As cold weather sets in, Milex Complete Auto Care recommends stocking your car with an emergency kit to keep you safe if you encounter car trouble. The return of La Niña for the third consecutive year is expected to bring mild temperatures in the southeastern part of the United States and stormier weather in the north. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association forecasts below-normal temperatures from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the western Great Lakes and the Alaska Panhandle, and wetter-than-average conditions for areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies, and Pacific Northwest. Winter Weather Affects Cars With a stormy winter on the horizon, drivers need to prepare for cold temperatures. Winter weather can do a number on your vehicle. When the temperature falls, the fluids in your car can thicken and hamper performance. Fluctuatin ... read more

Even if you don’t live in an area prone to snowfall, experts at Milex Complete Auto Care advise drivers to take some simple steps to prepare their car for dangerous icy roads.   Driving during heavy snowfall is problematic, but automobile experts agree that sleet and freezing rain can be more hazardous for drivers. While most of the United States does not record measurable snowfall, many states are susceptible to freezing rain and sleet. This is especially common in areas in the southeast where the coldest temperatures hover around the freezing mark.  That produces more icy conditions that significant snowfall.   Freezing rain is a dangerous weather condition. It can create black ice, a clear coating of ice on the roadways that is invisible to drivers. While snow plows can clear the roads of fluffy white snow, the only solution for black ice is to wait until temperatures warm up and melt the ice away. Freezing ra ... read more

Getting into the Groove with Winter Tires When purchasing new tires for your vehicle, it may be very tempting to just buy a set of quality all-season tires. Surely, they’ll work in all conditions, right? They literally have all-season in the name! What you might not realize, is that depending on where you live, owning two full sets of tires, both an “all-season” set, and a set of “winter” tires, may be very beneficial for your vehicle in the long run. What are Winter Tires? How do they Differ from All-Season Tires? There are several key differences between a winter tire and an all-season tire, the first of which is the rubber compound that the tire is made. As winter temperatures begin to dip below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the rubber in an “all-season” tire begins to stiffen, which reduces overall grip on the road. Winter tires are made of a different rubber which can withstand colder temperatures, maintai ... read more

The Effects Freezing Temperatures Have on Your Car’s Fluids Depending on the area of the country in which you live, winter weather and frigid temperatures have the potential to wreak havoc on your vehicle. We often think about the dangers of snow and ice on the road or any problems of starting the car in the cold.  But people don’t always consider the impact freezing temperatures have on their vehicle’s fluids. Here is some information to know about your car’s fluids and what to monitor during the coldest points of the winter. Regular Gasoline Fortunately, with gasoline, there’s an extremely high probability that your tank will not freeze solid. Due to its chemical makeup, gasoline has a significantly lower freezing point than water. Different fuels have different chemical balances, but the estimated point of freezing for gasoline is approximately  ... read more

Preparing Cars for Winter WeatherIf You Haven’t Done So Yet, It’s Time to Prepare Your Car for Winter We have finally reached the point on the calendar in which it is winter, although depending on where you live in the country, it may feel like it’s the middle of winter. Winter has only just begun, and so we thought it might be a good time to remind everyone of some tips that may help you keep your car safer when you’re driving in the snow and ice. Remove snow and ice from your car before driving. Maybe it isn’t practical to get it all off, but you should make an effort to not drive what looks to other people like a giant snowball. After all, that snow and ice will come off, and it could come sloshing down your windows, making it difficult to see.  It becomes very dangerous when that snow or ice could go flying onto another car, causing another driver to swerve their vehicle. In fact ... read more

What to Do If…? Drive long enough, and unfortunately, something will go wrong. Maybe not terribly wrong, but not every trip is a smooth one. We’ve chronicled some of these situations previously in addressing what to do if you hit a pothole and “How to Protect Your Car and Stay Safe on the Road.” Here are several more “what if…” scenarios and some recommendations on what can be done in those situations. What to do if… your car overheats. If the temperature gauge light has come on and you are in heavy traffic with no immediate place to turn, you might be able to keep your car going briefly if you turn on the heat full blast. That is certainly not ideal if it the summer, but the idea is to take heat away from the en ... read more

Why Tire Rotation is So Important Have you rotated your tires lately? Even in terms of having a mental checklist of common car maintenance, remembering to get the tires rotated is not one of our first thoughts.  People will inspect their tires to make sure they are properly inflated.  They may also make sure the tread is good to make sure they have the proper traction. Tires are very important to the overall safety and performance of your car, and should be given plenty of attention. Specifically, you should be thinking about getting them rotated. By doing so, it will save you a lot of money in the long run. Why tires need to be occasionally rotated. In theory, if every road around the country was equally smooth, you might not have to rotate your tires. You could drive until they had equal amounts of wear and tear and eventually needed to be replaced. But roads have potholes, cracks and bumps. Meanwhile, some tires, simpl ... read more

As the cold weather continues to grip many areas of the country, we all wish we could speed up the winter. While that is not possible, we can slow down the affects that a brutal winter can have on your car’s battery.  If you live in a cold climate, winter is not your car battery’s friend. It is more like your car battery’s mortal enemy. Extremely cold temperatures can slow the chemical reactions that occur inside a lead acid battery, making it harder for it to function. It also doesn’t help that when your engine is extremely cold, the thing that helps it heat up faster and run better is your car battery. When the temperature drops, your odds increase of coming out to the car and starting the ignition, only to hear that dreaded sound of silence. If you want to keep your battery running properly and protect it from the bitter temperatures, you may want to try the following. First, look for the signs of a bad battery. Look for the subtle si ... read more

This winter has been dangerously cold at times, with the recent polar vortex and its subzero temperatures. So naturally, we at Moran Family of Brands have been thinking about how the elements affect your car. Over the course of a typical winter, the elements can take a toll on your car.  If we have any more bitterly cold days ahead of us, you’ll want to pay close attention for these potential problems with your car. Your battery is at risk of dying. If your car gets extremely cold, the battery could freeze. Now, the good news is that it must get extremely cold before that happens. Some experts suggest as cold as negative 76 degrees.  That said, even at 32 degrees, your battery can start having problems. Your best bet is to keep your battery connections clean and free of corrosion, and if you’re ever stuck in the house because there’s snow outside, or it’s extremely cold, you might want t ... read more

As the weather gets colder, you'll likely see your car run less efficiently, so make the most of your mileage and hit the road. From weather conditions to driving habits, these factors can add up to a big drop in mileage. Winter Is Tough on Your Vehicle Cold weather means cold engines. As the temperature outside lowers, it will affect your car and the temperature of your engine as it sits in the driveway or garage. That means when you start your car it will take longer for the engine to heat up to the optimal performance temperature. When running below optimal temperature, the engine uses fuel less efficiently. Your battery performance may also struggle in colder weather. As a result, you may find your alternator has to work harder to keep the battery charged. This means your car is not running as efficiently as it may have in warmer months. During the fall, your tire pressure light m ... read more