Pa. (WTAJ) — Winter weather can take a toll on your car and experts are sharing some tips on how you can keep up with maintenance during the winter months.

What are some things that you should know and keep track of?

• Do you need to warm up your car?
• Keeping your tires in check
• Testing your battery
• Removing snow and ice from your car

Do you really need to warm up your vehicle?

You may have heard before that you need to run your engine for a few minutes before you drive it. However, that’s a myth.

“Starting it up for a minute would be more than enough that you need to do,” Ron Peretta, Owner of KarPro Tire and Auto Center said.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) said the same thing. According to AAA, “you should start the engine and allow it to idle only for the time it takes you to fasten your seat belt. This ensures that lubricating oil gets to all of the engine’s vital parts.”

An important thing to note is that you should avoid hard acceleration and drive normally to reduce wear on your vehicle.

“I don’t have to warm it up too long on these cold mornings, which is a surprise. Sometimes, just to be on the safe side I warm it up just a bit, but it obviously doesn’t need it,” Car Owner Donna Parsons said.

However, there are others that you can do to take care of your car in the winter season.

When should you fill up your tires?

“When it gets cold like this, the air in the tires kind of deflate. You lose a pound or two. It’s just a matter of filling it back up with air or whatever’s in there,” Peretta said.

When the temperatures drop the molecules in the air move slower and huddle together. That’s why your tires tend to need air in the winter. While your tire pressure should bounce back after the cold spell passes, signals of low tire pressure shouldn’t be ignored. 

Low tire pressure can lead to increased stopping time, lower gas mileage and a decrease in the lifespan of your tires.

Does the cold weather impact your battery?

Getting the car’s battery tested is also important and most retail auto centers do it for free. The cold weather can drain your battery from 30 – 60%, but it naturally recharges as you drive. First, however, you need to get it started.

You shouldn’t wait until winter weather is making it’s way through to get your car’s battery checked. Those tests can take a matter of minutes.

Clearing snow and Ice from your car

The last thing you want to do when you start to see a lot of snow and ice is to remember not to use anything harsh to remove it.

For fluffy snow you can use a brush with plastic bristles to clear your windows and roofs. Then you can use an ice scraper as needed. Heavier snows may require clearing with a heaver object like a broom, but never use hard objects like a shovel. Those objects can damage the clear coat and the car itself.

Removing frost from your windshield can be done with an ice scraper, but you should let your cars defroster do some of the work first.

Never use hot water to clean your car’s windows and windshields. The sharp drop in the temperature can cause glass to crack and shatter.