Which Car Parts Are Most Vulnerable to Winter Weather?
We’re quite lucky in the UK. As much as most of us love the occasional heavy dumping of snow, our weather is fairly inoffensive in winter. We get storms, but not on the scale of the US. It’s cold, but not like much of Europe. And icy roads only occur for a few weeks a year. As for the rain and wind, well, we’re kind of used to those things. But that doesn’t mean that our cars are impervious to potential weather-related risks. In fact, some car parts can be pretty vulnerable to damage as the cold weather creeps in. So, what do you need to be aware of?
The Top 5 Car Parts at Risk of Winter Weather Damage
Car batteries
Think back to all the times that you’ve experienced car battery trouble. We’re willing to bet that 75% of the time, it’s been in winter. The colder it gets, the harder car batteries have to work to do their job. And that makes failure considerably more likely. So, if your battery is getting a bit long in the tooth, now is a good time to make that pre-emptive strike, and order your replacement battery.
Windscreen wipers
We’ve all been there. Cold, dark mornings. Late for work. There’s been a frost in the night, and you simply can’t be bothered scrape the ice off by hand. You know that pouring hot water on your windscreen is a stupidly dangerous thing to do, so you decide to let your wiper blades handle it. Big mistake. Windscreen wipers weren’t intended to handle ice. In fact, scraping over ice can damage the surface of the blades and make them ineffective for their proper use later. Far better to use de-icer!
Brake parts
Grit and salt might be invaluable for preventing our roads from turning into ice rinks in the depths of winter. But too much exposure can cause damage to your brakes. Highly corrosive, the salt has the potential to damage your brake pads, rotas, shoes, callipers, hoses, and lines. And when the roads are slick, whether with ice or rain, you need your brakes to be up to the job.
Wheel wells
Similarly, wheel wells are at risk of damage from road salt. Corrosion can weaken your wheel wells, and the other metal parts around your wheels and undercarriage, making them unfit for purpose.
Spark plugs
Colder weather always increases electrical resistance. This means that older vehicles can be slower to start in winter. But the winter weather can also lead to the corrosion of your spark plugs. But being one of the cheapest car parts available, this isn’t too much to worry about!
Driving in winter in the UK is considerably easier than many other parts of the world. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t bring problems, or that you shouldn’t take precautions. By giving your car the once-over now, and troubleshooting before winter truly arrives, you could save yourself considerable drama and expense a few weeks down the road.
If you’re looking for high-quality, low-cost car parts on the UK, get in touch with Online Automotive.
