Motormouth's Top 5 Winter Tech Tips-The Cold-Weather Secrets Every Driver Needs

Good morning friends, you're tuned to Car Connection where the coffee strong, the stories are real and the wrenches never stop turning.

I'm your host, Niall Motormouth Jenkins coming to you from the Car Connection Workshop where the smell of fresh oil, a little elbow grease is all part of a balanced breakfast.

Yeah, and we have made it to the weekend edition of the Car Connection Workshop and around here, we don't just talk cars, we live them.

Whether it's a 25 year old Jeep Wrangler getting a second chance at life, a Nissan Road getting its brakes back in order, or a mystery leak that's got everyone scratching their heads.

This is where we roll up our sleeves and get it done with a little wit, a little wisdom and a whole lot of fun.

Car Connection Workshop isn't just about nuts and bolts and diagnostics, it's about connection.

Connection to our vehicles, to the people who drive them, and to the community that keeps Niagara rolling.

Because when you fix a car, you're not just turning a wrench, you're restoring someone's confidence, freedom and maybe even their sanity.

That is so true. We're here every week helping you keep your ride safe, reliable and ready for whatever road lies ahead.

So whether you're a weekend wrencher, a daily commuter, or someone who just wants to understand what that strange rattle really means, welcome aboard.

Well, good morning, and it is weekend. We've made it together. Hope you've got some fresh coffee or whatever your favorite morning beverage is.

Sit back, grab a cup of joe, and let's get rolling. I have another five winter tech tips to share with you.

But before we do that, I just want to say thank you to our program partners for making our podcasts available to you on iHeart and all major platforms.

And also a big thank you to them for supporting our YouTube videos, our YouTube channel.

So we've got well over 100, and we're heading for 150 videos on our YouTube channel.

And all the information that you need to connect with me and all the links and icons and all that stuff is at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com.

And I always put all that information in the description of every single one of our YouTube videos as well as these podcasts.

So at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com, you'll see all the logos for our program partners on the homepage.

Just click on any logo and it opens their profile page so that you can get to know them and connect.

And by all means, let them know that you heard all about them right here on our Car Connection Workshop podcast.

In the top right hand corner of our homepage, you'll see the links for YouTube, Facebook, and iHeart, and also our merch store.

We've got some winter merch coming along very, very shortly, but we have about six items up there available for you.

$5 over cost. So when you purchase a merch item, it helps us to keep the coffee on, keep the lights on, and get some donuts.

Why not? You've got to have snacks. You have to have snacks.

So thank you to Crystal Ridge Dream Center, serving men and women and children and single moms, meals, love, and hope.

Changing lives one at a time in the entire Niagara Region. Fabulous place.

Oh my goodness, what they do. They feed over 200 people out the door twice a week. Check them out on our website.

And if you can be a part of that community, by all means, doing a little means a whole lot when everybody pulls together.

Thank you to Earl Louise Grant at City Auto Sales and Leasing and the GTA Low Mileage Quality Vehicles at fair prices.

They're GTA's premier, pre-owned auto store. They do in-house financing. They do leasing.

If you have bad credit, good credit, or no credit, you're in the right place.

Earl Louise Grant will treat you well. They sell no junk there.

And thank you to Rita and Ramiz Genuda back with us again to support Car Connection Workshop.

Rainbow Motors and Garage. Sales and service you can trust in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.

Great fellas. They work on all years' makes and models, including light commercial vehicles.

So let them know that Car Connection sent you to our certified financial planning professionals.

My brothers from other mothers, Tony Miele and Larry Tietro, 50 years' experience with IG Wealth Management.

They are fiduciaries. These guys are two of the best of the best in Canada.

I've worked with them for over 20 years. They're not just my financial planners, but they're also amazing business people.

And they listen really, really well. So for portfolio, debt management, estate planning, mortgages, and more,

you have your hands on a complimentary hour and a coffee.

No sales. Just listening to you, what your goals and dreams are, what your things are that are keeping you up at night.

That's what your hour and a coffee is for. It's a discovery meeting, so check them out on our homepage of our website.

All our program partners are there. Connect to Niagara Block, 5,000 Montrose Road in Niagara Falls.

Building Canada since 1931. Building in hardscape, landscaping materials, 905-356-2221.

Their customer service is over the top, friends, over the top.

So whatever you're thinking of building as your oasis or putting an addition on, they're your team.

And to Total Freedom Dairy and Center New York and Sydney, Manitoba, Canada, that is a men-only campus.

If you, someone you know is suffering with any kind of addiction whatsoever, you can get to Total Freedom Dairy and Center New York.

They'll get you there. And for the men, that is a men and women campus.

Sydney, Manitoba is for men only. Your new life awaits you there.

So no more excuses. Now you have a way to connect and change. Change your life.

So your brand new heart, your brand new life, awaits you at Total Freedom.

Just let our program partners know that we sent you over there, and I would appreciate that very, very much.

So with that, no further ado, let's jump into five more.

You got your crayon ready? Your brown paper bag so you can take some notes.

Why don't we have just a quick swiggy together on three, two, one. You ready?

Three, two, one.

That is so good. It should be illegal. You know what I'm saying? Whatever your favorite morning beverage is, just get it done, right?

If you're driving, please keep both eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, no distractions unless you're laughing, and keep an eye on the other guy.

That's right. All right, where do we left off at number five on the previous podcast?

Don't forget to check out, like, subscribe, share, follow, and ring the notification bell and be part of our car connection YouTube channel.

It's actually under Nile MotorMouth Jenkins. We'd love to have you over there.

All our videos will always teach you five things.

What it is, where it is, how it works, why it matters, and how you could have saved money by just understanding your car a little bit more,

and how things work will help you save a lot of money on your repair bills.

So that's what you learn on our YouTube channel.

Our YouTube channel started about three and a half months ago now, and the whole purpose is to get it monetized.

If you can help us get to a thousand subscribers, we're at about 211, I think, or 212.

Once it's monetized, I want to be able to use those resources to take care of widows, orphans, single moms, and just those, you know what?

The car's important. Money's tight. You put food on the table or keep the lights on.

Those kinds of situations and circumstances would be just great that we would be able to get the parts and install the parts.

I am a fully licensed, qualified automotive technician.

I've got my 310S for light truck and passenger and my 310T for highway trucks, coaches, and diesel equipment.

All right, number six. Are you ready?

Okay, I bought you some time so you get your crayons ready.

That's what that was all about. I bought you some time.

But if you're driving, get a passenger or a backseat driver to take some notes and put the volume up so we can catch up with things that will help you to stay out of the ditch this winter.

Exactly. Because we don't know right now at this stage of the game, what is winter 2025-2026 going to look like?

Well, we can all talk about it in tail end of March, right? March and April.

I can't wait for it to get here, to be honest. Absolutely.

All right, number six. Just say shut up, motormouth. Let's get going.

Okay. All right, 31 years on radio. And now we're on podcast. Look out world.

We are stretching our wings. This is car connection next gen 2.0.

Brake fluid. How many of you actually even, before you go to bed at night, the last thing you think of is, oh, my vehicle's brake fluid, honey.

Do you think it's okay? And he's watching TV and he's going to go, huh?

Huh? Where?

Like men do. They just, they don't say anything. They just grunt, right?

We got it. Well, there's a little more to it than that.

Here's what you've got to know. Brake fluid absorbs moisture.

It's what we call hydroscopic. All that means is brake fluid loves moisture, water.

So here's what we're looking for when we're checking it.

I have test strips to check it, but you know what? You can pretty much in this trade since 1988.

Well, that's when I got my licenses was 1988 through Mohawk College.

Great college, by the way. If you've got kids that are looking to get into the trades.

Mohawk College, there's no flubbing there. You know it or you don't.

So just by myself looking at brake fluid, I can tell you whether it's good, bad or ugly.

So here's what we're looking for. If it looks like weak T, it should be clear, right?

You got to get it flushed before it freezes like grandma's leftover gravy.

You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, we don't go there.

Leftover gravy sometimes can be enough to stop a bullet if you know what I'm saying.

Like really bad, thick oatmeal. Yeah, if you can get that puppy down,

you're a better man than I am. So that's what we're looking for is discolored brake fluid tells me two things.

If it's dark, if it's black, that's a holy smoke moment right there.

You're sure it's not used diesel oil?

What I'm going to say is if it doesn't look like clear apple juice,

then your whole brake system needs to be flushed.

What I call a brake fluid, gush and flush.

And here's a good rule of thumb. Every 24 months, just get it done.

Don't wait until it's telling you there's problems because when the brake fluid becomes that contaminated with moisture,

it's corroding your brake system, brake lines, calipers, wheel cylinders,

all the hydraulic proponents, proponents, that's a big word for a weekend morning,

that make up your braking system gets all sludged up.

That's right, like half set jello pudding and your braking system is not working 100%.

So every 24 months, if the fluid is absolutely spic and span spotless,

like I like to say it's like weak apple juice, like put half a glass full of apple juice,

put the rest water, that's what it should look like.

Just a very slight hue to it, that's it.

So when it's not clear, it's simple. That means it's contaminated.

That means it's ready to be flushed out and we don't want anybody's braking system,

especially the fluid that provides the hydraulic pressure to give you assisted brakes, power assisted brakes.

We want to get that out of there.

And the other reason is that maintenance will save you a ton of money and brake parts.

And I have lots of videos on brakes this year in our YouTube channel that breaks down all the components

and why they failed, what they are and what we can do to prevent that from happening.

All right, next we're on number seven.

This applies to a lot of people. You got a key fob, some of you have key fobs and keys to go in the ignition,

some of you have key fobs and press the button, and then some of you have key fobs.

I had this Kia Borrego, how many of you heard of that?

I had never heard of that SUV ever.

We're only about 5,000 of them made. It's a behemoth of an SUV.

And the key fob goes right into the dash, the whole thing.

Then you press the button. I've never seen that before.

But anyways, nice vehicle. That was actually a V8.

We did a lot of work on that. That's a 2010 Kia Borrego.

Very nice vehicle. It built like a tank.

So anyways, getting back to your key fob, I digress, but I wanted to share that story with you.

If your key fob battery dies in the cold, and that's generally when it's going to happen on you,

hold it right up against the start button,

and sometimes that extra inch of effort is all it takes to get it started.

But again, this time of year, we're preparing for the worst,

and then if it doesn't happen, we go yippee, right?

Like this, yippee! Exactly.

When we hit spring, we go, hey, that wasn't so bad.

But we could also say that sucked with a K and a capital T.

So if it's been a while, or you can't even remember,

even under hypnosis, when you replaced the batteries in your key fob,

now would be a fantastic time to do that and prevent that from happening to you.

And I can't tell you the number of times that's happened,

and for those who do not have the vehicle with the push button start, you can't unlock the doors.

And then you go to try and use the key, and then the lock cylinders don't turn,

because nobody's been spraying the lock cylinders,

and one of my favorite remedies for that is PB Blaster.

That was recommended to me by Locksmith in the Buffalo and surrounding area.

Good friend. That's what he did all his life with Locksmithing,

and he said, don't put anything else in there other than PB Blaster.

So you want to make sure that all your locks are juiced up with some PB Blaster.

No, they don't send me a new car every year or anything like that.

It's just a product that works. I know it works,

and it was recommended to me by many years ago by my friend Glenn,

who has been a locksmith for decades.

Don't put any goo, any stuff from a blue and yellow can.

Use PB Blaster only on anything that has a lock cylinder.

So make sure all your lock cylinders on your vehicles are working.

Why? That is your plan B if your remote doesn't open the doors.

Got it? And for those who have the push button thing,

hey, congratulations, that's not something I want.

I want a lock cylinder where I can put a key in and get it open.

I don't want any digitals on my door handles.

If that's your thing and that's what you like, great, but just not for me.

I like my keyless entry for sure. Don't get me wrong.

I love my keyless entry. When your arms are full and whatnot,

you hit the button, hit it twice, everything's open in a way you go.

And if the fob quits and I've had that happen,

the key will unlock all the lock cylinders on my vehicles all the way around.

Alright, let's jump into number eight.

I hope you got that information down.

You can always go back and re-listen to these podcasts at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com.

Our webmaster, Mike, has set up archives in our website.

So you can find that page and re-listen there.

You can also go to iHeart and all the major platforms.

Click on whatever episode you want to listen to and collect it there.

So lots of ways for you to listen, re-listen, listen and re-listen and get all the nuggets out of it.

And you can always go to our YouTube channel and watch teaching videos there and you will laugh.

So just be careful. You don't spill something hot on your lap.

You teach and have fun all at the same time.

So where are we at? We're at number eight.

Keep a set of jumper cables or a booster pack handy.

And I was just looking in the Prince of the Palace booklet this morning.

They have a really small booster pack for under $100.

And that is a good price. That's a very good price.

I think it was the one that I was looking at was like $39 and change.

So I'm going to have a look at that because that's handy to have.

Let me tell you. But the other thing is read your owner's manual to make sure you know the necessary steps and procedures to boost your specific year-making model of vehicle.

Because there's things on certain vehicles that you need to make sure that you do when you're boosting.

So from a good car with a good battery over to your car.

So make sure you do that. Just don't assume you can hook up to it like a 1967 Chevy pickup and boost it.

No. We've got electronics, we've got ECMs, we've got modules, we've got computers everywhere in our vehicles today.

You don't want to blow something up. And I'll tell you a very quick story.

This is true. All my stories sound like, can you make that stuff up?

No, you can't. They're true.

I can tell you one about brake fluid, but I'll save it for another time because you'll probably go right off the road.

Yeah. It's a good one. It's a dandy.

A neighbor asked a neighbor, could you give my car a boost?

It's not turning over this morning. This was in the winter.

So as a good neighbor would, he said, yeah, sure I will. Yeah, no problem. Be right over.

So he's busy. The neighbor with the dead, the dead battery.

He's cleaning the car off. The other neighbors pulling his car out of the garage. Lucky soul.

It's like clean and goes over. And I heard this story from the neighbor that did the boosting.

Not from the neighbor that received the boost. That came later.

So he said, oh, I gave so-and-so a boost, blah, blah, blah. Didn't turn out very well.

And now he's not even speaking to me and I'm a bad man.

I go, how so?

Well, he went ahead and boosted the neighbor's car thinking, you know, being the good Samaritan.

And there was those specific procedures to prepare the neighbor's vehicle that needed the boost

to turn certain things on in the car to prevent a voltage spike.

Those procedures were not followed by said neighbor that needed a boost.

And the good Samaritan booster fella across the street thought he was doing a good thing.

And the boosting vehicle got its computer fried. It blew up.

Cost the nape. He had to get it towed a couple hundred bucks and a thousand bucks for the computer.

So neighbor that needed the boost felt that neighbor that boosted him was responsible for that computer blowing up.

He presented them with a bill for the towing and the computer and that ended the relationship right then and there.

In fact, the boosting neighbor moved out within a year. That's how bad it got.

So I hope you get something out of that.

Follow the procedure for boosting your vehicle or you boosting someone else's vehicle.

Go to the owner's manual or ask chat or Google it.

But don't just do it.

So keep a set of jumper cables or a booster pack handy because sometimes winter turns strong batteries into weak excuses.

That's true. That happened to me last year.

I drove all day. Scooted into town here on the south shores of Fort Erie in the Niagara region, Canada.

Went to the dollar store, which really isn't a dollar store.

But anyways, that's another story.

Came out click, click, click.

So I called my friend CJ and he just happened to be crossing the border coming back home to Canada.

And he said, yeah, I've got cables.

And I didn't realize I had a set of cables and a toaster in the back of my rig, but he gave me a boost.

I got home. The battery died and I had tested it the month before, which was October last year, 2024.

And it passed the load test and it just died just like that.

It was a cold day. It was on the road all day. Thank goodness it happened in town, close to home.

And my friend CJ was like, he says, I'm eight minutes away from you. How sweet is that?

So made a quick getaway and had to replace the battery.

All right, that brings us to number nine. Ready for this one.

Gloves in the glove box.

You know what? All the years having my own repair shop on the Hamilton Mountain for 11 years and working for other repair shops in and around the Hamilton area.

I don't think I don't recollect one time opening the glove box and actually seeing a pair of gloves in the so-called glove box.

Anyway, gloves in the glove box finally make sense.

But then there's some glove box. You can't even put a napkin in there. They're teeny weeny. It's true. They're teeny weeny.

Because changing a wiper in minus 20 Celsius.

I don't generally use the metric system. I think it's a tool of the devil. Bare-handed. So imagine this.

You got no gloves. You got a wiper that's down. You pull in somewhere you get a replacement and it's minus 20 Celsius outside and bare-handed.

I'll let you tell. I'll tell you this. That's going to be something you'll never forget. You'll only try that once.

I'm telling you, you will only try that once. And same with cleaning off your windshield or cleaning off your car.

Folks have multiple pairs of gloves planted in your vehicle, on your person, in your handbag, ladies.

So that you know what? You've got gloves to keep your hands warm. Because when it's freezing cold outside, gloves are your best friend.

And hats. And we have those on our merch store. You can get them in multiple colors. You pick the color and pay for it.

Put it in your shopping cart. Pay for it safely in our merch store. And they ship it directly to you.

So in fact, I just ordered some for myself yesterday because I like to wear a toque winter hat for our southern friends.

I don't know if they understand toques yet or not. Yeah, some say beanies, winter hats. Anyways, we'll just categorize winter hats.

And they're nice. They're knitted and they look great. They have our logo embroidered on the front.

Alright, so gloves in the glove box finally makes sense. Because changing a wiper blade at minus 20 Celsius bare handed is something you will only want to try once.

Takes us to number 10. Are you ready? Snow tires. I like to call them winter tires. And I just did a podcast.

If you haven't listened to it, summer tires versus winter tires. And I've also covered that on our YouTube channel.

We just put a video up two or three weeks ago on winter tires, why they always leak. And I show you how to fix that and fix it long term.

So winter tires don't make you invincible. They help you stop and steer. But if you're doing 80 in a blizzard, you're still going sledding.

Period. But I am a major advocate for winter tires because it's not all about snow events, accumulation. It's about the temperature of the road surface.

And just to make it short, these all season tires, I wish they would really take the winter designation off because the rubber compound that makes up a summer tire goes as hard as a hockey puck at 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

That's right. Fahrenheit. Winter tires are soft. The tread design, the siping design is completely different to match road conditions in the winter and the outside ambient air temperature.

So when it gets really, really cold, winter tires stay soft, pliable and manageable so that they can squish all whatever's on the road out of their tire treads and get down to business by gripping the road surface.

And if the road surface is cold, there could be black ice, there could be slippery spots, there could be frost on the road. Winter tires grip in those types of road conditions.

So if we have a winter like we did last year, it was a lot of rain, it was a lot of gray days, and we had a couple of snow events in our area where others did not.

You know what? I still like having that sense of security that I have winter tires, but I also know I can't be an idiot out there on the roadway driving like the road is dry and it's 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the sun is shining.

No. That just does not work.

So thanks for tuning in. That brings us to the end of our journey together here on the first episode of the Car Connection Workshop on a weekend.

We'll see you for more episodes of Car Connection Workshop Monday through Friday next week.

So keep it under 100. Watch out for the other guy. Have yourself a wonderful weekend.

And we'll see you right back here Monday morning, 8 a.m. for the drive time for more of the Car Connection Workshop with your host, Nile Motormouth Jenkins.

You can connect with me anytime on our website at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com.

You can also find us at Stevensvilleontheweb.ca. It's a local town here.

I love being a part of the businesses that are posted on that website.

And you just have to click on the Businesses tab. It will unlock our profile.

You can email me from there and that's where you'll also see outtakes and bloopers.

So to check in with everything that we have available for you, visit our website, carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com.

Everything you need to connect and click and be a part of and visit is on our homepage.

We'll see you there. Until next week, have fun, keep it under 100 and put the coffee on because we're coming to your house.

Thank you.

Motormouth's Top 5 Winter Tech Tips-The Cold-Weather Secrets Every Driver Needs

About this episode

Nissan Road

Jeep Wrangler

Land Rover Discovery

brake fluid

brake system flush

brake lines

calipers

wheel cylinders

braking system

brake flush

power assisted brakes

Kia Borrego

key fob

V8 engine

PB Blaster

owner's manual

Chevy pickup

ECM

boosting

voltage spike

computer fried

booster pack

jumper cables

winter tires

all-season tires

siping

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