parking outside when you go to work and you get an ice storm. Everybody else is chipping away while I whip off the shower curtains and drive away.
Dear Tom and Ray,
I lived for many years in Mt. Shasta California (@ 4000’) where blizzards are a fact of life and learned a valuable lesson that wish everyone knew: POWERED TURNS. Whenever I’m approaching an intersection where I’m about to make a sharp turn, I brake in a straight line until I’ve reached a slow enough speed (usually 10 mph) to turn safely. Then, I PUT MY FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL and make the turn with the engine powering the wheels. Works every time! On icy roads it’s fatal to coast or brake during a turn because you have no control over the vehicle.
Junius
While living in western New York among things I learned to do about November was: gather for my vehicle(s) small bag of cat litter, in plastic bag to catch litter once opened, small shovel - for throwing under tires if stuck; depending on vehicle consider investigating adding weight to vehicle for even traction; mittens with grip - for cold steering wheel; small blanket/silver insulated blanket; red scarf for aerial in case of trouble during snow storm; reflective triangles/flares & safe means to light flares; temperature-permitted application of rainex on windshield, headlites seemed to help improve ice scraping later; fill up windshield fluid/make sure the sprayer head is clear of debris and aimed correctly; battery check if not sealed battery; sometimes planned new tire purchase for now; checked maintenance for age of batteries, spark plugs, etc. and address if rather elderly parts; general under the hood visual check for engine issues - address/get addressed; a few easy-open isoprop alcohol bottles for adding to gas tank on a frequency during cold months, especially if tank falls below 1/4; DO NOT let gas tank be less than half full at end of driving day; make sure jumper cables in vehicle; got in habit of bringing nonperishable (nutritious) snack/water for longer trips; SPF for face/hands; sunglasses for glare; light lens sunglasses to darken snowstorms so you can see into the weather ahead to see trouble a little earlier; handiwipes; check spare tire air pressure; have small stash of tools/rubberize gloves in large zip lock bag - and still have room for me in the vehicle! Habits included while car warms up to clear ALL snow off roof, hood, rear window. Nothing like being behind someone who has not and all the roof snow blows onto my windshield so I can’t see and neither can they see out their rear window. Consider whether vehicle is front wheel drive/back wheel drive when parking in snow accumulation. Practice braking on snow at a school parking lot on the weekend if new to driving in snow. Pay attention to the weather reports. Add extra travel time. For trips have someone know where you are going since electronics don’t work everywhere always.