Spring has arrived in McHenry County, officially, anyhow

Enjoy, but have your car checked out, too

The warmer weather, these last few days, may give you the feeling that the winter of 2016-17 is about over. Actually, there’s additional evidence, and far more concrete; as of Monday, Mar. 30, 2017, winter officially ended.

This doesn’t mean that we won’t have any additional snowfall. It doesn’t mean the temperature won’t drop precipitously into even single-digits. But, it does mean that winter is on its way out. You may not want to put your winter coat, hat, gloves and boots in the attic just yet. And, it’s not a bad idea to keep the ice scraper handy, for a little longer, in case your car’s windows and windshield are covered with frost and ice some morning soon. But …

You can start thinking warm thoughts with the expectation that Mother Nature will cooperate. If it does turn cold and snow, don’t worry, it will soon pass. This winter, though not the worst winter on the books, is tired and ready to hibernate until it returns as the winter of 2017-18, not that we want to think about that yet.

We do want to think about baseball, picnics, outdoor barbeques and festivals; taking the dog for walks without having to bundle up first. Soon, the robins will arrive, buds will show on the branches of trees and buds will poke their little heads out of the ground with the promise of flowers in the garden.

While you enjoy the warmer weather, don’t forget to have the car checked out

Winter, even the milder version we experienced the last few months, is hard on a car. By now, you may be thinking about giving that car a bath. That’s a nice idea – wash away the last vestiges of the snow, road salt and dirt. But, you want to do more than clean the car.

You’ll also want to have the car’s suspension checked – the steering, shocks, struts and such. These parts take a beating even in the mildest winter. It doesn’t hurt to have a qualified auto repair technician take a look and make sure they’re still in good shape and, above all, safe.

You don’t have to make a special trip to check your car to see how it did this winter. If you’re changing your oil on schedule, the next time you bring the car in for an oil change, as if they can give the car a good post-winter going over.

Some of the better auto repair shops will look your car over thoroughly whenever they do an oil change. But, it doesn’t hurt to ask, just in case they weren’t thinking about it.

Comments

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...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog