As a person who lives in a tropical country I’m curious, are there any incidents where it is so cold that all the moving parts of the engine actually freezes up and because of that you’re now stuck with a car that can’t be started until you use something to melt the ice on your engine.
If you watch Ice Road Truckers, they say that it happens to their trucks if they stop the engines too long. They have a rule where by stopping your engine when away from civilization is frowned upon as it could be your only life line in those temperatures. So yeah it does happen in extreme conditions.
I’ve never heard of that, but it makes sense. What i have heard of, is it getting so cold the antifreeze freezes. Since antifreeze is about half water, it expands and cracks the block. If you go somewhere where it gets that cold regularly, you’ll see a bunch of outlets in the parking lots for block heaters.
I live in Canada, and it gets really cold here. All the cars have engine block heaters (a small heating element inserted into the engine block and surrounded by coolant. Even at -40C the engine will still turn over (VERY slowly)-maybe not even fast enough to start. The battery is not very efficient at that temperature, and frequently has to be boosted.
It was -30 outside when night with a wind chill made it feel like -41. I hoped in my car to go crank it and man she started but such long battery cranks.
watching a subaru heat soak as well. nice
Some cold climate guys claim that you’re supposed to start the car and let it warm up for the time you scrape your windows and then go so the engine will warm up faster and the transmission will also warm up.. Should you go immediately or wait until the RPM’S drop.
i wouldn’t start right away, so yeah wait until the rpm drop to just a slight over idle or to idle level, then go. but don’t overdo it, leaving your engine idling to warm up is not good because oil won’t circulate as effectively as when you’re driving and it will put more wear on your engine.
For the most part, I don’t let my car idle longer than 1 or 2 minutes. That being said, sometimes I have had issues where I’ve scraped my windshield and tried to go only to find it frost back up while driving. For that reason, when below 10F, I do let my car idle for about 5 minutes or so AFTER I’m done scraping my windshield. My safety is more important than my car’s well being.
I remember a funny incindent a few years back with my E36.. i was going home from school and went out to start the car, and the temp display inside showed -37C which it does when its broken, so i figured it was. It took a few more rounds on the starter than usual but IT startes easy. As i sit there waiting for it to warm up i glance out to my left, making eye contact with a lady who could not belive what she just saw. I mean, her brand new Golf diesel should have started aswell, right? She had given up and was already waiting for a towtruck, and here i am, in my ‘92 BMW driving off.. :p The look on her face was ducking priceless :D
This is for all the idiots who say it’s better to idle the car forever before driving. More than 10 minutes of pointless idling vs 2 minutes of regular driving before the engine is up to temp.
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As a person who lives in a tropical country I’m curious, are there any incidents where it is so cold that all the moving parts of the engine actually freezes up and because of that you’re now stuck with a car that can’t be started until you use something to melt the ice on your engine.
If you watch Ice Road Truckers, they say that it happens to their trucks if they stop the engines too long. They have a rule where by stopping your engine when away from civilization is frowned upon as it could be your only life line in those temperatures. So yeah it does happen in extreme conditions.
I’ve never heard of that, but it makes sense. What i have heard of, is it getting so cold the antifreeze freezes. Since antifreeze is about half water, it expands and cracks the block. If you go somewhere where it gets that cold regularly, you’ll see a bunch of outlets in the parking lots for block heaters.
I live in Canada, and it gets really cold here. All the cars have engine block heaters (a small heating element inserted into the engine block and surrounded by coolant. Even at -40C the engine will still turn over (VERY slowly)-maybe not even fast enough to start. The battery is not very efficient at that temperature, and frequently has to be boosted.
It was -30 outside when night with a wind chill made it feel like -41. I hoped in my car to go crank it and man she started but such long battery cranks.
watching a subaru heat soak as well. nice
Some cold climate guys claim that you’re supposed to start the car and let it warm up for the time you scrape your windows and then go so the engine will warm up faster and the transmission will also warm up.. Should you go immediately or wait until the RPM’S drop.
i wouldn’t start right away, so yeah wait until the rpm drop to just a slight over idle or to idle level, then go. but don’t overdo it, leaving your engine idling to warm up is not good because oil won’t circulate as effectively as when you’re driving and it will put more wear on your engine.
For the most part, I don’t let my car idle longer than 1 or 2 minutes. That being said, sometimes I have had issues where I’ve scraped my windshield and tried to go only to find it frost back up while driving. For that reason, when below 10F, I do let my car idle for about 5 minutes or so AFTER I’m done scraping my windshield. My safety is more important than my car’s well being.
I remember a funny incindent a few years back with my E36.. i was going home from school and went out to start the car, and the temp display inside showed -37C which it does when its broken, so i figured it was. It took a few more rounds on the starter than usual but IT startes easy. As i sit there waiting for it to warm up i glance out to my left, making eye contact with a lady who could not belive what she just saw. I mean, her brand new Golf diesel should have started aswell, right? She had given up and was already waiting for a towtruck, and here i am, in my ‘92 BMW driving off.. :p The look on her face was ducking priceless :D
This is for all the idiots who say it’s better to idle the car forever before driving. More than 10 minutes of pointless idling vs 2 minutes of regular driving before the engine is up to temp.