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winter tips that help me out
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Posted by vtsnaab [Email] (#26) [Profile/Gallery] (more from vtsnaab) on Thu, 3 Jan 2008 03:33:48 Share Post by Email
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Hi Folks.
There are some things which I find to be a bit much despite my eternal
love of winter - a frozen car is no joy to me !

In the interest of having a car which opens and runs despite the
encroachment of ice there are a few things I do that actually help.
Please add to this list and share if you've found even better ways !

Doors vs. ice:

I use some silicone grease on the door seals to keep the seals from
freezing solidly to the metal and keeping the doors from opening.

It is possible to drill a 1/8" hole 1 - 1 1/2" above the latch on
the side of the door so a snorkel tube may get in - then spray the
inside mechanism thoroughly with motorcycle chain lube (moly lube)
to prevent the mechanism from freezing and becoming immobile.

A good silicone lube used to saturate the door locks before winter
is the best way to keep the door locks usuable in a deep freeze.
(I use Sili-Kroil in ample amounts and it works well.)

Glass things:
Here in Vermont the sand that is used seems to have a large proportion
of pea gravel added to it for some reason, this stuff is just death to
windshields and lights - and my car usually collects at least one big
'star' each winter and none in warmer weather; headlamps also seem to
collect bruises and breaks in winter.

If your windshield has a 'star' and you'd like to keep it from turning
into a long crack, one possible help is some stuff called 'hard as
nails', and it is about 3 bucks at the usual cosmetic aisle in stores
wherever the nail polish type stuff is sold.
It has to be applied to a water-free surface so if you clean before
hand use alcohol or make sure it is 100% dry before application.
The stuff is not terribly viscous and goes one well in colder weather
very easily, and withstands winter wiper action/washer solvent quite
well - just make sure you get it right into the damaged area and also
make a margin around it so no moisture can enter any tiny radial
cracks and expand and/or freeze, which is one source of long cracks.
It will eventually wear thin and can easily be re-applied.

Common, clear packaging tape works wonders to keep water out of any
small holes in headlight lenses - and if you have a cracked lens as
my car does, then it is great to cover the whole lens in it.
This has the added benefit of repelling some ice, snow and dirt so
they need washing less often to remain bright on cruddy roads.

Frigid day warm up:
In these days of high gas prices it is costly to run a car for 20
minutes on a zero-ish day to warm up the interior and windows.

A more energy efficient/lower cost way to do it is to place a small
ceramic type indoor heater in the car and run a good, heavy extension
cord right through the door to a place you can simply plug it in an
hour before leaving, or connect it to a lamp timer switch if you'd
like it automated.
This will actually make the interior quite comfortable even in frigid
weather and soften snow/ice on the glass making it easy to clear and
pleasant to drive away in at a lower cost than using gasoline to do it
and without the engine idling wear that anti warm up folks growl about.

I perch mine on the center console and coil the cord into the back
footwell for use at home or at work and it is a pleasure to me.

There, I may have another one or 2, but that's what I remember right
now.

Best Wishes !

mark
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