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What should be done by a vehicle owner in order to avoid unpleasant surprises when the weather is cold

Weather forecasters predict that the intense cold in the whole territory of Latvia will continue at least until the end of the week. It will still be very cold at night time when the air temperature will drop below -20 ° C. And this means that in the morning in the parking lots and yards engines of many vehicles will slowly gain momentum and there will be a lot of vehicles, engine of which will not start at all. Of course, it may happen that there is a neighbour, who is not in a mighty hurry to the job and who will help to "jump-start" your car...

A lot of people believe that cold weather can cause unenviable situations only to owners of older cars, especially if the vehicle is equipped with a diesel engine. However, our experience of the last cold days shows that problems arise also to completely new cars with gasoline engines, which are not caused due to the considerable age of the vehicles, but to the insufficient battery power – the battery has not been charged sufficiently or the service life of the battery has expired.

The owners of  the KASKO insurance policies of the JSIC "Seesam Latvia" can contact our car assistance service by phone 67 06 10 00 at any time in situations when they can not start the vehicle , for example, because of the bitter cold.

Our specialist will arrive in the specified location and will help to start the car. If the car still fails to start (and it occurs frequently enough when the weather is very cold), the car will be towed to a service shop, and the problem will be resolved there. This set of services is free of charge to owners of  the Economy KASKO and Standard KASKO insurance policies if the policies have purchased after 08.03.2010 provided that the insured vehicle is not more than five years old.

What should be done by a vehicle owner in order to avoid unpleasant surprises when the weather is cold.

1) Monitor the quality of gasoline or diesel fuel used to fill up your car.

Diesel fuel which is not specially designed for use in cold weather becomes cloudy at very low temperatures, and there begin to form paraffin wax crystals. They block nozzles and filters of the fuel supply system, not allowing starting the engine. The only "remedy" in such a situation is towing the vehicle to a service shop, where the car can be "resuscitated" by warming it up. Otherwise, the car can be started not earlier than in the first warm spring days.

2) Always check the battery status. If necessary, the battery must be recharged or replaced with a new one.

If there is even the slightest suspicion that the battery can run down, you should, as a measure of precaution, purchase and have with you start-up wires, so they are available in case if you have to ask another driver for help.

3) You should use a windshield washing liquid that corresponds to air temperatures. 

It is desirable to handle the car door sealing rubber with silicone preparation to prevent door freezing. The lock should be lubricated with a lubricant designated for that purpose. The car lock in cold weather should be regularly checked also in cases where the car is normally locked by remote control. In cold weather, power of the remote control battery decreases. Therefore, if the battery is not new, the remote control may fail, not allowing the driver and passengers get into the car.

4) If you are using a car wash and the air temperature is low, make sure before leaving that all the excess water has been blown out from locks and door gaps after washing and that locks and door gaps are dry.

5) It should be remembered that, depending on air temperature, also pressure in tires is being changed. Therefore, you should regularly monitor the pressure in the tires, in order to meet the manufacturer's recommendations as much as possible.

6) Remember that you should always keep a reflective vest in an easily accessible place in the cabin of your car. If you need to leave the car on the road, you must first put on the vest.