Extreme weather lands many cars in the shop

Nov. 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Ladies and gentleman, start your engines! Well, maybe not so fast. Extreme swings in West Texas weather have left many engines not exactly purring.

"Lubbock always has extreme, we never have anything in the middle. We're either real hot, real cold, dirt blowing, and all three of those affect everything as far as cars," Scott Egert, owner of Scotts Car Care, said.

Stifling heat this past summer proved to be grueling for vehicles.

"The engine, a lot of people don't pay attention to it, and the next thing you know your engine is running so hot you crack heads, blow head gaskets," Mitch Walraven, owner of TES Performance, said.  

Car owners are then bombarded with the frigid woes of winter. Egert said he's already seen the effects of the apporaching, chilly weather.

"With this one front coming through we're already seeing the batteries that were already weak, quitting. We're seeing water pumps that were already leaking, going out," Egert said.  

Not to mention sandstorms that spin across the plains.

"Well, if you live in west Texas of course air filters, fuel filters, stuff like that is a big issue because the dirt we have is so fine, it gets through everything," Egert said.

"When you're in dustier weather, you get dirtier oil. Your air filter needs to be changed more often because you're filtering dust basically," Walraven said.

Over the course of a year, our cars experience a wide range of weather elements in Lubbock. Local shop owners gave their advice on how to prepare our vehicles for whatever mother nature throws at us.

"I would say definitely keep an eye on your battery. A lot of time weather is real harsh on them. The cold weather, especially, makes it hard to start," Walraven said.  

Walraven also recommended that you pay close attention to your tires.

"A lot of people don't understand that as air is cooler it is obviously denser, and so you actually lose tire pressure," Walraven said.  

Having the right amount of anti-freeze is also vital. Taking steps to weather-proof your car now can save you costly repairs down the road.

"It can get up into the thousands and thousands of dollars if you let it go," Egert said.  

That's local advice to keep your vehicle vital throughout all the weather elements that occur in Lubbock.

http://www.stephensgaskets.co.uk/

Article sourced from:
http://www.myfoxlubbock.com/news/local/story/Vehicle-weat...

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Stephens Gaskets Ltd based in Oldbury, Birmingham manufactures Gaskets, Exhaust Gaskets, Cylinder Head Gaskets, Ring Shims, Precision Washers, Shims in Brass, Steel, CS4, Stainless Steel, Plastic, Copper and many others.