Is your car starting hard or not at all in these near zero or below mornings? Does your diesel gel up? We’ve been seeing temperatures near zero and below the past couple of weeks. Here at Overweg Repair, LLC, we’ve been busy with: Jump-starting vehicles because their battery is weak or dead. Pulling diesel trucks in the shop so they can warm-up because they’ve gelled-up. Here are some tips to keep you cars and trucks on the road instead of in the shop:
The cold weather can be brutal on your battery, it’s important to have a good battery for the winter. If you have had your battery for a while, there are some things you can check. The first and easiest thing is to check the posts, if there’s any white corrosion. The posts can be cleaned with a wire brush. When you put the cables back on, make sure they are on the right posts nice and tight. A battery should be tested if you start having problems with it. A mechanic can help you check and test your battery.
When it’s below freezing, leave your vehicle warm-up three or four minutes before you start driving off. That’s not only good for your battery, but its good for all the components on your car or truck. If the temperature drops below ten degrees, it’s good to leave you vehicle idle in neutral when you are warming your car or truck up. This warms-up the transmission fluid. If you have a remote start or start your vehicle, and then decide to not to go, you should leave your vehicle running awhile to recharge your battery, so the next time the vehicle is started you won’t have a weak or dead battery.
Anti-freeze is another thing to check on when it’s below zero, it could freeze. Anti-freeze should be between 30-40 degrees below zero when it’s the radiator. You can buy an anti-freeze tester at a hardware store. A mechanic can assist you checking your anti-freeze.
Diesel engines should be plugged-in over night to help them start in the morning, like gas engines. A diesel engine that will start in the morning doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t gel-up a mile down the road, unless it had number one diesel the tank. Number one diesel must be used in all diesel engines during the winter months to prevent them from gelling-up. Number one diesel won’t gel-up until forty degrees below zero, whereas number two will gel-up at twenty above zero. Even though number two diesel is about 10-15 cents cheaper than number one, running number one this winter would save you time out of the shop and money on fuel filters.
When a diesel truck is gelled-up, there are only a couple of things you can do to make it start again. Replace the fuel filters and pour some power service diesel 911 into you tanks. If you are able to get your truck pulled into a heated building or shop, and let it thaw out for a hour or two that’s a plus.
By keeping your battery clean and using number one diesel, you’ll spend more time on the road and less in the shop.
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