"All Weather" tires are just tires that are shit in all conditions. Single best "winterization" of your vehicle you can perform is to buy 100% winter tires, not all-seasons. Aside from that, get some chains in case you get into some bad snow. Also, get "simple" winter rims that don't have fancy "bling" stuff on it that will attract and collect snow. Other than that, check your windshield washer fluid, a rad flush with proper winter coolant wouldn't be a bad idea, and ensure your oil is a winter weight, preferably fully synthetic. Other than that, remote start is a great thing. Let the engine start up and warm up a bit before going anywhere, don't just get in and go when it's cold.
Ok, I need some help from people used to working on junk. 1988 Chevrolet K2500 350 TBI engine. My thermostat stuck Saturday. Temp got up to about 225 before it opened and temp came back to normal and it performed fine as I drove straight to the parts store and back to my garage to repair it. I figured I would do a tune up while I was at it. So I got plugs, wires, cap and rotor button, along with the thermostat and gasket. Gapped the plugs at .035", the first number I came to after a google search. After installing all that it runs like a watch when I either, a) give it absolute hell, keeping the RPMs high, or b) be incredibly easy on it. At my normal driving habits it misfires. What did I fuck up?
Did you loosen the distributor for any reason? The thermostat housing sometimes has studded bolts that have ground wires connected on those early years. If you have them they should be clean and solid connections. I don't know your level of experience so this may be a dumb question but did you take off all the old ignition parts and then try to replace them via memory? You could have plug wires crossed. Attached is the firing order and distributor order.
I didn't loosen the distributor, I will check to be sure it wasn't loose to start with and could have spun it a bit. It does have the studs on the thermostat housing. I"ll check those connections, clean and solid they may not be. Plugs and wires done one at a time, so they are in the proper place. I'm usually a pretty good mechanic, may have let my automotive skills degrade over the last few years, been paying to have work done.
Where I went to university it could get down to -40(F or C, at -40 it is the same), we would see a week or so of -30C for a week or more at a time. I will agree with Nett, a good set of winter tires is great. The hill going up to the university we probably a 9percent grade. There were a few times where if there was an accident and people had to stop, they couldn't climb the hill from a start, I could. Other then a set of winter tires, I never did anything special to my car, I did have a set of chains never once used them. Only thing I will say is, DO NOT put on your parking/emergency brake, the shoe's could freeze to the drum, if you have rear drums brakes, not sure if rear disk are the same. And definitely let your car warm up a bit before you start driving if it gets below freezing. On the all-weather(not all season) tires. There are plus and minus. They aren't any were near as good as a full winter tire, but if you only see a little bit of snow they are all right. Where I live we don't get much snow at all usually a couple of day to a couple of weeks, so my dad had a set on his car. He got a job in the next town over(150km). Where we live it could be 10C and where he worked it could be -20C, so the highway would be fucking hell. He drove the car with all-weather tires on it until the tires wore out, 1 or 2 years back and forth on the highway. He said he never had any issue unless it got to extreme snowy/icey conditions.
If there are two ground wires on the housing they need to be separated, one on each stud. And checking all the vacuum lines isn't a bad idea. If it ran fine before doing the tune, then something isn't right with the new parts you put on, you can't install a rotor button backwards and get the cap back on so I would double check the wires/cap.
Just posted this in the rant and rave thread, but anyways a local shop screwed up and didn't exactly finish the oil change job (apparently you have to screw all the pesky covers and caps back on). So there's oil all over the engine compartment now. It is stinking up the inside of the car, so how to clean this now?
I'd take that thing back to the shop that left the cap off and demand they pay for a proper detail shop to get it clean. The entire engine is due for a good cleaning, a good detailer will make it look new under there. Update on my misfire issue... Haven't fucked with it. It isn't a daily driver so it can wait. I'll let you all know what I screwed up as soon as I find out.
They make Engine Cleaner for exactly that... Gunk is a well known brand. About $15, it's an aerosol can, spray it, let it sit for a bit, then hose it off.
I don't know anything about Honda motors . . . but, I'll pass this on in case it applies. (I may have posted about this back when it happened.) Anyway, on my 2004 Chevy, the knock sensors sit in the valley of the motor on top. There's a rubber seal around each one that simply wears out over time. I cleaned my engine with Gunk, and have used it before. I covered or otherwise avoided spraying water on the things I knew to avoid. But, water got down past the worn out seals and ruined the knock sensors. Cue check engine light. I had to remove the cover, throttle body, fuel rails, etc. to get to them to change them out. Of course, I sealed the new rubber grommets with Permatex when I put them in. So, Gunk is awesome for that, but watch what you spray when you rinse it.
Just take it to a self serve car wash and clean it up. Just make sure you wash the rest of the car first so the engine has time to cool down. Also, try not to make a big production of cleaning under your hood, because it's mildly illegal.
I sent a message to the shop and yesterday got a very apologetic call. This morning I dropped the car off for a free inspection, engine cleaning, and interior detailing, which is nice because the thing is full of dog hair and could really use it. Not sure if I'll ever get an oil change from the place again (especially because there's a shop just up the road that does it for $3 cheaper), but I do feel better about the situation now. Adding this to the list of things I didn't know were illegal. I see it's about the waste water now. Interesting.
This is more often NOT the case, though. Depends on where you live. Like around here in Georgia, many car washes are required to install oil & water separators or have stormwater runoff protections in the design for runoff for this reason. It's been my experience that it's more like that your location (typically, just within the City limits and not in unincorporated areas, unless your County has a large population) could have an ordinance against washing your car engine into the street at home (where it would run off unprotected), than washing it at a car wash (where it's protected). YMMV.
I'm pretty certain it would be illegal here, especially with me living less than two miles away from the Mississippi and everything.
http://jalopnik.com/lazy-idiots-at-lube-shop-cut-hole-in-audi-s4s-aero-pan-1748394648 If this would've happened to me I don't think I would've handled it as rationally as this guy. Holy shit.
Nowhere near as bad, but years ago I went to one of those Jiffy Lube type places. At the time I had my first toy 300ZX. I looked for months to find this Z...1 owner, low miles, never wrecked, not modified, not abused, always garaged. The original owner was a 75 year old woman who was selling it because she could no longer drive a clutch. The car was 9 years old and still smelled new inside. It had never seen snow or rain, it was the old lady's sunny day car. Trust me, I paid a hefty premium over high book for this car. With winter coming on in Idaho I took it in to have the oil changed before I put it away in the garage until spring. Some woman with a fucking cigarette dangling out her mouth went to get in my car. OH. FUCK. NO. I smoke, but I do not smoke in my toy cars. I came bellowing out of the waiting room at her to "Get the hell away from my car!" She was dumbfounded why I was so angry.