Keeping Your Engine Warm in the Winter

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Nothing like rolling out of bed on a freezing morning, layering up to go outside, picking your way across an ice-filled parking lot, and then finding that your car won’t start because it doesn’t like the cold very much either. While your car has features like an intake air heater that keep the engine warm and happy while it’s driving through the frigid outdoors, a parked car needs a little love and care if it’s going to get started on a winter morning.

Park Indoors If You Can

Apartment-dwellers may not have a way to put a roof over their cars’ head, but if you do have an option, keep your auto and its engine in as warm a spot as possible. A carport is better than outdoor space, and an indoor garage is better than an outdoor slab of asphalt. It may be worth paying for a spot in a parking garage for the winter months if it means you’ll never be stranded by a non-starting vehicle.

Tuck Your Car In

If your car does have to weather the winter nights outdoors, you can still provide some warmth with items like an engine warming blanket, block heater, or battery heater. Of course, you’ll need to have a plug nearby. And you’ll want to make sure that you’re getting something that’s safe for this specific use.

Warm Up Before Bed

The fluids in your car’s engine, battery, and gas lines can freeze on a below-zero night. One way to give them a shorter amount of time to set is to venture outside yourself before bedtime, start your car, and run it for a little while just to get everything warmed up and melted.

With a few mildly costly and inconvenient precautions, you can keep your transportation going in those cold winter months. Warmer days will be here soon enough, and then you’ll just have to worry about overheating.

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