"winterize" my car

I have a '95 Cavalier and every winter is a pain in the ass because it won't start, skids, etc. etc. etc.

What should I do to "winterize" it and get it ready for winter?

I have a '95 Cavalier and every winter is a pain in the ass because it won't start, skids, etc. etc. etc.

What should I do to "winterize" it and get it ready for winter?


snow tires for low traction. the starting issue; do you only do short runs (15 mins or less) if so when you start the car in the cold, then have everything running while driving, lights, heater, heated rear screen, radio/cd the battery doesn't get enough to recharge it so it'll be low. it could just be an old battery that could do with replacement. If the starting issue is that it wont turn over that is. which is quite likely. good luck.

I'm not sure how far north you live or how cold it really gets... I live in North Dakota... it gets very cold here.

My '90 used to live outside and it didn't like starting. I installed something called a "block heater". It'll probably cost $40-$50 to do this. When it's really cold, you plug it in and it heats up the water in your engine. This really helps, especially if your car must stay outside. It may sound strange, but it works.

Another thing you could try is synthetic oil. It's not as thick and allows you engine to crank over a little faster when it's very cold out. Another inexpensive thing to do is to replace the air filter. Have you replaced your spark plugs within the last 60k miles ? Spark plug replacement is the modern day equivalent of a tune-up.


I have a '95 Cavalier and every winter is a pain in the ass because it won't start, skids, etc. etc. etc.

What should I do to "winterize" it and get it ready for winter?

just loked and you are in Hamilton. i'm in whitby, the other side of t.o. i don't really do much to winterize my car at all. i get pretty much the same weather as you do. last winter i had no troubles at all! check out www.j-body.com it's the j-body club of ontario. there's quite a large chapter in the Niagara region!

check your local laws cuz if your lucky, for the skidding you could stud your tires if its not illegal, for the dealing with the weather..2 things you could do..one buy an interior and block heater for your car...OR you could buy one of those cheap tarp type tents that act as a garage that you could park your car in to keep it from snow wind etc

noshun - i'm gonna take a look at snow tires, today. thanks. as fot the battery, i don't think it's that because it's pretty much brand new. and it's also not vert often that when i start the car i have everything on. usually just the heater and radio. oh, and i checked out that site. very nice!

wapenn - yeah my car lives outside so it gets demolished by snow every year. a block heater sounds like a pretty good idea, i'm gonna check those out today. i'm gonna check out snythetic oil too. do i get that when i'm buying gas at the gas station in the pumps, or is it something i have to buy in a jug or...? i don't think i've had my spark plugs replaced.. i'll have to check with a mechanic. thanks for your tips!

project_cav - studding my tires would be illegal here, i'd assume. i've never heard of a tarp tent that acts as a garage. i'll have to check it out. thanks!

just saw the synthetic oil part. on a 95 it probalby isn't wise. Synth usually brings out pin-hole leaks in seals and gaskets and dries them out. you motor is a little too old to be going sythetic. it will cost a helluva lot more and can cause problems.

Yeah studded tires aren't legal in Ontario

just saw the synthetic oil part. on a 95 it probalby isn't wise. Synth usually brings out pin-hole leaks in seals and gaskets and dries them out. you motor is a little too old to be going sythetic. it will cost a helluva lot more and can cause problems.

Yeah studded tires aren't legal in Ontario

Thanks for letting me know that!

Thanks for letting me know that!

no problem whatsoever

Synthetic dries out gaskets ??? Whuuuuh ??? That's why Covette's, Cadillac's and Porche's come from the factory with it !?!

I've got 260k miles on my Cavalier... no leaks yet.

If it was a '55 Chevy which hasn't had timely oil changes and was loose and full of sludge, maybe. Synthetic Oil is the best thing you can use. If you want to keep your car forever, use synthetic.


just saw the synthetic oil part. on a 95 it probalby isn't wise. Synth usually brings out pin-hole leaks in seals and gaskets and dries them out. you motor is a little too old to be going sythetic. it will cost a helluva lot more and can cause problems.

Yeah studded tires aren't legal in Ontario

Synthetic dries out gaskets ??? Whuuuuh ??? That's why Covette's, Cadillac's and Porche's come from the factory with it !?!

I've got 260k miles on my Cavalier... no leaks yet.

If it was a '55 Chevy which hasn't had timely oil changes and was loose and full of sludge, maybe. Synthetic Oil is the best thing you can use. If you want to keep your car forever, use synthetic.You are both right and wrong. See here (http://www.bestsyntheticoil.com/dealers/amsoil/seals.shtml). (disclaimer: the site is written my Amsoil, an obvious source of potential bias). At one time, a long time ago, synthetic oils were misformulated and could cause seals to shrink or crack. Modern day synthetics don't have this problem.

However, with an engine that has ran on conventional oil for a long period of time may have some seal damage. Nothing is perfect and over time the rubber/plastic may break down developing small cracks and pin holes. Conventional oil has a tendency to break down or burn off and eventually fills those very small leaks with sludge or varnish. Switching to a synthetic (or even running a can of "block cleaner") can losen those deposits opening back up that hole. And then the new synthetic oil, which was designed not to leave the sludge and varnish, never fills in those cracks.

So the bottom line is that synthetic shouldn't cause additional leaks, only possibly reopen existing ones.

With modern detergent oils and oil changes at anything close to reasonable intervals, I doubt that there is much sludge build up in her engine... especially in a cooler northern climate.

My dad converted to synthetic when he had >70k miles on his Oldsmobile... no leaks.

My best friend converted his mom's car (A FORD... Fords are the worst for leaks) at >110k miles... no leaks.

I converted my girl-friends Camry at 90k miles (it now has 160k)... no leaks.

I converted my Cavalier at more than 100k miles (it now has 260k miles)... no leaks.

If an engine is really loose and hasn't had oil changes then it's likely that the owner doesn't care about it in the first place and they will perceive no benefit in spending the extra $ for synth.

FYI... it is possible to develop leaks after an oil change in older vehicles even with non-synthetic oil. It used to be that they wouldn't recommend changing brands of oil (30+ years ago) because of the differences in quality of the oils.

There once were reports that the conventional oil companies (or automobile manufacturers or service stations) hyped up the rumor about synthetic oils and leaks to make people afraid to use it in newer cars. The oil companies didn't want to loose sales, and the car companies didn't want people driving their cars forever, and the service stations want you to come in every 2k miles.

I do know that if you buy an old truck or tractor which has been parked for many years and then put in one of the new detergent oils, you are very likely to have a leak. The old oils used then were non-detergent and sludge would accumulate.

So, if the engine is clean, and the car is a '95 (and she has been reasonable about oil changes), I doubt very much she will have any leak. The life she will add to her engine will be tremendous and she can go (at least) twice as long (4-6k miles) between oil changes without any worries of harming her engine.

I don't know anything about AMSOIL, but I've had great luck with Mobil-1.

Take care.



You are both right and wrong. See here (http://www.bestsyntheticoil.com/dealers/amsoil/seals.shtml). (disclaimer: the site is written my Amsoil, an obvious source of potential bias). At one time, a long time ago, synthetic oils were misformulated and could cause seals to shrink or crack. Modern day synthetics don't have this problem.

However, with an engine that has ran on conventional oil for a long period of time may have some seal damage. Nothing is perfect and over time the rubber/plastic may break down developing small cracks and pin holes. Conventional oil has a tendency to break down or burn off and eventually fills those very small leaks with sludge or varnish. Switching to a synthetic (or even running a can of "block cleaner") can losen those deposits opening back up that hole. And then the new synthetic oil, which was designed not to leave the sludge and varnish, never fills in those cracks.

So the bottom line is that synthetic shouldn't cause additional leaks, only possibly reopen existing ones.

I never said that it WILL create leaks but I can. Newer engine are a little different from this one made 10 years ago and Synth CAN cause leaks and seals to dry. I know plenty of people that switched to synth, had problems and then switched back and after the initial switchbhack change have had not problem. There is no point her going and using synthethic, none-whatsoever. It will just cost more for noreason and can cause leaks wherthere you agree with me or not you will not change my mind. I've seen it first hane, so there is no conclusive proof in the cars that I have seen that this is the case but It's funny how the people I know have had leaks and used syth once only had problems when the synth was in there. Now they have no problems, one of these cars is a 00 Z24!!! Why change to synth? Even if it didn't create leaks? It's Way more costly over twice as much and in anything other than a highly modified 4 cylinder, it's not needed. You DON'T need it in a 2.2 or a 2.4. They makes it to 200,000 miles + on conventional oil and they wont last any longer with synth. It's REALLY not worth it. Also all this about scaremongering to make you use conventional instead, If you go somwhere to have you oil changed, a lot of the time if you ask for synth they will just sell it to you as thy make more money, but if you go somewhere that is honest they will tell you that it isn't worth your while if you are currently using conventional. I know someone who changes oil for a living. They use Castrol but Sell Castrol Syntec. They are honest and will let you know about the potential problems of synth. What's more I'm sure Castrol would rather sell syntec than Just GTX.

Lots of different opinions on the synthetic oil. :P