Keeping Your Car Safe From The Bitter Cold
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Cold weather can be tough on your vehicle, but there are some simple steps you can do before hitting the road that will keep your car running and help keep you safe.
When temperatures dip dangerously low, Robert Sinclair with AAA New York says drivers should check their tire pressure and have extra anti-freeze and oil on hand.
"On a normal winter day at AAA New York, we might get 100 to 150 calls per hour," he said. "On a day like this, we'd anticipate there could be as much as 600, 700 or 800 calls per hour."
Sinclair says drivers should have a full tank of gas and emergency supplies on hand in case you get stranded.
"If the engine isn't running, a vehicle is 95 percent metal, and it's going to be very quickly at the same temperature as the outside air," Sinclair said. "So it's important to keep a blanket, a warm scarf, gloves, hat."
Jonathan Venusti of Venusti auto body in Mahwah was gearing up for what he expected would be a busy morning.
"A lot of people, when it's so cold, they have a problem with their car starting or just running in general," he said. "Even our trucks themselves, they can get so cold that the diesel fuel will gel up and you have to put additive in it to make it thinner."
Venusti is using engine heaters for his entire fleet of tow trucks, but most drivers don't have that luxury.
Sinclair says your car's battery loses about 60 percent of its power when the mercury gets close to zero.
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