Extreme weather is the ultimate test for your vehicle

Extreme weather will test our vehicles. If there is a weakness, excessively hot or cold weather may bring that weakness to the forefront. Belts and hoses that are on the brink, radiators and coolant/antifreeze that are no longer operating at their peak performance, engine thermostats that are stuck: these are just a few of the issues that may float below the surface on days when the weather is mild. But, when the thermometer approaches, or passes, 100-degrees, they are pushed over the edge.

You’ll see evidence of these problems on the side of the road – hoods up, possibly with steam rising from the engine. Of course, that assumes it isn’t your vehicle that cracks under the stress of weather extremes, in which case it may be your hood that is up. When it’s 100 degrees outside, that’s not a good time to find yourself stuck somewhere with no relief from the heat.

As bad or worse than finding yourself stuck somewhere is the potential costs associated with these problems. The costs can go well beyond towing and simple repairs.

Take, for instance, what happens when a radiator hose bursts. For a while, you may drive along oblivious to the problem. You may notice the smell of escaping coolant. Eventually, if it is working correctly, the temperature light will come on in your dashboard. If you don’t pull over then on your own, the car may decide to pull over. The engine may stammer to a stop.

When the engine balks, that’s a very bad sign. Hopefully, it’s not a catastrophic event where an engine seizes and begs for replacement. However, even if you’re fortunate enough that your engine survives to run another day the level of damage to the engine is excessive. You may find that the occurrence has taken miles out of the life of your engine. It may not run as well and may even suffer lower performance in terms of gas mileage.

The key, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, is an ounce of prevention. You don’t have to wait until the heat tears the heart out of your vehicle.

Ask yourself a few key questions:

When did you last have the oil changed (if the oil is old and dirty, overheating will cause more damage quicker)?

Have you had your belts and hoses checked recently?

Is your coolant up to snuff?

Is your thermostat operating at prescribed temperatures? The thermostat is designed to open at a certain temperature so the coolant will run through the radiator. If it remains closed too long, the engine overheats.

These are the basic questions to consider. However, it doesn’t hurt to consider other issues, as well. When did you last have the engine tuned? Are the tires in good shape and at the proper air pressure (be sure you don’t check the air pressure when the tires are hot – after driving any appreciable time – this will affect the air pressure reading)?

While you can perform checks on some of these issues yourself, you may want to bring your vehicle to a certified auto repair specialist, such as those at Performance Unlimited in Ringwood. In the industrial park west of Route 31 between McHenry and Richmond, the auto repair specialists at Performance Unlimited are experts at keeping your car in optimal operating performance.

For more information, call Performance Unlimited at 815-728-5040 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

October 20 Hootenanny will benefit veterans with PTSD

Been to a Hootenanny lately? When you read that question did you ask, “What?” Well, if you have gone to a Hootenanny in a while, or if you don’t know what a hootenanny is, we have an event for Oct. 20 that will clear up either question. From 6 p.m. to Midnight, Saturday, Oct. 20, MC3, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group, is helping to host an inaugural Veterans R&R Wild Horse Hootenanny at Beyond Stable Farm (11129 Rte. 176, Woodstock). The event will benefit Veterans R&R Operation Wild Horse. Operation Wild Horse serves veterans with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Working with the horses has proven to have an incredibly calming effect on the veterans. And, it’s good for the horses, too, rescued wild mustangs. This means that the hootenanny is for a very good cause. But, it’s also a lot of fun. So, what is a hootenanny? According to a Google search, a hootenanny is “an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.” The V...

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