Winter Driving; Operation During Cold Weather - Subaru FORESTER Manual

starting the vehicle with the transmission
in 2nd than 1st (both for MT and AT).
. Never equip your vehicle with tires
larger than those specified in this manual.
. Frequent driving of an AWD vehicle
under hard-driving conditions such as
rough roads or off roads will necessitate
more frequent replacement of engine oil,
brake fluid and transmission oil than that
specified in the "Maintenance schedule"
section in chapter 11.
. Wash the vehicle's underbody after off-
road driving. Suspension components are
particularly prone to dirt buildup, so they
need to be washed thoroughly.

Winter driving

& Operation during cold
weather
Carry some emergency equipment, such
as tire chains, a window scraper, a bag of
sand, flares, a small shovel, and jumper
cables.
Check the battery and cables. Cold
temperatures reduce battery capacity.
The battery must be in good condition to
provide enough power for cold winter
starts.
Use an engine oil of proper grade and
viscosity for cold weather. Heavy summer
oil will cause harder starting.
Keep the door locks from freezing by
Driving tips
squirting them with deicer or glycerin.
Forcing a frozen door open may damage
or separate the rubber weather strips
around the door. If the door is frozen,
use hot water to melt the ice, and after-
wards thoroughly wipe the water away.
Use a windshield washer fluid that con-
tains an antifreeze solution. Do not use
engine antifreeze or other substitutes
because they may damage the paint of
the vehicle.
SUBARU Windshield Washer Fluid con-
tains 58.5% methyl alcohol and 41.5%
surfactant, by volume. Its freezing tem-
perature varies according to how much it
is diluted, as indicated in the following
table.
Washer Fluid Con- Freezing Tempera-
centration
−128C (10.48F)
30%
−208C (−48F)
50%
−458C (−498F)
100%
In order to prevent freezing of washer
fluid, check the freezing temperatures in
the table above when adjusting the fluid
concentration to the outside temperature.
If you fill the reservoir tank with a fluid with
a different concentration from the one
used previously, purge the old fluid from
– CONTINUED –
8-7
ture