Garage owners are advised to prepare early for the winter season by promoting seasonal maintenance packages to existing customers, stocking supplies like batteries and wiper blades that are sensitive to cold temperatures, and inspecting customers' lighting systems to ensure safe driving conditions during winter weather. Proper winterization includes checking batteries' state of charge, cleaning terminals, and making sure vehicles' electrical systems can handle increased load, as well as replacing wiper blades and bulbs to maintain visibility and performance. Taking steps to ready their business will help garages maximize opportunities and ensure customer satisfaction during the busy winter months.

1. || Winter Maintenance
Winterizing Your Garage
How to Prepare for the Upcoming
Winter Maintenance Schedule By David Halpert, Assistant Editor
With winter just around the corner you’re not part of a national chain or come wintertime. This sensitivity is for
many garages take it upon themselves franchise? Ed Jagt, owner/operator several reasons. A colder outside ambi-
to prepare early for that expected win- of Pro-Tech Tire & Auto in Barrie, ent temperature, for example, causes
ter rush of clientele. Not only is it not Ont. offers simple tips that can eas- a slower chemical action and reaction
uncommon for a slew of customers to ily improve your chances for repeat inside the battery making it more dif-
arrive in need of last-minute winter business. ficult to effectively accept recharge
tire replacement once the first snow- “You can get your customers ready from the charging system. Secondly,
fall hits, many are likely to want their and plant the seeds early,” says Jagt, the metal inside an engine starts to
cars inspected for additional wear and “When you have your client in front of expand in colder temperatures making
damage. you paying for a service now in August it sluggish to start, leading to increased
However, the winter maintenance or September, ask them to consider friction and motor oil slowing down
has changed. Winters have been arriv- booking the next appointment for a on its holding properties. As a result,
ing later, allowing for weeks of missed winterization or their next oil change. a vehicle’s starting circuit requires
opportunities. In urban centres such Ask them if they’re going away and approximately 2.5 times the starting
as Toronto, where roads are routinely if they would like to have their car power (e.g. 180 amps at 27 degrees
cleared by snow ploughs, many cus- inspected before going on holidays. Celsius = 450 amps at -20 degrees
tomers question the need for snow There’s a lot of different ways for Celsius). Thirdly, corrosion built up
tires and other related maintenance. planting the seeds.” during the summer months can inhibit
And let’s not forget light vehicle parts the starting once winter rolls around.
are simply built better than they were Battery Maintenance “One thing that is always important
ten years ago. With that in mind, Batteries are one of the more sensi- [to know] is what type of vehicles
SSGM talked to several shop owners tive components of your vehicle when you normally work on. I’ve found
and manufacturers to get a better idea it comes to extreme temperatures of so many times, from a general auto
of ways technicians can better prepare hot and cold, which makes them a point of view, that it goes back to
in the months leading into winter. worthy seasonal item to have on-hand what vehicles have you had in the
Really preparing for the winter
maintenance schedule is about taking
the initiative, which comes down to
two things: promotion and supply, two
factors that can help ensure a prosper-
ous seasonal quarter.
“The trend is that our clients are
hanging onto their vehicles longer, so
they’re investing more in the main-
tenance and repair to protect their
investments. Maintenance starts out
as an educational process,” says Steve
Bowles, owner of NAPA Autopro in
Shelbourne, Ont. “Because we’re an
Autopro dealer, we have some very
attractive seasonal service packages.
We post our flyers as the customer’s
work is getting done. The flyers — that
are produced on a national level from
Autopro — will also be attached to
the customer’s invoice. On the phone
if [we’re arranging] a pre-booked oil
change we would also try to promote
the seasonal repair as well.” Now with a longer warranty, the Mega-Tron line of batteries provides long
But what if like most independents life and reliable starting power.
10 SSGM September 2009 www.ssgm.com

2. Winter Maintenance ||
The Hella 500 Driving Lamp is a 6.9” round lamp
that features a proven lightweight design, sturdy,
shockproof housing and a bonded water-resis-
tant lens assembly with an aluminum vapour-
coated reflector for maximum durability.
past. What type of vehicles have you “Our route managers will go out the stock to see if the battery is fresh, in
normally worked on historically,” says to those dealers that have been set other words, if it’s aged too much. If a
Gale Kimbrough, technical services up [with our program] and check the battery is not considered fresh enough
manager for Interstate Batteries. “Are stock on these batteries on the rack,” for the customer, he places a new bat-
they General Motors or are they Ford? he says. When he sees one missing tery in its place and takes the other
Are they Mercedes or BMW? What is he puts a new battery in its place and battery back to recharge (refresh) it.
the majority of the vehicles that you charges the account. He also checks “We have approximately 300 dis-
work on? When I had a business many tributors around Canada and the U.S.,
years ago I looked at the work orders and these distributors may be indepen-
and said, ‘You know, typically I work dent owners and work under the aus-
on 30 per cent General Motors and 25 pices of Interstate Batteries (similar to
per cent Chrysler/Ford,’ and so forth, a franchisee) or they may work directly
and that really helped me understand, for Interstate Batteries. Currently, we
in this case with batteries, what types I have about 50 distributors we own
needed to stock up on.” ourselves directly, the other 250, while
Interstate Batteries has also owned independently, work strictly
been known for its long-time bat- under the rules of Interstate.”
tery consignment program, whereby
an independent garage stocks but Lighting Opportunities
doesn’t own the battery until they Ensuring a proper functioning lighting
are sold to the consumer. Not only system should be an integral part of
does this have added advantage to any technician’s winter maintenance
independent garages that don’t wish schedule, not only because it’s respon-
to shell out extra dollars for parts, The F-150 LED/CELIS Taillamp contains 24 LEDs sible for maintaining a clear line of
but there is also a certain peace of which perform stop/turn functions, contain easy sight while driving but also to help
mind that comes with the process, plug and play installation and are OE fit and communicate to other drivers on the
as Kimbrough explains. function. road, even during the harshest winter
www.ssgm.com September 2009 SSGM 11

3. Winter Maintenance ||
may have a nice light, but you won’t
have the proper beam pattern.”
Trico has several winter blades lengths that no other manufacturer offers. The complete line consists
of thirteen part numbers in lengths ranging from 11” to 28”.
Wiper Blades
Aftermarket wiper blades manufac-
conditions. Benz, Volvo and Volkswagen models. tured today are designed to clear away
“[The thing to remember is that] This year, Hella also introduced the common winter precipitation forms
it’s a safety device. Now some people first high-performance halogen bulb like rain, sleet, slush and some loose
might not consider the lights to be a approved by the Department of Trans- debris, making them one of the most
super high safety device but it is and portation in the U.S. important items on your vehicle dur-
it’s funny because almost any mainte- “I think with a lot of the market ing the harsh winter months. Making
nance schedule on the OE manufac- involving lighting there’s the thought sure your garage is adequately pre-
turers say, ‘After one year you have to that you just change the bulbs and pared for this onslaught can only be
change their bulbs’ and of course it all that’s it. It’s actually a combination. accomplished through prudent plan-
depends upon how many hours you’re You need to change your bulbs to be ning ahead of time.
driving at night. But to be able to keep sure that the aim is perfect because “It is important to anticipate severe
your lights performance at their best otherwise you may have the most winter weather and be prepared with
it’s a good idea to have them replaced powerful light in the world, but if you an ample supply of both winter-style
once a year,” says Alfredo de la Vega, don’t have the perfect aim, you may be wiper blades and advanced beam
marketing manager for Hella Inc. pointing to the sky,” continued de la blades,” says Randy Chupka, market-
Hella, Inc. recently expanded its Vega. “The other thing is you need to ing manager for Gates Canada, the
OE Lighting Spare Parts Program with use the proper bulbs, if you’re going to domestic distributor of Trico Products.
the addition of over 50 replacement use the performance bulbs be sure to “Also, SUVs, wagons and minivans
headlamp parts. The new parts cover use one from the leading brands so you continue to be a popular vehicle type
late-model Audi, BMW, Mercedes- don’t get into trouble later on. You especially during winter months. Most
are equipped with rear wiper blades. It
Additional Battery Maintenance Tips is important to remind drivers that this
blade needs replacing as well.”
Gale Kimbrough, technical services manager for Interstate Batteries, was Trico Winter wiper blades are
helpful in providing SSGM with the following winterizing tips on battery equipped with an added protective
maintenance as we head from fall into winter. rubber boot that resists ice build-
• Quite often the naked eye cannot visually detect the presence of up during operation. This allows the
corrosion because it is hidden between the connection and the post. wiper to perform optimally in some
• Check and clean/repair as needed. of the harshest weather environments.
• Check battery state of charge level. They are also the world’s only source
• Charge the battery to a fully charged condition if needed. for winter blades to fit the new unique
• Check and verify the charging voltage and current output of the alternator Pinch Tab wiper arms used on late
is adequate. model GM pickups and SUVs (avail-
• Load test the battery at 1/2 CCA for 15 seconds and verify the battery able in 20" , 22" and 24" lengths).
is functioning properly. This can also be achieved by testing with a “Simply remind drivers of the
conductance tester. importance of optimum visibility and
• Do not allow the battery to become discharged during the winter months. the value of preparedness. Under-
Note: A fully charged battery will not freeze until -76°F (-60°C); however, a fully
score the reliability of a tested, prov-
discharged battery could start to freeze at 32°F (0°C). A battery loses efficiency
during the winter months. A fully charged battery can lose 35 per cent at 32°F (0°C) en premium wiper blade. Remind
and up to 60 per cent efficiency at 0°F (-18°C). drivers of the rear blade. Offer them
• A vehicle’s starting circuit requires approximately 2.5 times the starting free advice on how to get the most
power compared to 80°F (26.7°C). Example: 180 amps at 27°C = 450 out of their wiper blades,” continues
amps at -20°C. Chupka.
• Make sure the vehicle’s battery matches the original equipment Adopting a laissez-faire attitude
manufacturers CCA (Cold Cranking Amp) vehicle requirement. towards the approaching winter main-
• Check the voltage drop between the alternator and battery. The voltage tenance season might be the deciding
loss between the alternator B+ and battery positive post should not factor between whether the undecided
exceed .300 volts (300 milli-volts) at 1,500 engine rpms with normal customer goes to your garage or your
electrical loads on. competitors. Don’t wait to act on
• Check the voltage drop between the battery negative post and engine some extraordinary opportunities in
ground during cranking. The maximum voltage loss should not exceed preparation for the coming winter
.200 volts (200 milli-volts).
season. SSGM
www.ssgm.com September 2009 SSGM 13