Car Frozen? Don't Panic

Winter car care advice this week comes from expert, Mike Fields Fields Car Centre in Woking, Surrey.

 

Door locks frozen?

Spraying WD40 in them regularly will help prevent this.  Spray the door latch too.  Or use a lock de-icer for key entry or specialist tool.
Now with keyless cars, spray de-icer around the edge of the door.  Don't force the handles, work on them slowly using the de-icer.  Hot water is not really a good idea as it will cool very quickly and refreeze all around.

 

Frozen windows?

You may want to open your windows, but be careful, the window runner mechanism and glass can all be frozen meaning that it won't move, or like the wipers, the motor works but the mechanism stays put.  Result = broken window regulator, glass becomes unattached or worse still the glass shatters.  If you don't need to open them leave well alone!

 

Wipers frozen to the screen? 

Ok, you're in the car and turn engine on, if you have left the wipers 'on'   the night before it's trouble.

Every year we get people into the garage whose wipers no longer wipe!   Usually what has happened is they have gone to start the car with the wipers left on from the journey the night before.  The rubber wiper blades have frozen to the screen and when the motor is turned on the wipers stay put!  The linkage will work loose and even when the wiper has defrosted it won't work anyway.
A simple solution...we can just re-tighten the mechanism, but it can be worse with bent linkage and wipers. So use the de-icer to free rubber from screen and gently pull away.

 

Hope these few tips help, but really the best advice is, the scouts' motto - 'Be prepared'!

With our thanks to Mike Field of Fields Car Centre in Woking, Surrey for the advice.
Fields Car Centre have been a Good Garage Scheme member since 2010 and have a five star customer rating.