1. Have the anti-freeze checked to ensure that it is good for the minus 35 to 40 below Celsius winter mornings
2. Change the oil to at least 10-30 or 5-20 weight
3. Test the battery for life
4. Clean the battery terminals to assure good cranking ability
5. Check charging system for adequate recharging capability
6. Test the block heater, the cord that you plug it into, and the outlet

• A battery warmer can help keep the cranking power at 80 % or more
• Dualing block heaters or adding on a dipstick heater will assure a thin oil on a cold morning. Optionally an in-line water circulator heater works very well, especially on propane powered vehicles
• For fuel injected vehicles, follow the manufacturers recommendations. In most cases they advise that you don't pump the gas pedal.
• If you have a cell phone, keep it charged in case you need to call us.

If you don't get a quick start within 30 seconds, stop and rest the starter a minute. In order to conserve battery power, turn the key off and make sure no other power source is on. After a minute repeat the same procedure.

If you still don't have any success, call a tow truck. Persistence will only increase the risk of damage to the starter and leave you're battery low. Frigid weather will then freeze the battery, making it inadequate for the remainder of the winter.

Assuming it did start, do not rev the engine. Let it idle at the setting specified by the carburetor settings and allow a good 5 minutes of warm up to assure proper oil and water circulation. If you were to set out to soon then at the first set of lights you had to wait for it would cause the idle to drop to low. The fuel mixture is to rich when cold that it floods the engine. Restarting can become difficult. If this should happen then attempt to start normally. If this fails, the only time that you touch the gas pedal is by putting it right to the floor and crank for 30 seconds or less. By doing this it opens a butterfly in the carb which is the choke that riches the gas mixture for cold starting. When you depress the gas pedal the choke will open a bit more allowing more air to the gas and unflooding the system. At least it's worth a try when you're sitting in the middle of traffic holding up the rush hour.

A worse case scenario would be stopped in traffic for 1/2 an hour or more, snow coming down, in the dark and -20 below. A lot of cars with week batteries or alternators will not make it home.

If you get stuck in the snow, don't rev the engine to high or to long. This could cause over heating which also over heats the transmission. You may not notice any immediate damage but come summer you might wonder why you're transmission just quit. It would be cheaper to pay a tow truck $50 dollars than a transmission shop a thousand dollars or more.

Do not ever attempt to pull you're vehicle home with a rope or chain. Number one, the transmission wont take it. Secondly there is no control on a immobilized vehicle; steering or braking let alone visibility. Besides it is illegal and the insurance coverage is only good for when its running. That's why we carry 2 million dollars of insurance coverage in order to cover you're vehicle while in tow.