It's ice storm season. That means that your car can become frozen and covered in inches of ice within only a few hours. Here are the dos and don'ts of making your car ready to drive after the storm:

*Do Brush off any show covering the ice with a show brush, or even a broom.

*Don't brush off snow with a snow shovel, It's too easy to scratch the paint or chip a window.

*Do smack the hood and trunk with your flattened hand to break up any thin layer of ice, which can then be brushed off

*Don't smack anything with a hammer, piece of wood, your 2-foot-long plastic ice scraper. You stand the chance of denting the sheet metal or shattering a window—glass is easier to break when it's cold.

*Do start the car and let it warm up with the heater and front and rear defrosters on.

*Don't start the car unless the exhaust pipe and radiator grill are clear.

*Don't leave it unattended, because if the coolant is improperly mixed and the radiator is frozen, it will overheat and destroy your engine.

*Do turn on the headlights. The heat from the headlamp bulbs will make it easier to scrape ice off the lenses

*Don't turn the windshield wipers on until they're free of snow and ice. Leaving them trapped while they're trying to sweep the windshield could damage the motor, linkage or even the wiper blades themselves.

*Do use winter-grade windshield washer fluid to help melt ice from the windows.

*Don't pour boiling water from your teakettle on the windows, the heat differential will crack them.

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