Winterizing my Ride

[dtufino]

Need advice on Winterizing my car.

Any ideas?

i know abou tthe winter wheels etc etc.

what else am i forgetting.

also, were can i buy the rubbers that go around the door and trunk, they are not blocking the water from getting in (the rubbers that go inside the door, and inside the trunk rim)

please help.

[Bjornboy81]

check wipers, washer fluid, an ice scraper, jumper cables, a bag of salt or sand...maybe even a flashlight and battery.

^that's more suggestion for getting ready for winter...is that what you're looking for?

As far as weatherstripping (the rubber you refer to) can be bought at a dealership or parts store. Try GMpartsdirect.com, they might have some cheap. :)

[dtufino]

Originally posted by Bjornboy81
check wipers, washer fluid, an ice scraper, jumper cables, a bag of salt or sand...maybe even a flashlight and battery.

^that's more suggestion for getting ready for winter...is that what you're looking for?

As far as weatherstripping (the rubber you refer to) can be bought at a dealership or parts store. Try GMpartsdirect.com, they might have some cheap. :)

Thank you you guys have always been great with responses... i love my GRAND AM, i was oging to sell it to buy anopther but i'm driving my baby until it cannot drive anymore.

also, i'm driving to florida on Xmas day, any suggestions? what should i bring as a percuation.

[Bjornboy81]

A plane ticket :D


seriously though, you'll only be in "bad" weather for about 8 hours or so, so you won't need to much in the way of precautions...just make sure you have enough gas...don't be running out on the side of a freeway in sub 0 temps :)

[Tommy00GT1]

Hello friends.. You know what I tried last year, and it worked great for the windshield washer fluid ? I bought a bottle of something made by Prestone, and it is an additive to be added along with your traditional (blue) windshield washer fluid/antifreeze.
Oh man, that used to bug me.... put the windshield washer on, only to have it freeze when the wipers start sweeping. Even full strength washer antifreeze would freeze, lol !
So I tried that stuff by Prestone... comes in a 16 oz bottle, I believe. It worked great; no more freezes. Even when you're going down the highway at 65 m.p.h. and hit your washers; no freezes !!!!
The way I did mine here was to fill up my reservoir with full strength (blue; or whatever..)windshield washer antifreeze, then leave just enough room for half a bottle of that Prestone. Really worked great...even at 6 degrees below zero.
Probably our friends up north of the border already know about the Prestone stuff, as it is very cold up in Canada. But thought I'd mention it here in case it helps anyone else.

Take care everyone.....
Tommy

EDIT >> I forgot something.... I also use dry gas if it is going to get very cold. I don't use the methanol kind though; I always use the isopropyl alcohol kind. Someone told me that the isopropyl was better than methanol....:D

[MantaGreen97]

^ The Prestone stuff is called Windsheild HEAT or something IIRC. Prestone has a few products with the "HEAT" name on them, including ice melter (Calcium Chloride) which they call "Driveway HEAT"...

The stuff you put in the windshield fluid, I've never tried it but I'm pretty sure it would just be straight alcohol, probably isopropanol. It could be something else, but I can't imagine what it would be. The reason that the windsheild fluid freezes is because although it has enough alcohol to not freeze while there is a lot of it (like in the bottle), when it is spread on the windshield in a thin layer it can freeze much more easily.

If you just added 70 or 99% isopropanol (or similar alcohol) to the windsheild tank in similar proportions to the Prestone Heat stuff, I'm sure it would do the same. It will likely be cheaper too.

As for isopropanol being a "better" alcohol, I do think it does have a lower freezing point. If you look at even the "premium" washer fluids, they will often indicate they use isopropyl alcohol instead of whatever alcohol is usually used.

"Frostbuster" (and ice melting spray)--again the same stuff. It's just alcohol in a bottle that they sell for a hiked up price. Frostbuster even says on the bottle "with IPA" meaning Isopropyl Alcohol.

[Tommy00GT1]

Yup, that seems to ring a bell....Windshield Heat; or something very similar. It worked quite well for me here, although the lowest temperature I remember it being here was minus 7 degrees. But it didn't freeze when I put the wipers on. If I use the traditional blue stuff only, it always freezes.

Take care Roland... stay warrm up there in Toronto !

Tommy

[Jon Simonzi]

Originally posted by MantaGreen97
^ The Prestone stuff is called Windsheild HEAT or something IIRC. Prestone has a few products with the "HEAT" name on them, including ice melter (Calcium Chloride) which they call "Driveway HEAT"...

The stuff you put in the windshield fluid, I've never tried it but I'm pretty sure it would just be straight alcohol, probably isopropanol. It could be something else, but I can't imagine what it would be. The reason that the windsheild fluid freezes is because although it has enough alcohol to not freeze while there is a lot of it (like in the bottle), when it is spread on the windshield in a thin layer it can freeze much more easily.

If you just added 70 or 99% isopropanol (or similar alcohol) to the windsheild tank in similar proportions to the Prestone Heat stuff, I'm sure it would do the same. It will likely be cheaper too.

As for isopropanol being a "better" alcohol, I do think it does have a lower freezing point. If you look at even the "premium" washer fluids, they will often indicate they use isopropyl alcohol instead of whatever alcohol is usually used.

"Frostbuster" (and ice melting spray)--again the same stuff. It's just alcohol in a bottle that they sell for a hiked up price. Frostbuster even says on the bottle "with IPA" meaning Isopropyl Alcohol.

when i was reading his post the first thing that popped in my head was "what doesnt freeze? when i have vodka in my freezer it never freezes"

hahaha