Here in britain, we may experienced a very warm summer and then up to now, a light autumn. But winter car faults are simply nearby, waiting to plague our motors and hinder our best-laid plans.
Every year at Green Flag we have seen a rise call outs when the weather gets colder. And it’s always the common suspects. However if you take action now, you can be sure to plus your car are positioned for winter’s worst. Here’s four popular faults and solutions for these people.
Winter car faults 1: Non-start, fuel flooded
I’ve talked about this fuel flooding fault before as it is something we’re seeing increasingly. It generally works with cars with small capacity petrol engines. The usual scenario is the car begins, moved a short distance, then turned off. If your owner starts back to it a few momemts later, the motor car won’t start.
As the next wind storm gets colder, occurrences of your fault increase by 360 % so it will be a major problem. The motors most affected could be the country’s best-selling small cars, models like the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo, Vauxhall Corsa, Nissan Micra and Toyota Yaris.
Solution: The rationale this happens is always that the car’s clever electronics know it’s cold so ease starting by helping the fuel-to-air mixture injected within the engine. Whenever you stay away from the engine, there’s nowhere for that extra unburnt fuel to visit. Seek to restart the engine also it won’t fire as it’s flooded with fuel.
If your car or truck suffers this concern, when you call your breakdown service, try these. Push the accelerator pedal to the floor and turn the engine over for five to 10-seconds. Then release the throttle and continue to start getting normal. It should fire. Whether or not this doesn’t try it again. Just do not try often you might flatten electric battery or damage the starter motor.
Winter car faults 2: Battery
The battery is actually a some weakness of any car and then we see failures increase by above 60 % during the first real cold spell of winter season. The reason why this really is excessive is usually that during summer the liquid in batteries can dry out. When you do frigid weather arrives requiring an assortment to grant out more charge, electric battery isn’t around the task.
Solution: Batteries most often have your life span of around 5 years. Once you learn yours isn’t within the first flush of youth, it’s worth which has a full battery, starting and charging system check. If your battery merely borderline pass, it can more than likely fail through the winter and so do have it replaced.
Winter car faults 3: Engine coolant
Having coolant checked much like the weather’s getting cooler seems slightly barmy yet it’s vital. Engine coolant consist of water and anti-freeze. It’s actually a sealed system but leaks do happen. As well as ability of anti-freeze to accomplish its job – stay away from the engine’s waterways freezing in iced weather – does diminish in time.
Solution: It’s easy to make sure the quality of fluid is true. You simply be sure it’s regarding the minimum and maximum marks. A garage can check the concentration of anti-freeze and make certain you may have enough to help you get via the winter.
Winter car faults 4: Wash/wipe system
We go to the 175 % surge in wiper and washer related faults in the winter months. Obviously your car or truck works fine with faulty wipers. And you simply cannot see out properly that is a danger for your requirements and other motorists. Many drivers also view screen wash as an optional extra where it needs to be standard on every car.
Solution: High class screen wash inside the right concentration doesn’t just assistance to clean the screen, what’s more, it prevents the washer system from freezing during abnormally cold weather. You are able to the wipers yourself too. We show you how here. It is reasonably: anything you do operates your finger along them.
