Winter is hitting the Quad Cities hard this year. James Lyon, Automotive/Diesel Technology Instructor at Scott Community gave us some great tips for your automobile this winter.

1. Does your window not want to roll down so you can get your drive through breakfast and/or coffee due to ice on the window? Something you can do is when you’re going to park your vehicle, just bump the window down a little where you can’t see it open but not all the way up to the stop. If you do this I would say 80% of the time you will be able to break the window from the ice when you raise the window up to the full closed position and then you can roll it down to get your drive through and/or coffee.
2. To warm your vehicle up faster, turn the blower down 1 speed from high. This prevents the engine coolant from getting cooled down from the interior cold and you will get warmer air as you drive also. This also works for your Air Conditioning in the summer too……but colder air, not warm air!
3. If your key lock gets frozen and you can’t get your key into the door lock or can’t turn the key? Try blowing your hot breath onto the metal part and try with moderate pressure. You can also wipe the key and place the metal part in your mouth and heat it up, and try again. I know this sounds bad but service calls can cost up to if not more $100.00.
4. Also be aware that tire air pressures can be reduced by 5-10 lbs. due to the extreme cold.  If it is too cold out and you add air you can freeze the valve open and you will end up with a flat down the road. Tires inflated to recommended pressures will give you better traction than tires with low pressures.

For more information about Scott Community College’s Automotive Technology program visit eicc.edu/autotech, or watch the video.