The cold season is almost here and unfortunately a large number of vehicles cannot be used at their full capacity when it gets cold outside and the roads get snowy, icy, or salty. To avoid having to send your cars into hibernation mode over the winter and risk confronting with more problems in the spring, you can try some useful tricks that should prepare your car for the winter.

Prepare Your Engine For The Cold

An engine that is improperly ready to handle cold weather and low temperatures will suffer expensive damage even if the car will be just sit with fuel in it. Getting your car ready for a winter slumber should start with your fuel system. Modern-day fuels that contain large quantities of ethanol tend to break at a faster rate when fuel is being left in the tank. Because of the gummy deposits that will eventually clog the fuel system, you will be facing a lot of headache, specially if you are looking at a carbureted engine under the hood. To make sure your engine doesn’t suffer from severe fuel breakdown, do the following:

• Drain the fuel system. This is a rather classic way of protecting the fuel system; all you need to do is eliminate the gas out of the fuel tank, pumps, carbs and injection components. Draining the fuel lines comes next and it can be easily done by disconnecting the tank, carburetor, and fuel pump lines and letting the natural force of gravity drain the fuel from the lines.
• In case of fuel injected engines, the draining process is more complex and it requires you to first handle the draining of the fuel tank, followed by the primary pump.
• Run the fuel system dry. This is one of the best ways of maintaining the engine during the winter. As winter draws nearer, you will need to let the fuel level run low so your tank is not full. Let the engine run and pull the plug on the injection pump so you can let the engine run dry ahead of the fuel tank.

Prepare Your Locks For The Winter

Always keep de-icers inside the house, and not inside the car as chances are you will wake up one morning and discover your lcoks are so frozen that you can;t even get inside the car. Before winter approaches, you should set up an appoitnemtn with a local car locksmith in your area or take your car to the mechanic’s and check the state of the locks. Rekey or fix the locks that appear not to be working as efficient as they should; a small car lock problem in the fall could turn into a small disaster during cold winter mornings with temperatures below zero. You can find locksmiths in Phoenix if you like here and set up an appoitnment at your desired time and date and have your locks and ignition and fix them if needed. Take a look at some comparative rates online and only pick the services of professional and authorized locksmiths.