So what do yu do when it does way below zerp???
 

I grew up in the mid Atlantic states and we would have snow and enough freesing so we could ice skate on the lake. When I got stationed at the atomic power site north of Schenectday NY the winters up there in the "snow belt" were just brutal. I used a block heater that went in the dip stick tube and still would get up every 3 hours or so or the transmission lube would get solid. Later when I had a Dodge Van all customized I would use a Colman camp heater that burned white gas and I would pull the engine cover so every thing stayed about 40 degrees! At the atomic power site we would have the students go out hourly to start the cars and cycle through them. Then two hours later do it all over again! Sometimes we would come out after midnight shift and it had snowed and everything was covered except the front of my Dodge van! I imagine heated garages are nice but I never knew anyone who had one.

As a kid in Schenectady, I only remember one winter in the 1970's where we hit -30F. My parents garaged the cars, so no issues.

In the 1990's, when I commuted to Schenectady from Western Mass, my cars had Fuel Injection and I used Mobil 1, which generally has less trouble than dino oils. I only remember one day not starting and I was later able to get it going with some starting fluid.

Todays batteries better?
We just had below zerp temps for 3 days in a row. One of the cars sat outside through each night..started right up..no problem.

My cars are garaged. No issues this week.

We are not unfamiliar with cold weather here in Sweden.
Personally I usually make a large hot Lumumba and stay on the couch. :D

We have had -20C or about -10F for a whole week and our Camry and Lexus RX350 both start up no problem in an unheated garage. The RX has no block heater but there is no need for it.

Newer cars and suv's are way better at starting than the older cars. Having said that my 1958 VW bug would start no problem in -20F with no block heater. Loved that old car but had next to no heat when the car was running.

I had to google that one! What typically do Swedish drivers drive in Sweden? I am guessing Volvo?

Get on a plane and get my azz back to Florida.


Where it is currently 32 and raining hard. Where I've been camping in February and the temps have hit 19f overnight. Where 2" of snow closed town and shut down the local mall for 2 of the last shopping days before Christmas (this was in '89).

high 60s and some clouds here today, still in shorts but have a long sleeve shirt

Same old routine regardless of the weather. Some days it just takes a bit longer to warm the car up. Still have to clear the drive when it snows. The only real difference is we don't play outside as much.

The old honda was a bit slow this am, I think it was ~10. I hope its just the battery getting low but the first 1-2 shift was a little wonky too. My knees sure tell me its cold outside.

I remember tending my folks old diesel benz's in winter. No garage so I was chasing extension cords to the block heaters. No change starting w/o plugging in. I also got pretty good at changing glow plugs, never remembered to change them in the summer. :)

I really didn't know what a garage was growing up in Montana. When I was 16-17, my '68 Fairlane GT with a 289 froze up solid for about 2 months. Had to wait for a thaw to start it.

More recently, one of my 5.4L F150s wouldn't start when it was anything colder than -15 or so. Had to wait for the sun to warm it up. More of an electrical issue, though. I also had to bang on the transfer case with a rubber mallet to get the 4WD to engage. That's so much fun when its cold and snowy outside!

Take an Uber straight to the airport and gtfo of that place. That's what I'd do.

How cold is zerp?

3 years in Minot, ND...block heater every night on my 89 Suburban, other car was garaged. At that time, routinely -20 to -30, windchill was worse. We used to joke, the garage was our walk-out freezer.

My fingers get really cold when I am getting ice out of the freezer, but it is only for a few seconds.
Going to be in the 40's later this week, got to find that jacket, cant remember where it is.

One letter colder than zero???:confused:

Was on the phone w a friend who was walking down the street in NYC the other day. After about 3 minutes, his phone started cutting out and he said that he had to hang up because his fingers were starting to hurt bad.

Fk that sht.

Ski trip to Northern Mich in high school. We took my brothers car and after below-zero temps the car wouldn't turn over in the morning. Back then we thought it was a really good idea to run straight 50W Kendall GT1 because that's what Don Garlits used in the Swamp Rat :cool: So we took a propane torch and heated up the oil pan for about an hour. Voila!

Below zerp?! Thats some cold chit right there.

Yes it is, but I came down with the flu Monday afternoon, laid down for a nap and woke up with my head and chest in terrible shape? That is about the fastest I have ever gotten sick as far as I can remember. My eyes have swelled up so it is hard to see although better this afternoon.

love walk out freezer term. lots of leftovers on the shelves in our garage. had to bring the beer and pop in though . which sucks. pop cans exploding makes a hell of a mess

It was -42C here the other day. I've done everything over the years to enable starting. Ether starting fluid. Wrapping the engine in a old quilt to pre heating them with a hibachi grill. I've used a tiger torch inside a 4' length of 6" stove pipe with a 90 degree end to direct the heat up at the engine and keep the flames away. New truck has a composite oil pan (read plastic) so that is out. Now I have a small generator to power the immersion block heater. I can program my command start to fire up every 4 hrs (It then runs for 10 minutes) and shuts off but I lost the book that tells me how to do it.

Volvo and SAAB for generations. Generally very reliable in cold weather. Asian and German cars are gaining market however. Myself, I slide around in a twenty year old Beemer.

That's cold enough to freeze your derp off.

I made pea soup out of our Christmas ham bone. Put it on the back porch to freeze.

When my MIL lived up here, she'd forget a twelve-pack of soda in her trunk multiple times every winter.

Big difference from below 0 F and 0C.

Around here is is rare (fortunately) to get below 0F. We saw some single digit temps for a while and a total of 123 hours below 0C.

Back when I was in college, my GF and I drove up to Utah to go skiing during one winter break. We had a mutual friend going to school in Logan where we stayed. He was staying in a basement apartment outside of town on a farm. One morning we got up to go ski, temperature was -15 F and the old Dodge would not even kick over. The friend issued us an old steam iron and a blanket. We laid the iron against the block of the slant 6 so it rested just above the oil pan flange, threw the blanket over the engine, plugged in the iron and retreated with the car battery to the warm apartment to drink hot coco. An hour later we reinstalled the battery and the car started right up.

I think its colder than a welldiggers ass. It was 3*F here this morning. Thats almost zerp.

One one of the family ski trips we took a while back, we wen in my in-laws Mercedes 300 TD to Wolf Creek, CO. We stayed Southfork. It got 36 MPH with 5 adults in it, a ski rack on top and enough luggage to fill up the motel room. It also had the factory block heater. I asked the hotel manager if it was OK to park near a live 110 outlet and plug in the car. He said sure. I brought an extension cord. The next morning every car in the parking was covered in heavy snow except our Mercedes. The block heater also kept the entire car warm. I got in and waited the customary few seconds for the glow plug to glow, and it fired up instantly. We went to breakfast and let it idle. It was great to not have to brush off snow or ice. Throw on the chains, and we went up the mountain right behind the snow plow. The fresh powder snow was knee deep on the runs.

Only issue for us is the horses...barn gets closed up, electric water heaters for all stall buckets, dual blankets, lots of hay and grain, heater on in the tack room for the barn cats, etc.

I have battery tenders for all the tractors, 6x6 Ranger, and the Tundra; generators for the house should we lose power, wood stoves burning as I type, plenty of wood in the garage, tons more in the barn we cut and split ourselves.

I actually like winter here in the Maryland. Rarely severe for long.

This has been an interesting stretch. Another week and we're back to normal.

I have a diesel tractor JD 955, with my loader on it that won't even try to fire. I put the Mr.Heater aimed at the oil pan, with the battery charger on, and a quik shot of ether to no avail. I am currently hauling firewood, burnable trash, anfd horse hay with either a long sled, or a 4 wheeled ABS wagon.

My 99 Ford Powerstroke diesel hasn't started for 2 weeks now without at least an hour of being plugged in, (AND) a shot of ether. It probably needs new glow plugs, and/or GP relay.

There's a reason animals migrate.

Predicted high for tomorrow is 4F. Close enough to zerp to not matter. The wind is howling like a banshee too just suckin' heat out of the house.

So I'm doing inside stuff like catching up on filing, practicing the cello, will get to installing a new part on the Duc and maybe get around to an upgrade in the basement shop.

Seriously eff this...Furnace seems to be running constantly..at least its light snow so not to much to shovel.

I'm going to take after my mother, she rents a Villa in the Yucatan from New Years until Easter, or April...

My poor lil gator...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1515112962.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1515113004.jpg

Yes, they will start but, they make a winning sound. Can't be good for them. The developer I worked for would shut down the dirt crew. Every time it got that cold equipment would break. Trying to run equipment when that cold cost a lot of $. I'm sure you run equipment in Canada when way below zero. Seams best to give the crew time off rather than risk costly repairs. He said they were all $8k to $10k.

In this weather the Taco knocks when it first turns over. The noise goes away after some heat builds up. I figure it's due to cold oil but no idea what's knocking.