Join John Rush on Drive Radio, The Extra Mile as he dives into the nuances of cold weather driving. With snow and ice making roads treacherous, knowing how to properly warm up your vehicle is crucial for your safety and the health of your car. John addresses commonly held myths surrounding engine warm-up and shares practical tips for starting your vehicle in frigid temperatures.
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This is Drive Radio, The Extra Mile, with your host, John Rush.
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And welcome to another edition of Drive Radio, The Extra Mile, heard every Saturday, right here on KLZ from 3 to 4 p.m. in the afternoon. And as you all know by now, I record these earlier in the week. Depends on the day, typically the first part of the week, but it just depends on… The week and what I’ve got going on and so on. But this week, because of the cold weather that we had last weekend and of course, a little bit of the snow that came in and made it very slick and icy. Today, I’m going to talk about cold weather driving, winter driving, as you could say. Might even, if I have time, cover some of the new traction laws that have taken effect in Colorado. And then, of course, on top of that, if I have time, I know I’ve talked tires in the past, but I’ll get into tires one more time as we have time today to do that. So, as always, if there’s particular topics that you would like to hear me cover, yes, I will get to car covers and some of the winter storage of that and so on at probably a later date. Don’t think I’ll have time to get that in today, but… Those are the types of things that I’ve had suggestions on. So if there’s a particular topic that you’d like me to talk about, by all means, let me know. You can send me a text message, 307-200-8222. You can do that even during this program or outside of the programs. I answer text messages pretty much not 24-7 because I do sleep. But if you text me, I’m typically either reading it or responding relatively quickly. Now, you can also send me an email. at john j-o-h-n at drive hyphen radio.com so john at drive dash radio.com and same i read all the emails that i get in and a lot of the suggestions that come in along these lines of you know this particular program the extra mile come from that as well so If you’ve got any suggestions at all, things you’d like me to talk about, by all means, let me know. I will tell you that I do this for you, not me. So if there’s a particular topic that you’d like me to cover, by all means, let me know what that is, and I’ll take care of it in a pretty fast manner that way. So, all right, cold weather driving. What I want to get into first is, rather than talk about cold weather driving, I’ll get to that in a moment, let’s talk about engine warm-up, vehicle warm-up. Always a hotly debated topic, always differences of opinions on what you should do. I talked a little bit about this on my daily program, Rush to Reason, this past week, because there’s just a lot of, I think, myths surrounding vehicle warm-up. Now, here’s one thing I will tell you, and this is something a lot of the experts don’t even say. It’s not universal for every vehicle. And what I mean by that is you need to know your vehicle. And some vehicles, they have really fast warm-up times. They’re designed in that manner. It doesn’t take a lot to get them warmed up. Literally, you could, my rule of thumb on most vehicles, if you park outside, now we’ll potentially talk about parking inside if we have time today as well, but if you park outside, and there’s frost or snow or anything like that, get in, start the vehicle. By the time you’ve got everything, you know, dusted off, scraped off, whatever, honestly, at that point in time, you’re ready to go. That’s taking you maybe a minute or two. And quite frankly, on modern vehicles, the majority of what we have on the road today is, you know, the fleet’s about 14 years of age. Some of you may have older vehicles. Some of you may have newer vehicles. But again, In that particular era of vehicles, by the time you get everything scraped off, you’re ready to go. Now, that’s something else, by the way, that most folks, most quote-unquote experts aren’t telling you. They’re just going to tell you to get in the car and leave. And there are some vehicles where you could do that, where you literally could get in the vehicle, fire it up, and then off you go. But that’s the exception, not the rule. So in most cases, you do want some warm-up time. I personally want some warm-up time. Some of you have vehicles that have… Heated steering wheels, heated seats even. You want to get some time for everything to kind of start circulating. You want those to even be warmed up. So, you know, you want the comfortability of the car to be set to you. And I’m more along the lines of that. And I know there’s a lot of experts out there that say you’re harming, and by the way, I use experts loosely. that you’re harming the engine by doing what I just said. The fact of the matter is, no, you’re not. You’re not harming a thing. If you want to let it sit and get fully warmed up while it’s sitting there, be my guest. I mean, that’s totally up to you. Most people don’t have that kind of time. You have to be careful of our puffing laws. Those of you that live in Colorado, that can be a big deal. so know your puffing laws and what that works out to be and most remote start systems for example factory remote start systems will let the vehicle run about 10 minutes before you have to go through and cycle that that you know that that startup all over again that remote start again so just you know as a rule of thumb their factory is letting that vehicle warm up for 10 minutes so my point is to a lot of the experts to say you’re harming the engine and doing so then why does the factory allow the engine to run for 10 minutes the vehicle basically to run for 10 minutes prior to shutdown on a remote start if they were worried about it damaging things they would limit it to much less than that point being you’re not damaging anything by allowing the vehicle to warm up that really again comes down to you in a comfortability factor now one thing i would say is yes you will get a faster warm-up time if you let the engine warm just slightly in other words you know and by the way what i’m talking about when it comes to cold weather is really cold weather i’m not talking 30 40 degree weather 30 to 40 degrees hop in and go i’m talking teens or below and you get down around the below zero mark which we had a little bit of this last weekend Yeah, now we’re talking things much differently than we would be at 30 or 40 degrees. 30, 40 degrees, hop in and go. When it starts again, getting down into those teens, yes, I think best practice is to let that engine, you know, sit in idle for at least three, four minutes. Get the thing partially warmed up. It’s not going to be fully warmed up, but partially warmed up. Again, that’s going to give you time. In that case, you typically have frost and other things you need to deal with anyways. Get all that taken care of, and then off you go. Now, in that first, you know, in that warm-up time, that first 5 to 10 minutes of driving the vehicle after you’ve done what I’ve just said, that’s where, yes, you need to drive more gently. You know, no jackrabbit starts, no high-revving engine, no, you know, no gunning it and things like that. You know, just be gentle for the first, I don’t know, 5, 10 minutes. You’ll see the temperature gauge. Most of you have temperature gauges or displays that will tell you what the engine temperature is. And in that particular case, just watch when things start to get warmed up and then off you. Because remember, everything in the car, everything in the vehicle itself, all of the fluids are thick. And when we get down around that zero mark, they can get really thick. And I mean really thick, not necessarily, you know, engine and automatic transmissions, but other components on the vehicle itself. Those fluids are thick, power steering, other things along those lines. Those of you that have four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicles where there’s heavier viscosity fluids and differentials and things like that, those need to get moving, and those don’t warm up until you actually start moving the vehicle. And that’s where take it easy in that initial warm-up phase because, again, all of the oil is thick. In fact, on some engines, and I saw a video this past week that one of you listeners sent me, where the guy was talking about oil filters and if oil is really thick, it’s bypassing the filter because otherwise it would over-pressurize the filter. And by the way, he’s correct. But what I need to caution people on is he’s correct depending upon the vehicle, the engine, and the viscosity of oil used. Some of these newer engines that are in the 0, 15, 0, 20, that sort of range of viscosity range, you know, it has to be really cold for that oil to be so cold that it’s in bypass mode. It’s just typically here in Colorado, you’re not going to run in bypass very often. Now, the guy’s not wrong, and I’m not debating that he’s wrong. And in certain instances, yes, the oil will be thick enough that it would bypass the oil filter, which we don’t want, because we want that oil to be filtered as soon as possible. And that’s where that initial warm-up time and just letting it sit there no revs you know no high rpm nothing you let the computer do its thing at that point in time but that thicker oil yes it’s going to have a harder time lubricating things as it should and that’s where we want to get things warmed up just a little bit now where i’m saying that it’s different for every vehicle some of you are driving vehicles that have turbochargers some of you are driving vehicles that have superchargers there’s all sorts of factors there and again for me personally This comes down to as much of the comfort level inside of the cabin of the vehicle as it does the engine itself. So you do what you need to do to make yourself comfortable. And everything else, by the way, will just fall into place. And I mean that sincerely. But, yes, there are other things on the vehicle that need to be taken care of and warmed up. You’ve got transmissions, power steering. Even belts and things like that, the warmer they get, the more pliable they are. And I get it. The newer belts work much better. They have a much wider temperature range than what the older belts used to have. But bottom line, we want to get things warmed up, moving, circulating, and so on. And that’s where a lot of the experts that say just hop in the car and leave are, frankly, they’re wrong. I don’t believe in doing that. I do think you need… some warm-up time, especially on gas engine vehicles. It’s worse for diesels, but even on gas engine vehicles, yes, you need some warm-up time. And when I go back to what are you driving, you know your vehicle. And what I mean by that is when you first start up a vehicle, by the way, turn the radio off. And by the way, that should be practice all along. That should be your standard practice. And I can tell you, I’ve been working on vehicles over all the years that I did and having shops for, you know, 30 plus years and growing up in the industry. One of the first things I always did as a service advisor, owner, technician was make sure when I crawled into the vehicle, the radio was off. And the reason for that is I can hear more of what’s going on when the radio’s off. Again, what I’m telling you right now, you’ll never hear the quote-unquote experts tell you. And where I’m going with this is if you listened to your vehicle as it’s cold and as you’re starting it up, you’ll hear things that you probably wouldn’t hear on a warmer day. And you’ll notice when those noises, when those particular sounds start to diminish, okay, now you know things have warmed up and off you go. Again, these are things that these, you know, experts out there, which I’m sorry to keep using that term, but that’s what they call themselves, and they’ll go out on social media, and they get interviewed by news organizations and so on, and these guys are supposed to be the guys that are top dogs, but yet no one ever talks about what I just said. Meaning, turn the radio off. Listen. Listen to what your vehicle is telling you. Believe it or not, the vehicle will tell you, much like your body, what’s going on at any given moment. Am I fully warmed up? Do I have any sounds that shouldn’t be there? And by the way, that should be standard practice across the board. Every single time you get out of the vehicle, turn the radio down. And every time you get back in, it’s already down. Turn it up to whatever listening sound, whatever decibel level, I guess I should say, that you want as you’re driving. and then off you go. But when you’re shutting things down and then firing them back up when you go to leave again, best practice is turn the radio at least way down to where you can hear what’s going on. And I will tell you, again, after being in the industry all the years that I’ve been in, There are some people, you guys are great listeners, you’re great drivers, great car owners. This probably isn’t you that I’m speaking to, but it may apply to some people that you do know and you can pass this along to. I will tell you over all the years, there are some people that I guarantee you have never heard what their vehicle sounds like. The reason is the radio is so loud all the time, they wouldn’t know a noise if it hit them on the head. And again, this is a topic that rarely does anybody ever talk about. You need to listen to your vehicle. Know what it’s saying back to you. Is it groaning? Is it moaning? Is it having issues? Can you hear something that you haven’t heard before? And if every time you’re doing what I just said, every time you start the vehicle up, these are things that you will hear. And in a lot of cases, you can head off problems way in advance before they become a real problem and a real crisis. So, again, know your vehicle. So listen to your vehicle. Know what it’s telling you, I guess, is what I’m trying to say. And all of that can be done as you’re going through this startup phase of the engine of the vehicle and so on. And then, again, as you’re driving, another rule of thumb. I get it. You want to get in. You want to turn the radio on. You want to hear the news or whatever it is you happen to listen to, music and so on. But, again, when it’s super cold out, And we’re trying to listen to things as we’re even doing that 5 to 10 minutes of driving to really see what’s happening with the vehicle. Again, keep the radio down at least. Don’t turn it up super loud. Listen to what the vehicle’s doing. Do you hear anything weird as you’re driving now because now you’ve got things in motion, wheels and axles and differentials and transmissions and so on? Do you hear anything that doesn’t sound normal? And you’ll hear that when, again, you don’t have any of the other background noise going on. So those are things that, again, as you’re going through some of these colder spells, and it’s Colorado. I get it. This week we went into the below zero weather for just a day or two, single digits even for just a few days, and then we’re back up to where it’s 20s and 30s at night and 50s during the day. But we’re not out of winter yet. And by the way, for some of you that travel around and or have family, and we have a large listening audience. And one thing I have to remind myself all the time is I’ve got people that are listening in Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, New Jersey, of course, where Jersey Joe is at, Minnesota, Michigan. I mean, I’ve got listeners, literally we, I should say, have listeners all over the country. And I have to remind myself that a lot of times what we even talk about here in Colorado, there are people in other places that are experiencing things that we aren’t right now. So This rule of thumb is going to apply to all of you out there that are in these extreme weather conditions, and you may find yourself even on a road trip where you end up with really cold weather that you’re trying to deal with. If I get time today, I’ll talk about engine heaters and things like that. That’s something that some vehicles have. Most do not, by the way. They’re typically added on, diesel vehicles. vehicles will have them in a lot of cases standard just because diesel engines need more done when it comes to the warm-up time, which I’m going to come back and talk about in a moment because there’s some different things on a diesel that I feel you need to do that you don’t have to do when it comes to a gas engine. So what I just talked about, for all of you listening, that’s the gas engine version of what we’re talking about. And Some of you, by the way, if you read your owner’s manual, it may say something slightly different from what I just said. But again, rule of thumb, if you park outside, if you park in the garage, none of this applies anyways because you’re already warm, you start it, you leave, and it doesn’t matter. So if you park outside where you’ve got inclement weather that’s on the vehicle, Frost, snow, even freezing rain, things like that where you’ve got to now scrape the windows and get things ready to go. And that’s something, by the way, where one of my biggest pet peeves is people that don’t push all the snow off. And for some of you where you may be in a place where you end up with more snow than other places do, there are snow brooms specifically designed to take snow off of a vehicle without scratching the paint. And it’s safer when you do that. And what I mean by that is getting the snow off of the entirety of the vehicle, not just the hood, not just the windshield, but the roof, the rear window of the deck lid on top of the bumpers where you’re covering up the license plates in some cases and so on. Headlights, all of that. You really need to make sure the vehicle is snow free because the last thing you want to do is pull out. head down the road, and then everybody behind you is getting the spray from your snow. You’ve been behind those types of vehicles. It makes it very inconvenient and sometimes dangerous for the car that’s behind you. So you know what? Be a courtesy. Be a driver that’s courteous, I should say. Be a courteous driver. Have courtesy to those folks that are around you. I guess I should say have some respect for those people that are around you. And again, you guys know me. I’m a solid conservative. I believe in personal responsibility. And to me, personal responsibility is… making sure your car is cleaned off. And I know sometimes you may not have the right equipment to do that. So find that right equipment. It’s readily available. We’re not talking about a lot of money to buy snow brushes and things like that that will help you with a lot of these things. But yeah, please make sure your vehicle is completely cleared off. And again, while you’re clearing the vehicle, the engine is warming and doing its thing. And as it’s doing that, guess what? Now you’re in the process of getting things warmed up, ready to drive, and you have no issues. Those are things that really you can do while you’re preparing the vehicle for its drive. And again, I’m a big one on making sure that windows and wipers and everything are completely clear before you start driving. It’s much better for you, much better for the vehicles and the folks that are around you driving, much safer in the end. I’ll talk about some winter driving tips as we have time. But that’s it for this first segment. We’re going to come back here after these messages here in just a moment. I’ll get into the diesel engine end of things, and then we’ll throw in some things that I think you should have in the vehicle at all times as well. But again, this is Drive Radio, The Extra Mile. Listen to these messages. We’ll be back right after that. Again, Drive Radio, The Extra Mile, right here on KLZ 560.
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This program was recorded earlier for broadcast at this time. No phone calls can be accepted.
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All right, we’re back. Drive Radio, The Extra Mile. And again, our text line, 307-200-8222. This is not a live call-in program. While all of my other programs are, this is the only program where I pre-record ahead of time. And we do this. It plays Saturdays from 3 to 4. Plays again Tuesday from 2 to 3. No, you can’t call in. That’s not what this program is designed for. But as I said, as I opened up the show today, if there’s a particular topic that you would like me to cover, send me a text message or send me an email, and I will do my very best to cover that topic. I promise you, I will cover the topic. When will I cover it? That’ll depend on the season, what else is going on, and so on. But believe me, I will do my very best to cover that topic. So again, 307-200-8222 is the text line. And again, you can call in during all of our other programs. You know the studio line, 303-477-5600. First segment I talked about, gasoline engines. and the warm-up of. Now, I didn’t get into, really quick, just to go backwards just for a minute, I didn’t get into the difference between carbureted engines and fuel-injected engines and so on because the majority of you, the majority of you are driving vehicles fuel-injected. So all of what I said applies to those types of vehicles. If you’ve got a carbureted vehicle, you know what you need to do. You know your vehicle very well. I don’t have to inform you of what to do. You already know what to do, and you’re on your own. So one thing I want to cover real quick before we go to diesels. As I said, I would talk about engine heaters, block heaters. There are several types. Now, I will tell you this. The modern vehicles that we have on the road and the weather that we have in Colorado, this doesn’t apply to some of you that are listening in areas like the Dakotas or Minnesota or Michigan or even Montana and so on. Not talking to you all because you all do whatever you need to. You may need engine heaters where you’re at. That keeps things warmed up. In a lot of places, they even have plugs where you park where you can plug the vehicle in because in the extreme cold, they would need plugged in most of the time. We don’t have that in Colorado. We may end up in Colorado with a week or two at most of below zero weather, and there are some winters where we may not even touch zero. We get close, might even hover below, wind chill might go below that, but the basic temperature itself in Colorado, we rarely, we have to have a huge Arctic front come down to get us into the below zero temperatures for any length of time. So I am of the opinion that This is me. Those of you that live in the lower elevations of Colorado, again, those that are in the high country that have different experiences and different weather conditions and so on, you do whatever you need to do. But here, along the front range, basically Cheyenne all the way down to Pueblo, do you need a block heater on a gasoline engine car, modern gasoline engine car? No. No. You do not. I get that question periodically, especially when it gets cold out. Which engine heater do I recommend? And my answer is unless you’re in one of those cold climates like I’ve mentioned, upper Midwest and Montana, Dakotas and so on, North Dakota especially. No, you don’t really even need one. Don’t waste your money. Don’t waste the time. There’s different types that you can do. Of course, there’s frost plug heaters where you take actually a frost plug out, a freeze plug out, you put the heater in. What it’s doing is heating the coolant. There’s some that go in the radiator hoses that then circulate and so on. And where I’m going with this is if the vehicle didn’t come with one, In a lot of cases, you may end up with more issues than what you wanted just by putting the heater in in the first place. Cut hoses, for example. Now there’s a cut. Now there’s seals that have to be made where that hose would go against the heater itself. Block heater, same situation. I’m one where unless you absolutely have to have it because of the area that you live in, I am not a fan of adding one of those to a vehicle. Not in today’s world. And, by the way, this has nothing to do with warmer temperatures or anything like that. I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life. I can remember winters where we had extreme weather, way below zero, extended length of time, and I can remember winters where it felt like summer all winter long. So I’ve seen it all, been here 61 years, and reality is I’ve seen it all. So, no, this has nothing to do with climate change or anything along those lines. It’s just the cycles that we go through, and that’s it. on a gasoline engine do you need an engine heater not in this area so i’ll just point blank say that not in our area the modern vehicles and all i talked about with the warm-up and so on in the last segment you do that you’ll be fine nothing else you need to worry about and off you go so enough said there now diesel engines Whole nother matter. And typically speaking, typically speaking, those of you driving diesel vehicles, especially those of you that drive diesel trucks, you know, 250s, 350s, 2500, 3500s and so on. You pretty much know your vehicle. You know exactly what you need to do. You know how long you need to warm it up and so on. I’m you you you are one that I probably don’t even need to talk to you because you’re already doing what you need to do now there are new diesel owners whereby you know you just bought a RV maybe you’re retired you bought a camper that you want to drag around and so on and you just now have gotten into the diesel end of things. Warm-up time on a diesel, not much different than what I told you earlier on a gas engine, other than I feel like they are a have-to on warming up. In other words, I would take a diesel engine. Not only would I let it warm up enough to where I can get everything scraped off of the vehicle, but I’d let it warm up even past that sum just to make sure that I’m good to go. And I get it. There are some quote-unquote experts out there claiming that, nope, best thing to do with that diesel engine is just hop in and drive because you’re damaging other things on the engine and the exhaust system and so on. And folks, nothing could be farther from the truth. That is not true. The manufacturers have designed those vehicles and those engines, even the exhaust, whereby they’re even helping by closing some valves and so on to force exhaust back into the engine to help it warm up faster and So, no, that is not true. You don’t just hop in and go on a diesel engine. You want to make sure that you’re getting it warmed up. Now, diesel engines typically, depending upon the engine, will have either a grid heater for the intake. That’s what Cummins has, the Rams out there. Or they have glow plugs for GM and some of the other brands that are out there. Some of the other even diesel engines that come in some of the SUVs and so on. Even some cars with diesels, they’ll typically have a glow plug. Now, all of them will have an indicator. When you go to start the engine on a diesel, it’ll say, wait, wait to start. There’s many different indicators that will tell you that, but essentially it’s saying, hang on, we’ve got to get the glow plugs warmed up. Because remember, a diesel engine doesn’t have spark plugs. It doesn’t ignite the fuel based upon a spark. It ignites the fuel based upon compression, friction, the heat that’s generated, boom, that’s where that ignition comes from. So, They want to get the cylinder temperatures up some. That’s what a glow plug is doing. That’s what a grid heater is doing, is they’re bringing the cylinder temperatures up to allow that compression to happen more easily and the diesel engine to then start and run. You’ll always notice that a diesel engine, when it starts… The modern ones have gotten a much, much better, but older diesel engines, especially when they would fire up, you’d hear them clank and clatter and there’d be smoke rolling out and so on until they got a little bit of warmup to where things were flowing better. That’s what that diesel engine would do. And that’s why, because of how its ignition works versus that of a gasoline spark plug engine. So those of you, again, that are into the diesel end of things, you know everything I just talked about. I don’t have to inform you. But some of you that are just getting into diesel engines, that’s why there’s a weight, if you would, in firing up that engine. In other words, it’s telling you, hey, hang on. We’ve got to get the cylinder temperatures up. Then you can hit the start button or turn the key, and off we go. Now, on a diesel engine like that, whereby maybe you didn’t get a chance to plug it in, as I was talking earlier, most diesel engines have the option to plug it in. And my advice on diesel engines is when you get below 15 degrees, 15 to 20 degrees, plug it. So anything above that, do you need to plug in? No, not really. You don’t. And the more modern the diesel, the better they start in cold weather. So if you’ve got, you know, a 2020 and newer, they start much better than what they used to prior to that. Now, I would still even on a modern vehicle. If it’s getting down into that zero temperature range, you know, zero to 10, I’d still plug the vehicle in. It just makes everything so much better when you go to fire it up. Easier on the engine, easier on you because you get things warmed up faster as far as heat in the cabin and so on. In fact, some vehicles even include an additional electric type heater that’s heating things up faster so the cabin warms up quicker because diesel engines take longer to warm up. than their gas counterparts do. So most diesels are fairly cold-blooded. It takes a little bit longer for them to warm up. The older diesels especially, the newer ones are a little bit better. But just remember that there is that process on a diesel engine to where you climb in, turn the key on, or hit the button, and it’s going to say wait. follow the instructions on the dash and where I was going with this a moment ago is if at first it doesn’t start typically they will but some of you guys that have older diesels and you’re already going to know this but if you bought an older diesel sometimes you might have to cycle through that a couple of times to get those cylinder temperatures up enough to where it’ll then fire now another thing you should be doing on diesel engines this is including the modern engines I get it some of them have heaters on the fuel filters and so on to heat the fuel and But with diesel engines especially, and we get into the zero-degree weather, please run a fuel additive. It’s not coming in the fuel that you’re buying, no matter what they tell you. Diesel fuel will gel if it gets cold enough. And keep in mind, as you start going down the road and you get the wind chill and what’s blowing under the vehicle and so on, the older diesels especially, where they just don’t have the heating capability of the system, can they gel up? Yep. Yep. Have had that happen many times over the years to customers, including sometimes even our own fleet. We try to get all of the vehicles that I own, you know, done up. We try to get all of the additives in them. But you know what? Sometimes something gets missed or a vehicle’s not at the shop at that time. And yes, they can gel up. So those of you driving diesel vehicles in cold weather, my recommendation is run a… an anti-gel additive to the diesel fuel in those times when it’s super cold. No, you don’t have to run it all winter long, but for some of you, again, that live in that cold weather areas or you’re traveling or you’re taking a road trip, yes, please have some 911. There’s other products made. Whatever your choice is that you use that does the anti-gelling, find what product works for you on your diesel engine trip. and use it. They typically have other qualities where they’re helping with some system cleaning and so on as well. So you’re kind of getting a double bang for your buck by doing it that way. But do whatever you need to. Find a product that you like. I don’t have any particular preference. You utilize whatever you want to. But yes, a diesel engine, diesel vehicle, I should say. This includes some of you that are driving even some of the cars and SUVs with diesel engines and so on. I would still run an additive in those as well. I don’t even care what the owner’s manual or any of that says. I would run an additive in that diesel fuel. It’ll tell you what the mixture should be. You can go to your owner’s manual or those of you that fill up a lot. You already know what your tanks in some cases hold, and you want to make sure you’re running the right mixture of that to make sure you don’t get any jelly. Now, for some of you even that run up to the mountains periodically or might even live in the mountains, it’s a big deal. So make sure that you… Have all of that handled that you’ve got the fluid, you know, the additive. Make sure I say that correctly. You’ve got the additive in there correctly and that you’re keeping that fuel from gelling because if it gels, I’ll just tell you what, it’s typically either a matter of you keep the vehicle where it’s at. You allow the temperature outside to warm up or it’s getting towed. It goes into a shop where it warms up. It takes hours, literally hours, to get that fuel to stop gelling to where you can then get in the vehicle and drive it again. It’s a very arduous process to get that gelling gone, usually changing fuel filters and other things along those lines. The last thing you want is a diesel gelled up because if, in fact, that does happen, your repair bill is going to be high. And at the end of the day, you’re not going to be happy. And it can be avoided simply by putting an anti-gel additive into the system. It’s really not that complicated. So do that. That’s one thing on a diesel that you really need to be aware of. Last but not least, I’ve got a few minutes left here that I’ll throw this in. Hybrids and EVs. Now, those are two different things. EVs, there’s not a lot to warm up. In fact, most of them have a mode, an app even, where you can do an engine, or sorry, you can do a vehicle warm-up process through your app. Basically, get whatever settings you want on the HVAC. If you want it to be 78 degrees inside, you tell that EV what you want to do, and it will precondition, they call it, precondition the vehicle for that. Outside of that, hop in and go. The one advantage an EV has is it’s really fast on the warm-up time. Everything is working off of the electrical sides of things. And yes, indeed, they warm up quickly. Hybrids are a little different. That’s why I say they’re not one and the same. Hybrids still have an engine. Still needs to be warmed up some. Yes, you can work off the battery to an extent, but there’s still an engine there, much like I talked about in the first segment of what needs to be done to warm it up and so on. So again, on a hybrid, I would do the same thing. If you park outside, go ahead, get it fired up. It’ll typically start the engine at that point to get some warmup done. It depends on the hybrid and its conditions and so on as to what it needs. But clean the vehicle off, get things ready to go, hop in it, and go. Hybrids are different because of the transmission setup and so on and the fact that it’s using battery power as well. But again, back to the EVs, that preconditioning, oh man, they work really well. Now, the one thing to remember on an EV especially, is your range when it’s that cold out depending upon the EV that you bought is diminished greatly 30% easily off the top so if you normally would get you know 300 miles worth of range 30% of that’s going to be 90 miles you’re down to 210 220 and I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’s at least a 20% loss and the reason why I say it’s different for different vehicles is Some manufacturers do a better job of conditioning the battery and helping it stay warmer, quote unquote, so that it gives it the ability to have higher range. But you’re going to lose range no matter what the EV is, no matter what the brand is. It’s just a matter of how much. Make sure you’re factoring that into your range so that as you’re trying to go someplace, you’ve got everything all planned out. and handled, and that warm-up time in an EV is not using a lot of battery power to do that. That’s something else that there’s misconception on. In fact, the EVs aren’t using even a lot of battery power when you’re in traffic and so on. So, again, misconception that a lot of anti-EV folk have. They actually work very well in the snow. They’re very heavy. They’ve got a lot of traction. The all-wheel drive versions of EVs work extremely well. And I’ll get into some of the cold weather driving and some of that. But I wanted to cover, and I know it’s taken two segments to do this, but I had the gasoline side to do. And then, of course, I had the diesel side. And then I just threw some of the EV hybrid side in as well. Last but not least, I talked about this during the first segment, the equipment that it takes to make sure your vehicle is cleaned off. And there’s so many gadgets out there that honestly, let me get a plug for NAPA here really quick. They’re one of our great sponsors. NAPA sells a wood-handled snow brush scraper. That, I will tell you straight up, is the best product you’ll ever use when it comes to cleaning off a vehicle. You don’t need the fancy snow brushes that maybe click in and out and they angle and they do this and they do that. No, you don’t need all that. And to be real honest with you, they’re so heavy that it even makes the job more cumbersome than it needs to be. The little, lightweight, wooden handled. They’re about two foot long, maybe two and a half feet long. Napa sells them. Typically, they’ve got them in stock. You’ll have to ask for them because they used to have them out front, but there’s been all the other gadgety type of snow brushes that, quite frankly, cost more money that they now sell. Sell and advertise, so you’ll have to ask for the wooden-handled snow brush. I’ll tell you, though, they work fantastic. It’s what we use in our fleet. I have used them ever since I’ve been a kid. I can tell you that’s a snow brush that’s been around for decades, and the reason it’s been around for decades is because it’s simple. And it works. And some of you will laugh at me when you look at it and think, how could that little, you know, two and a half, three foot snow brush, you know, really work as well as it does? Well, you know what? It’s that old saying, don’t knock it till you try it. It’s the only snow brush, by the way, that I use. It’s in every one of my vehicles. They’re very inexpensive. I think you can buy them for… seven eight bucks I mean they are literally a fraction of the price of what you’ll spend for the high-end snow brushes and scrapers and they work absolutely fabulous so yeah before you do anything else when it comes to high-end snow brushes and snow cleaning devices and scrapers and so on I hate the little handheld scrapers by the way this one I just told you about with Napa has a great scraper built onto it gives you the ability to hold on to the wooden handle while you’re doing it and it works better than anything else that’s on the market so again Going to be right back. Please listen up to these particular sponsors. It’s because of them we’re able to do this show and my other show, Drive Radio, on a regular basis. But this is Drive Radio, The Extra Mile, heard right here on KLZ 560. Remember, every Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m.
SPEAKER 02 :
Something really cool happened in 1975. And no, it wasn’t the beginning of the disco era. Congress passed the Magnuson-Moss Act. You don’t have to take your vehicle back to your dealer to keep your vehicle manufacturer’s warranty in effect. Our Napa Auto Care Center uses the proper replacement parts and procedures to keep that warranty valid. Visit our independently owned Napa Auto Care Center today. Find a store at NapaOnline.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
This program was recorded earlier for broadcast at this time. No phone calls can be accepted.
SPEAKER 01 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio, The Extra Mile. Again, thanks for listening. Appreciate it very much. Text line, once again, 307-200-8222. So, so far I’ve covered warm-up time on gasoline engines, warm-up time and what to do on a diesel engine, even a little bit of the hybrid EV end of things, and then, of course, the right snow equipment, if you would, when it comes to keeping your car cleaned off and getting it cleaned off initially and so on. I do want to talk about, because I was reminded of this when I came home late Sunday night. So you guys all know I went to Barrett-Jackson last week, had a great time, came home, had to get a ride from the airport home because I didn’t park out there. Long story, helping some folk get other vehicles out there prior. But anyways, had to get a ride back. And I was not able to get into an Uber. I hate Uber when it’s like that because I even had a driver that rolled by that I had even paid extra to get that basically looked at me and kept on driving. So Uber, if you’re listening, your drivers suck sometimes. I really mean that. They absolutely suck. And here’s my complaint with Uber, not to get off track here, but There’s no place to complain. You can’t turn that driver in. That’s my complaint. If I do something, cancel a ride, whatever, I get dinged on my side, but those guys don’t for basically skipping a ride. This guy literally pulled up, looked at me, and drove on. Maybe I didn’t look good enough. I don’t know. Weird. At any rate, I was reminded of… how difficult some people have driving in the snow. I actually had to go get a taxi at that point. A really nice gentleman that drove me. I could tell from looking at him, probably from Jamaica, not criticizing, but could tell came from warm weather. And we had a nice conversation on the way, and he was very safe and did a great job driving and all of that. But I could tell that he was literally scared to death to drive in the little bit of ice and snow we had Sunday night, which wasn’t that much. Was it difficult to drive? For an unexperienced driver, probably was. Somebody like me, no. In fact, there were times with him where I literally wanted to tell him, pull over and I’ll take it from here. I didn’t. I was nice and just went ahead and, you know, tried to look out the window and be patient. And we drove about 35 miles an hour from DIA all the way to Golden. So anyways. It led me to think about, though, there are tips when it comes to driving in the snow that I think everybody can use, this particular gentleman as well. And I noticed with him that, number one, slow movement, not how fast you’re going, but your throttle, your braking, the way you turn the steering wheel. Slow is better than fast, and you’re not driving on the same surface as you normally would, so your movements need to reflect that as well. In this case, it happened to be a minivan, but probably front-wheel drive. I don’t think it was all-wheel drive, but again, it wasn’t that bad. Front-wheel drive would have taken you anywhere you wanted to go Sunday night without any problem at all knowing what to do. Now, the other problem this particular driver had that I noticed was He wasn’t in the lane whereby, if I can explain this correctly on radio. he wasn’t in the lane where there was the least amount of snow. He kept edging over and ended up driving in the snow because the plows hadn’t been through yet. So you know how it is when there’s traffic, it’s keeping a certain amount of lane clear. Yes, you’ll have to cross over some snow as you go from lane to lane. But this particular driver, he kept wanting to drive, I guess you could call it on the high side where the snow was. And I couldn’t understand, you know, why he was doing it. I didn’t say anything. Again, I was polite and So on, and he was very safe, and he kept his distance from other vehicles, which, by the way, you need to increase distance when it’s like that. That’s a commonality that everybody knows. Look far ahead of you, by the way, in those conditions. Make sure that you’re watching for other vehicles in the distance and so on. And I’ll give you an example of what I mean by that here in a moment that happened to me a few years ago. But be careful. And again, in this particular case, he would have been better off to have driven down And I guess you could call it the rut where there was actually more pavement showing, but he kept driving on the high side where the snow is, maybe thinking he was getting more traction. But I could tell you, by the way, he was fighting the steering wheel and what he was doing with his grip on the wheel itself. That wasn’t working out very well for him. Again, here’s another thing. If you’re really that nervous about driving, get in the far right lane. In our case, we were going down I-70. Get in the far right lane, reduce your speed, stay out of other people’s way, and go as slow as you need to. Now, I’m going to add one more thing to that. If you’re really that nervous about driving in that type of snow we had Sunday night, you probably shouldn’t be. Now, in his case, I guess he was trying to make some money and so on, and he did, to his credit, but I tell you what, he earned every penny of it because he was scared to death. Now, for me, it’s just another day. I mean, I’ve driven in enough of this stuff over the years where it’s not a problem at all for me, but… Anyway, I could tell he was struggling. It made me think about the topic of this week and giving some tips on some things. So, A, keep your distance. Look far ahead. Minimize jerky movements. Slow inputs, I guess is what I’m trying to say. Steering, braking, throttle, all those things. Really pay attention to the folks that are around you, including those that are behind you. This is where I talked earlier. Having your vehicle completely cleared off. Gives you the ability to even see who’s coming up behind you quickly. Maybe they’re sliding towards you. Did you give yourself enough room at the intersection where you can tuck up if need be so that they don’t run into the back of you? These are all things that are super important when you’re driving in the snow and make sure you’re doing those things. Another thing, no jerky movement when it comes to hitting the brake. And he did that several times. And I’m like, feather that thing. Don’t hammer the brake pedal. Just feather it. You know, drive. I was always taught. I don’t think I’ve said this for quite some time, but I was always taught when you’re in the snow, drive like you have an egg under your foot, between your foot and the pedal. Brake and gas. In other words, slow movements. Don’t brake that egg. Really make sure that you’re easing into things and that you really know the vehicle and what it’s doing. And again, I will tell you on this particular gentleman that I rode with, He was not doing that. It was all jerky movements and fast on and off and so on and even hitting the brakes at times, and that’s not how this works. So the other thing, too, that’s changed over the years that we grew up with, I grew up with, is you used to pump the brakes when you came to a stop and things were sliding. With anti-lock brakes, no. You slowly apply the pedal and let ABS do its thing. Just firm, steady pressure, and ABS will take care of the rest. Pumping the brakes is not going to help you at all. Now, one other thing, too, is always steer where you want to go. So I know that sounds simplistic, but a lot of people will get into a slide and start doing weird things with the steering wheel and get themselves into a predicament that they wouldn’t have to be in if they did what I just said. So steer where you want to go, but brake and slow down before your turn. By the way, coast through your turn. Once you’re through the turn, then you can gently using that egg principle, gently accelerate coming out of the turn. If you have traction control on your vehicle, make sure that’s engaged. Remember, though, traction control and all wheel drive doesn’t mean that you’re going to stop any faster than anybody else does. You still have to give yourself plenty of room. And by the way, all of that, this is where I really wanted to go with this particular driver, a really good set of tires, and I did get a chance to look at these as I was getting out of the vehicle. I didn’t look prior, but as I got out of the vehicle, a really good set of tires would have helped him out immensely. And it may mean that you could have just a regular front wheel drive vehicle and a good set of tires, good set of snow type tires will help you immensely. And that’s true whether you’re using a four wheel drive, all wheel drive, whatever. Yeah, good tires really do help. Black ice. That’s another one I want to cover for just a moment. That’s hard to deal with. I don’t care who you are. You really have to know what’s there. And the key there is, again, no jerky movements. Slow, steady, slow motion when it comes to how you turn the wheel and so on. That’s how you get through black ice and things like that. Always remember that shaded areas, north sides, bridges, overpasses, things like that are always going to freeze up first. Always. Because there’s air underneath that area. Culverts, same thing. So it could be a culvert, could be a bridge, could be an overpass, you name it. If there’s air under the road, no ground warmth, in other words, you’re going to get more freezing on top than you would otherwise. That’s why parking garages and so on always freeze up more. So, you know, the upper ends of a parking garage will always have more frozen. I mean, of course, the top deck because it’s getting all the snow. But even the other decks, as the snow blows in and so on, they will freeze up faster than the bottom will just because there’s nothing there to keep that surface warmed up like the earth does. So always remember. that those shaded areas, north sides, bridges, overpasses, they’re going to freeze up first. And again, I’m saying that. A lot of you listening, you’re steady Eddie. You’re like me. You’ve lived here your entire life. But folks, we’ve got a lot of people listening that are new to the area that maybe have never even driven in snow and ice and things like that before. And by the way, I can tell you that by looking at the drivers that are around me when I’m out driving. So as you’re out driving around and you’re seeing these things, you’re noticing these things, yes, make sure that you’re all dialed in. So bottom line, make sure as you’re driving, once again, that you’re noticing those things and that you know your vehicle. The other thing, too, really quick on this, and this is true for any driver that’s out there. I really mean that. Get used to your vehicle. Know your vehicle. If you’ve got kids that are driving, snow, things like that, same thing. Make sure that they know their vehicle, that they’re handling things correctly, that they know the vehicle, they know where it’s going to go, they know how to handle things, they know how to use everything inside of the vehicle, wipers, defrosters, all of those different things. Make sure that they are dialed in 100%. One other thing, too, I should have mentioned this earlier. When we’re in the cold weather, snow, rain, all of that, make sure your headlights are on, even in the daytime. If there is snow flying at all, I don’t care if it’s dark out or not, turn the headlights on. And they may not come on automatically, so make sure that you’ve got your headlights on so people around you can see you. They’ll see you from behind because your taillights are on, and they’ll see you from the front because your headlights are on. So most crashes, by the way, really quick. Happen because people follow too close. They overestimate the capability of their vehicle. You see a lot with truck owners, by the way. They are in a big hurry when conditions don’t allow them to be in a big hurry. How should I say this? They’re trying to beat time, I guess you could say, not being late, not realizing that everybody else is in the same boat. So if you’re a few minutes late because of the weather, well, guess what? So is everybody else. Not a huge issue at all. So at the end of the day, just go slow, take your time, and you’ll be fine. Okay, just a few things I want to throw in as to what you should keep in the vehicle at all times. I know we’ve talked about this in the past. We’ve done complete programs on Drive Radio and even had people call in on what to have, but… Cold weather, emergency kit. Yes, you should have one. So whatever you think that needs to be for you and your vehicle, make sure you have one of those. Could be a first aid kit, could be gloves, could be extra set of, you know, extra hat or coat or whatever you think you need, have that. Also, warm blankets. Yeah, always a great idea to throw a warm blanket or even a super small packable sleeping bag. I’m a big one on also having the space blankets. They’re easy to throw in the glove box and have with you at all times. And yes, they come in handy if you ever get stranded. They would really be nice to have. Now, a flashlight. Not the flashlight on your phone, but an extra flashlight. And by the way, they make them now where you can plug them into the USB and charge them up inside of the car even. I would buy a USB flashlight, have that handy, have it in the car at all times ready to go. Now, first aid kit. That’s another one you should have. First aid kit. I said that earlier. It should be part of your emergency kit and have that. And by the way, typically speaking, that’s not going to get used for you. It will most likely get used for everyone else. And what I mean by that is you will run into other people that actually need your first aid kit versus you. Honestly, in all the years I’ve had first aid kits, I don’t know if I’ve ever used one. But I’ve had other people that have. So have it for that as much as anything. Water. Make sure you’ve got plenty of water. And be careful because the water bottles themselves, the plastic ones, if they’re in the car and it’s hot… that plastic will leak into the water. So make sure you’re buying and using something whereby, in fact, best thing to do on that is if you’ve got some sort of an older aluminum type canteen that you can store your water in and put that in the vehicle, I would prefer you do that than using something that’s plastic because if you’re using something plastic and it gets hot, it will actually leach that plastic back into the water, which you do not want. So don’t do that. Now, also, high-energy snacks, protein bars, things like that. You get stuck, you’re going to need some food. We’ve talked about this even on Ready Radio before, but make sure you’re dialed in when it comes to those particular things, especially if you’ve got other people that travel with you, kids and so on. Make sure you have what they need there. As well. Traction aids. This one’s tough. There’s so many traction aids that are out there. You can carry around a bag of ice melt, by the way. Great traction aids. It’s going to melt whatever is in front of you. You can carry around some sand, which, by the way, I wouldn’t advise. Cat litter is something people have used before. There’s now these traction boards you see on a lot of the SUVs that work very well. So bottom line, if you need traction aids, go ahead and use them. Now, truthfully, good tires, good driving, you’ll never need it. In all of the years living in Colorado, driving all the different vehicles I’ve driven over the course of however many years I’ve been driving, eons, I’ve never used a traction aid. So again, good driving, right equipment, right tires, not a problem. Now, one thing I’ve always got with me, sometimes it never comes out of the bag, and sometimes it’ll be in the bag for years. That’s a tow strap. If you get into a situation where you need towed out, it’s there. I’ve always, when I ever have used a tow strap, again, sort of like the first aid kit, I’ve always used it for others and not for myself. So something, you know, somebody gets in trouble or whatever, that tow strap can come in really handy. Now, tow strap needs to be one where you’ve got the ability to hook onto something, not just have loops on the end. So you’re going to do loops on the end. You need a couple of clevises as well that you’re throwing in the trunk or behind the seat or whatever. So batteries, by the way, this is true just with the vehicle itself. Not only batteries, if you’ve got flashlights and things like that, if you use rechargeable ones, like I mentioned, you won’t need anything with batteries. But the battery on the vehicle itself. Make sure it’s good. If you’re three to four years old on the battery, replace it. Batteries are only good for four years or so. I don’t care how they’re marketed. I don’t care if they say they’re a 60-month battery. At the four-year mark, they most likely need replaced. So whatever you need to do when it comes to batteries, your battery, have it checked. Replace it as needed. I’ve talked about tires, by the way. Make sure that you’ve even done a complete… The extra mile on tires one of my first episodes you can go back in the archives and actually find it if you need to But make sure you’re quote-unquote Tired up that you’ve got everything you need along those lines I’m one that says in the winter time you need tires with at least 50% or more tread if you don’t have that much make sure you put tires on and that do nothing worse than having bad tires when it’s all said and done in snow and again going back to the equipment sides of things that will avoid you having some of these issues where you even need traction devices towed out and so on now one other thing this is very true on front wheel drive vehicles especially when you go to pull into a parking place even your own driveway If you back in, one of the things I talk about a lot, but if you back in, a front-wheel drive vehicle works much better going forward than it does going backwards. So if you want to get out of the spot after it’s got a ton of snow in it, rule of thumb is back in, and then you drive out with that all-wheel drive, and off you go. So guys, that’s it for this episode of Drive Radio, The Extra Mile. I appreciate you all listening. Again, if you want future topics covered, please let me know. Send me an email. at drive-radio.com or the text line 307-200-8222, 307-200-8222. And if there’s a particular, if you’re, by the way, a potential sponsor or somebody that you think you could add a lot to what we’re talking about during this particular time, reach out. We’ll put something together and make that happen as well. But this has been another edition of Drive Radio, The Extra Mile, right here on KLZ 560.
