:Winter Tire Pressure Truth's: Motormouth's 2 Cold-Weather Tech Tips to Save Your Safety (and Your Wallet)"

Well good morning friends, you're tuned to Car Connection, where the coffee is strong,

the stories are real, and the wrenches never stop turning.

I'm your host, Niall Motormill Jenkins, coming to you from the Car Connection workshop, where

the smell of fresh oil in a little elbow grease is all part of a balanced breakfast.

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Niagara Block, 5000 Montrose Road, Niagara Falls, Building Canada since 1931,

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connect. We have our YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, iHeart and our merch store all available at the

click of your mouse or your finger, whatever it may be, on the top right hand corner of the home

page at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com. So, let's jump right in. I got a couple of

motormouth tech tips for you today. They're winter tech tips. So, if you got a crayon,

a notepad, a brown paper bag, this would be your opportunity to take some notes

and all our podcasts are archived on our website at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com. Just click,

find the archive section and away you go. Select by date and topic and you can open it,

share it, get it out there, share it with your family and friends and share this podcast with

your family and friends as well. Well, we're on winter tech tip number 15, just in case you were

counting. Keeps me on track. That was a coffee this morning. Yeah, it's Thursday morning. The weekend

is almost here. Amazing. Can we have a swiggy together? Keep your eye on the road if you're

driving. Let's do it on three, two, one. Don't want to waste this really good cup of joe.

That is nectar right there. All right, winter tech tip number 15. If you hear squealing on cold

starts, it's likely the belt. Ignore it long enough. You'll be walking to Tim Hortons instead of

driving. I talked about a little bit in the last episode of the carconnection workshop. So,

if you want to check in there, you'll find it. If you're hearing squealing or chirping or some

kind of chuffing sound, more than likely, it's the serpentine drive belt. And what I talked about

in that podcast was when the vehicles today have one serpentine belt, so one belt drives all the

components. What does that mean? Water pump, it drives off the crankshaft of the engine, so that's

the drive. And then the driven components are water pump, power steering, air conditioning,

and there's some other bootly doodlies in there, like the belt tensioner and some idler pulleys,

so the belt is tracking all the way around all the pulleys. So, when that sucker snaps,

it's about 16 feet long or longer, depending on the size of the engine you have and the total

number of pulleys to get that serpentine belt around and operating all the accessories. Well,

did I forget alternator? Yeah, that would be probably another one. The belt would go around,

so in my mind, I'm visualizing the pulleys and somehow I missed the electro-wurler, the alternator.

So, when that belt breaks, all that stuff stops, stops turning, no power steering,

no air conditioning, who cares at this point? Alternator and power steering, did I say that

already? Maybe. Water pump, huge, because when the water pump's not turning, the engine's still

running, it's going to overheat just as fast in the winter as in the middle of July in the summer.

The engine will overheat and you don't want any catastrophic mechanical failure. So,

make sure, if you hear some funny noises from under the hood, get it to the shop and let them

check that serpentine drive belt. And here's what I recommend. Regardless of mileage, it's rubber

and, you know what we have? UV rays and very hot temperatures under the hood. It's hot enough under

the hood of a car today in excess of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, it's super hot under there.

That's why all this plastic and stuff in the front of the car that, you know, you get hooked up on

one of those curb stones and you rip it off and you go, well, we don't need that. Yes, yes, you do.

They're called air dams and we need those in place to direct air to get that hot air out

from under the hood of the engine. Lots of air flow. So, all that plastic stuff that you think

is just there for show and no go, not true. It's all there for engineering specifics for air flow

to get that engine cooled down and get lots of air flow through the radiator. So, I say that to

say this, that belt is made of rubber. Heat is the enemy. It rots it out. UV rays rotted out. So,

two years, regardless of mileage, that belt should be seriously monitored and replace it,

because I've seen it when it happens. The belt breaks. That belt is whipping around underneath

the hood, tearing things apart. And the last one I had to fix was just under five grand,

$5,000 to fix the damage from a serpentine belt that it didn't fall right off. It was wrapped

around the engine pulley at the bottom while the engine was still running. And so, it was about 10

feet of that belt whipping around under the hood. It even pushed, it even bulged the hood. It damaged

the hood. There was a great big bulge in the hood. It was, it was a mess. Radiator, windshield washer,

overflow bottle, and other hoses and stuff completely ripped right off, pulled the whole

side of the radiator right into the cooling fans. It was a mess. So, keep that in mind.

If you hear squealing, chuffing, scraping, or anything that sounds abnormal coming from under

the hood, get that belt checked before it breaks. Cost you a fortune to get it everything fixed

afterwards. So, tech, motorbike tech tip number 16, keep your trunk light working. You know why?

Because if you have to go digging for those jumper cables that you put in there,

which were in another tech tip, in the pitch black, it's like a winter workout nobody asked for.

And I get it, because that's happened to me. The trunk light's not working. I'm in a dark area.

That was before flashlights on the cell phones. Okay, I just want to say that. And it was so dark

in the trunk. I couldn't have found anything in there. So, you want to make sure your trunk

light works and that you have some way of illuminating the cargo area to find those

jumper cables. And I mentioned, we talked about that, boosting. Either you're boosting someone

as being a friendly neighbor or a friend or they're boosting you. Read your manual specifically

to prevent your car from being damaged. There's usually a chapter in the owner's manual

to tell you and show you how to do that. And a lot of times with all the different makes

and models, there are specifics that need to be followed in order to receive a boost or give a

boost to someone else from your car. And the same applies to the boost vehicle, to the vehicle

being boosted. Whatever year making model that is, a look in the owner's manual will save you a

lot of heartaches. You got to listen to that podcast, because I tell a story about that

where a neighbor helped a neighbor. It was winter, gave him a boost. His computer blew up in his car

over $1,000. And it really brought some animosity between them. They were the best of friends.

And then one of them put their house up for sale and left because they just could not iron it out.

It was, yeah, it was ugly. So check out that podcast because that's real stories here in the

car connection workshop. I got lots of years to share with you. I am a fully licensed, qualified

auto technician, light truck and passenger vehicles as well as highway trucks and coaches,

diesels, all sizes and equipment. And I'll tell you, there's lots of stories from this fella.

I was licensed, I got my licenses in Toronto, sat down and wrote the

four and a half hour exam in 1988. Okay, we move on. Let's not digress.

What did I want to talk about today? Well, a reminder that this time of year,

don't forget to keep an eye on your tire pressures. If your vehicle is not equipped

with a low pressure monitoring system for the tires, then you are the monitor. Okay,

that means you need to buy a $5 tire gauge, learn how to use it. And you know what, we'll do a

YouTube video on that for you. Just how to check and test your tire pressures because there's a

number of areas and there's some discrepancies on what's the tire pressure set at, go to the doors,

the door jam sticker on the car and use that setting. But I have a really big problem with that

because what if your vehicle was on its third set of tires since the vehicle was

manufactured and created on the assembly line and the tires that it left the factory with

are not the tires that are on it now? And here's the question I've always had.

Do vehicle manufacturers make tires? No.

Should they be telling you what the tire companies want,

their tires, specific tires want to be inflated at or the car manufacturer? This is where I've

seen tire manufacturers make tires. Their engineers design it, they build it, they sell it.

So the information on the sidewall of the tire, that's the information I follow. Why?

The tire manufacturers, engineers, they design, make, build, sell the tire and what the tire

pressure should be set at. It really, the tire has nothing to do with the manufacturer whatsoever

that's building the car. And this is where there was a problem a number of years ago,

maybe some of you remember with, that was the Ford, not the Expedition, not the, which one was that?

Explorer. The Ford Explorer, they were rolling over, they were skidding out of control because

the tire pressures were set too low according to the door jam sticker. And then the tires that

were on there, the Ford was throwing the tire manufacturer under the bus. And the tire manufacturer

is going, well, the door jam sticker, that's not the air pressure we want our tires set at,

it's the tire pressure on the sidewall of the tire. Not what you came up with. Ford Motor Company.

So it was a huge lawsuit. And I'll tell you what, I sided with the tire manufacturer right away. Why?

Again, tire manufacturers have engineers and designers creating tires, different,

make some models of tires for all kinds of vehicles. They put a lot of information on the

sidewall of the tire for the use of their product, not the vehicle they're going on.

The information on the tire is what the engineers have designed the tire to be run at or inflated at

or how much weight the tire can handle. See where I'm going? So I'll do a video on that and make

sure we get that up on our YouTube channel so we can take a look at all the information on the

sidewall of the tire and show you where it says the maximum inflation level is. I can't even tell

you on any one of the vehicles that we use here at the Car Connection Workshop what the

manufacturer suggests because I don't even go there. I go right to the sidewall of the tire.

That's it. The tire size, yes, matches what the vehicle left the factory with.

I don't mess with that. Whatever the size is on the door jam sticker for the tires

from the vehicle manufacturer, that's what I put on. So I'm following the sidewall of the tire.

Whatever make manufacturer tire it is, that information is on the sidewall of every single

one. So tire pressures are important heading into the winter because they're over-inflated

or under-inflated. The vehicle handling is affected 100% and you can have cheap, nasty,

crappy tires on your vehicle and it can be a really nice riding vehicle and I've experienced this

many times. Really nice vehicle, lousy tires. Take the cheapies off, put on a tire that's

designed and manufactured for that year making model and it brings that baby alive

and you can feel it when you drive it. Oh yeah and I can tell. You take a year and here's where I

you can really tell. I like Volkswagen's. I like a lot of European cars. I have a Saab

and you know what, there's no cheapy tires on there. They're your tires that the manufacturer

recommend for European cars. I've driven a Volkswagen with cheaper tires on and it's like,

wow, this thing's like a handling like a piece of junk. Swap the tires out, put on a really nice

European style tire for European cars and all of a sudden it's like, am I in the same car?

It makes a huge, huge difference. So I mean if you're in a situation where your tires are done,

steel belts are hanging out, my brother likes tires like that. I don't know if he still does but

I always seem like he really liked tires with the steel belt hanging out. Rip my hand open one

time, changed some tires. I didn't expect it. Didn't have my gloves on, grabbed the tire,

ripped my hand wide open with the wires hanging out. Yeah, I was cheesed off because it was sore

for weeks. But anyways, I don't want to digress here but that, those aren't tires. They're round

and black, yeah. So I mean if you're in a situation like that where you got no tread left, you got

like a bologna skin, a tire tread left, which isn't much, you gotta have safety. If you can't stop it,

steer it, nothing else matters. You gotta have grip. You gotta be able to have control of the car.

So if you gotta go for a cheaper tire to at least be on the road safe, then that's where I say,

you know what, you gotta get what you gotta get based on your budget. But what you got with the

steel belts hanging out or the baldinis, yeah, that's not good. That's, that's a wreck. That's a

train wreck just waiting to happen. It's not an if, it's a win. So in that particular case,

that's where I even say, you know what, go to the recycle yards, you can get some great deals there

and rubber that's, you know, 85% or more. Just check the production date on the tire and we'll

cover that in that video. So we will do a tire segment this week. Actually filming's done for

this week. We, we video every Monday and we put three new videos up every week. So yeah,

we'll shoot that video this coming Monday. I'll set it all up with Skippy, my videographer,

we'll shoot that. We'll go over all the information on the sidewall and tire and we'll need some

really good lighting so that you can see it and we can walk through what the sidewall of a tire

means so that you will know that as well. So ladies, you'll be able to check your tire pressures

and adjust them yourself. So we'll go through that and put that together just for you. Excuse me,

I need a little more coffee. That's the problem. You mind? Can I have a second?

It's cool enough. Yeah, I think that one's done. So tires are important. But again, like I said,

if you only have a limited budget, you can pick up some pretty good deals at the

recycle yards and get some used ones. I've gotten some great deals out of a recycle yard in St.

Catharines. Great deals. I picked up a set of German made winter tires for our little 09

Hyundai Accent. And I'll tell you, those things are incredible. And I looked them up online and

how much I paid for them. And they were about 80% rubber. This will be their second season. I just

put them on last week. They still look like nothing's worn off of them. And we'll probably get another

two years out of those. And I paid $30 a piece for those. They were $140 a piece online.

Wow. Great deal. That was a great deal. Good money saver. So again, if the budget's tight,

you've got that option. Check out some of the recycle yards and see if you can find

a set that fits your vehicle. My pops found a great set. Same location. A year before last for

his Lexus and got some winter rims as well. The guy, he knows me. He hooked them up pretty good.

Really good, I got to say. Really, really good. Pops is really happy. Really good. He got these

really nice sporty rims and tires. Yeah, great deal. He got a winter tire package put together

at a very good price. You can sometimes pick tires up off the interwebs as well. But get

something on the vehicle all the way around. It's better to have something on there than

all matches. Matches all four corners than to have mixed match tires. Don't do that. I do not recommend

that at all. Because when you have mixed match, mixed match, where is it mixed match? Let's try

that. Mix match to your tires. So you got different treads and tires on the back, different tread

and tires on the front. The car doesn't, it does not track the same. You want all four tires,

same tire manufacturer, same model tire, same tread design, exactly the same. Now you got a

vehicle that will track, no matter what the road condition is in the winter, will track properly.

And again, winter tires, not all season. We just put one more video up, summer all season tires

versus winter. I just did a really great video. That'll be loading up next week. So we did,

we shot that on Monday of this week. And that'll be so we shoot, we're one week ahead. So what we

filmed this week goes into next week. And what we filmed next week goes in the week after and

that's how it works. You'll have to check and see if it's up on our YouTube channel. I haven't

looked, I do have some videos that I need to do the edits, the titles. Let me just, I'm checking

my list here right now. Do you mind? Just for you. Yes. That episode on our YouTube channel will be

loaded. And it's scheduled for Friday, November the 28th. Final episode on summer versus winter

tires. And it's hands on. And I did a really cool test to show you the science behind all season

versus winter. And then that's I said to Skippy, my videographer, I promise that's the last video

we'll do on all season summer tires versus winter tires. But now I got to tell her we're gonna,

we're gonna do another tire segment. It's okay. It's all good. That's the whole purpose of car

connection. The car connection workshop is to educate you, have some fun at the same time.

But you're going to learn always five things. What it is, where it is, how it works, why it

matters. And what could you have learned and done to have changed the outcome of having to spend

money to fix stuff that if you just understood the components a little better, you'd cost yourself

a whole lot less stress and less money on the repair bills. So I'm here for you. And I'm pulling

for you, because I can save you a lot of money. If you follow what I tell you, check in with our

YouTube channels, like, subscribe, share, you know the deal, comments down below, there's something

you'd love to see. Send me a comment, send me an email, connect through carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com

and all the other technical devices we have YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, we got the package

and you can find us. So till next time. Thank you for stopping by. We'll see you

the next day, which will be Friday. So today is Thursday. Tomorrow's Friday. The weekend is just

about here. It doesn't get any better than that. Drive safe and happy motoring friends. Watch out

for the other guy. Hey, put that coffee on. We'll come to your house. You've been tuned to the car

connection workshop on iHeart radio and all platforms. Come and visit us. Be a part of our

community. We'd love to have you. Bye for now.

:Winter Tire Pressure Truth's: Motormouth's 2 Cold-Weather Tech Tips to Save Your Safety (and Your Wallet)"

About this episode

Jeep Wrangler

serpentine drive belt

serpentine belt

alternator

water pump

air dam

radiator

cooling fans

tire pressure monitoring system

tire gauge

Ford Expedition

Ford Explorer

sidewall of the tire

Ford Motor Company

lawsuit

tire sidewall

European style tire

tire tread

grip

recycle yard

winter tires

Hyundai Accent

winter rims

mixed match tires

all-season tires

components

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