Are you ready to scrape the frost, ice and snow off your car this winter?

Here are some tips to get your windshield clear and keep it clear

Now that the weather is beginning to cool off a little, those who were holding out hope to the contrary, are probably coming around to admit that another McHenry winter is approaching. That means cold, snow and ice. It means you’ll need to spend time sweeping snow, and scraping ice and frost from the windows of your car.

Actually, we are probably only weeks, or days, away from that first morning when you’ll need to break out your window scrapper. YOU DO HAVE A WINDOW SCRAPPER IN YOUR CAR?!!!

We apologize if we panicked but the thought that you might not have a window scraper ready for that first frosted-windshield morning is disconcerting. It’s not the end of the world. This time of year, you probably won’t have to heat the car too long before the defrosters have a chance to soften the frost so the wipers can sweep them away. But, until you warm up the windshield enough, you won’t get too far clearing the frost from your windshield.

You could try using your fingernails to scrape the frost away. Be prepared, however. Those little digits will get darn cold in the process.

You might think to use a substitute ice scrapper. Be careful if you decide to go down this path. For instance, if you tried to clear the frost off your windshield with a putty knife you’re liable to discover that you’ve scratched the glass beyond repair. You might as well clear the frost off your windshield by busting the glass out with a hammer; either way, you’re going to need a new windshield. Depending on the car, the cost could range to almost $1,000, though most installed windshields will cost considerably less than that.

A good window scrapper is the first step in reducing the aggravation of clearing ice and frost from your car’s windows. Make sure it has a good hand grip and a long enough arm that you can reach to the center of the windshield. This is particularly important if you’re car is actually a pickup truck with big tires and a lift kit; getting at the windshield may require a ladder.

You’ll also want a snowbrush. You may purchase a dual window scraper/snowbrush for the job. One end has the scrapper and the other the brush. If you do, just make sure you can still get a firm grip on the tool when you’re trying to scrape stubborn ice and frost.

Another essential tool in the war to keep your windows and windshield clear in the winter is the defroster. You want to make sure your car will produce enough heat to soften ice and frost in a relatively short period of time. You may feel the temptation to test your defrosters yourself. You’ll go out to the car tomorrow, turn on the heat and defrosters, wait a little while and then put your hand up above the dashboard. Even if the air coming out feels good and hot, remember that it’s still warm out.

If you want to be sure that the heater will be up to the challenge in the winter, you may want to bring your car to a professional to have it checked. You don’t want to find out, one cold winter morning, that your defroster doesn’t work as well as you thought it did.

Another tip is to warm the engine before you go. Even if the defrosters can put out some serious heat on a 20-degree-below morning, it takes the car a little while to warm up the coolant/antifreeze.

It’s also a good idea not to recirculate the air in the car. You’ll probably have a button or control that looks like an arrow making a U-turn on your climate-control console. If this button is engaged, the car circulates the air that’s in the car and this, when combined with your own breath, tends to add humidity to the air that can condense, and even frost up, on your windshield.

Finally, once you’ve got the frost and ice off your windshield, you’ll want the ability to keep your windshield clear while driving. This means that you’ll want plenty of windshield solvent in the reservoir and a good set of wiper blades that operate properly.

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...

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