Salt and brine on roads can cause invisible damage your car. How to avoid costly repairs.
Texas Department of Transportation teams across North Texas salted roads to make them safer for drivers during this week’s ice, sleet, snow and freeze.
Now that the storm has come, the saltwater brine and salt-sand treatments that were used to melt ice on roads could damage your car.
Brine and other de-icing chemicals cause brake lines, fuel tanks, exhaust systems and other critical car parts to rust. You might have to then take your car to a mechanic for repairs.
“Washing your vehicle in the winter, especially after roadways are treated for ice and snow, is critical to avoiding costly repairs down the road,” says AAA Texas spokesperson Daniel Armbruster. “Over time, rust can not only cause cosmetic issues, but serious safety issues if components on the underside of your vehicle become damaged.”
AAA Texas recommends you take the following steps to prevent rust-related damage:
- Limit driving immediately before, during and after winter storms when salt and de-icing solutions are being applied and are at their highest concentrations.
- Wash your car, paying particular attention to the undercarriage. This will loosen, dissolve and neutralize de-icing solutions. Many drive-through car washes offer an undercarriage rinse as an option.
- Use a high-quality car-wash solution, not a household dish detergent that will strip the wax from your vehicle.
- Repair any body damage and touch up paint scratches and chips that expose bare metal.
- Give the entire vehicle and undercarriage another cleaning in the spring. Any deposits left over from winter can continue to cause corrosion year-round if not properly removed.
If you do have any of the following car issues caused by rust damage, immediately move your car off the road to a safer location and have it towed to a repair facility:
- In-dash warning lights for brakes and other critical systems;
- A “spongey” or soft feeling when applying pressure to the brake pedal;
- An unusually loud exhaust sound or the smell of fumes in or around the vehicle;
- The prominent smell of gasoline or diesel fuel when the vehicle is running or parked.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 2:57 PM.
