Preparingforwinter

Preparing For

Winter

Your Heart, your Car, your

home

8) Your Emergency Kit

Stock it up and keep it in your car. The AAA suggests a kit should

include flashlight, flares, first-aid kit, blanket, warm clothes,

gloves, hat, paper towel, snow shovel, snow brush, ice scraper,

washer fluid and extra food & water. Kitty liter is helpful too –

poured under tires, it can provide traction if your car gets stuck.

Don’t forget your cell phone if you have one!

1 ) Your Battery

Look at the connections and make sure they’re tight and corrosion-free and

cables aren’t loose. Also, check the water level by taking off the caps on

top of the battery and making sure they are full.

4) Your

5) Your Brakes,

Interior

hoses, belts

• Check your floor for • Push and pull, up and down not side to side, on engine

belts and squeeze hoses. Belts giving more than one inch

cracks and holes so under finger pressure might need adjustment. At any sign

of cracking or fraying of either, have it replaced.

carbon monoxide and • As for hoses, look for loose connections, unusual bulges,

other fumes don’t cracks, tears and holes.

seep in. • To check your brakes: while only going 5-10 miles per hour

push on your brakes and make sure they firmly “grab”

quickly and are not “squishy.” Check to see if your brake

fluid is full.

2) Your Fluids 3) Your Visibility

They advise you get a thorough Top off your window

check of your vehicle’s vital washer fluid with no-

fluids (oil, coolant, brake fluid, freeze fluid. Test your

heater as well.

power steering, & trans. fluid)

and tires. Brake fluid and clutch

fluid should be topped off

6) Your Tires

• A tire inflated at 32 lbs. Per sq. inch (psi) on a warm 70 degree

day will register at an under-inflated 26 psi in freezing weather.

Make a point to monitor your tire pressure about 2x a month in

the cold months. And don’t forget to check your spare. Studded

tires are good for hard-packed snow and ice but reduce traction

on dry roads. Treading is critical to controlling a car at all times.

Check tread depth with the “Lincoln head penny test:” Insert a

penny in between the tread blocks, making sure that Pres.

Lincoln’s head goes in first; if the tread doesn’t reach the top of

his head, the car needs new tires.

7) Your Tune-up Time?

• Check your manual to see if you are due soon and get it done

before the busy winter season.

• (spark plugs, ignition coil, fuel-injection, and other emission

control equipment, brake linings or pads and general

lubrication.)

• Put at least one coat of wax on the exterior of your vehicle.

Not only will it protect your paint in winter, it can help snow

and ice slide off more easily.

• Some auto experts advise spraying lubricants (WD-40 or

Graphite) in all door and trunk locks to keep them from

freezing.

Your Heart

• Take advantage of activities

and opportunities to do things.

• Encourage others to get out.

• Call a loved one you haven’t

spoken to in a while.

• Take time to relax and watch

good Christmas movies

• Count your blessings and your

growth from this year.

• List the many things you are

hoping for and expecting to

come or happen in the days

ahead.

Your Home

• Rearrange and decorate your

room for the season.

• Have some potpourri or air

fresheners that smell like

scents of Christmas around.

• Go shopping for Christmas

gifts, wrap’em up and place

them in a pile with anticipation

of their giving.

• Put on some music to lift up the

mood – get into the mood of

Christmas Time.