act@pur-phy.UUCP (Alex C. Tselis) (01/21/85)
Here in the midwest the weather has been really miserable. It's been so friggin' cold that they've been broadcasting emergency phone numbers on the radio for those stranded, for those without fuel, for those without shelter, and so forth. This weather will probably afflict those on the East coast soon, so you guys out there, take heed! Anyway, my question concerns the behavior of cars in extremely cold weather. I know something about the general characteristics of matter as the temperature is decreased (some stuff freezes, some stuff gets very viscous, metals contract, and so forth), but I'm particularly interested in what happens specifically to cars. I found that my car won't start, and I've had to walk home for several days now. This is when I need to use my car the most!!! Could car experts in Netland explain what happens to cars in such weather, and what sorts of things can be done to alleviate the resulting problems? This sort of thing would be very useful to me and others in the midwest, and will be useful to the people on the East coast who will have to worry about these things in the near future. (It usually happens that the weather here journeys to the East within a day or two.) Many thanks.
heneghan@ihu1m.UUCP (Joe Heneghan) (01/22/85)
I have some experience with bitter cold and cars and
why they don't start:
1. The battery gets too cold.
Prevention: Bring your battery indoors.
Put a 1 or 2 amp trickle charge on it.
Leave a ~60 watt bulb lit on top of it.
After the fact: Bring your battery inside and charge it.
Never charge a cold battery with a high
amp charge. Trickle charge first.
2. The gas line freezes.
Prevention: Use "HEET" or equivalent and let the car run 15
minutes before shutting off.
After the fact: Warm the carburator with a ~60 watt light bulb
or Hair Dryer. Also try starting fluid but only
use a little to avoid engine damage.
3. Flooded Engine.
After the fact: Push the accelerator down all the way and hold.
Hold the carburator valve open with a pen or
preferably a metal object because sometimes
a quick burst of smoke or fire comes up. Usually
smoke comes up once or twice and then the car starts.
4. Cracked Block.
Prevention: Make sure you have antifreeze tested to -40 in your
system.
5. No heat: Sometimes a thermostat will break in the open position.
This allows your coolant to circulate through the
radiator and as a result never gets hot. If it worked
it would remain shut in extreme cold and the coolant would
heat up.
After the fact: Put cardboard in front of the radiator until you
can get a new thermostat. Remember to take the
cardboard out as soon as it gets warm.
Disclaimer: I am not an authority on the subject. These are merely
observations of what usually happens.
For the people in warm climates: It's really not that bad once you
get used to it.
gvcormack@watdaisy.UUCP (Gordon V. Cormack) (01/22/85)
Cars don't like cold weather much, but they are still usable to -40 (C or F). I have lived with a car on the Canadian prairies for a number of years and have a couple of suggestions. The main problem is to get a car to start. Once it is running there isn't that much problem, though the engine may hesitate and stall because the intake manifold is so cold that the gas doesn't stay vaporized. To make a car start, three ingredients are useful: thin oil, a good battery, and heat. Almost all cars have electric engine heaters that pretty well guarantee that the car will start. If there is no electricity nearby, these don't help too much. Catalytic heaters that use gasoline from the tank have been made, but are not common. Even without heat, a car should be able to start. Ordinary 10-40 oil turns to butter at these temperatures and it is nearly impossible to start a car with this oil. 5-30 is much better, and the synthetic oils are much better, regardless of grade, as they do not solidify. Buy the biggest battery you can find. First, a battery only puts out about 10 per cent of its real capacity at -40. Second, they engine is VERY stiff. A lifetime guaranteed size 27 battery is less than $100 at Canadian Tire. The correct starting procedure depends on the personality of the car, but generally speaking the thing you want to do is avoid flooding the engine. For cars with automatic chokes, push the pedal to the floor and release. Don't pump several times. Crank the engine. If the car doesn't kick in a few seconds, depress the pedal slightly and release. Often the car starts when you release the pedal. Continue to crank while playing with the pedal slightly. If the battery winds down, wait a few seconds and try again. Often the warmth generated inside the battery is enough to give it some extra pep on a second try. It probably goes without saying, but make sure your car is well tuned and in good working order. Better still, move to a warmer climate like I did. Gordon V. Cormack gvcormack@watdaisy.uucp gvcormack%watdaisy@waterloo.csnet
review@drutx.UUCP (Millham) (01/23/85)
My trick in cold weather is, before attempting to start the car, turn on the headlights for a minute or so. Turning the lights on gets the battery warmed up slowly. You'll be surprised at how fast the car will crank after trying this. It never failed me in -40F with my 4 year old battery in my 70 Mercury with a 390. Brian Millham AT & T Information Systems Denver, Co. ...!drutx!review
goodwin@ncr-tp.UUCP (Tom Goodwin) (01/23/85)
> Anyway, my question concerns the behavior of cars in extremely cold > weather. I know something about the general characteristics of matter as > the temperature is decreased (some stuff freezes, some stuff gets very > viscous, metals contract, and so forth), but I'm particularly interested > in what happens specifically to cars. I found that my car won't start, and > I've had to walk home for several days now. This is when I need to use my > car the most!!! > Though not bothered by this sort of thing in San Diego, I know the two main problems with cold starting are: 1. thick oil, if you can get 5W30 oil you should try it in the winter, otherwise 10W30. 2. the other problem is that batteries lose a substantial portion of thier power in very cold weather(up to 50%?) so that a battery which starts your car on a warm day won't make it in the cold. One help is to always carry a can of starting fluid(available in many stores). The starting fluid is sprayed into the carburator after taking the air filter cover off. The fluid is basically ether, which catches fire more easily than gasoline.
2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (S. M. Henning,) (01/24/85)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh > what happens to cars in such weather, and what sorts of things > can be done to alleviate the resulting problems? Here are a few things I've learned the hard way. 1) My number 1 problem has been water in the gas tank. This becomes obvious in cars with carbs since the water freezes in the float chamber. With fuel injection it is not so easy to find or fix. Dry gas is a cheap and easy solution. It works best when used in advance. However 2 cans after the problem has started may help if you are real lucky. Otherwise you have to be towed to a warm garage. 2) Worn spark plugs are my number 2 problem. In the winter the battery is operating at a real disadvantage and the voltage is low, the spark is weak, and worn plugs are fatal. I always put new plugs in at the start of the cold weather. Once in -15 degree weather I had to use new plugs which were warmed up to start. I got frost-bite doing it. 3) A weak battery of course is fatal. I haven't had that problem, however corroded or loose terminals are equally bad and can be prevented. After the terminals are cleaned and tight, just coat with motor honey, stp, or some other gooey greasy substance. 4) Whenever it gets down below zero in my unheated garage I put on a trickle charger to peak up the charge and add some warmth (2 amps times 12 volts is 24 watts of heat) to my battery. 5) Last, I buy Volvos. I hope this article doesn't jinx me.
2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (S. M. Henning,) (01/24/85)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh > I have some experience with bitter cold and cars and > After the fact: Bring your battery inside and charge it. Caution: when batteries are charged they generate hydrogen and when you take the cables off the spark sometimes makes the battery go boooooooM. The acid can really mess up your day and the house. > Never charge a cold battery with a high > amp charge. Trickle charge first. > 3. Flooded Engine. > After the fact: Push the accelerator down all the way and hold. > Hold the carburator valve open with a pen or > preferably a metal object because sometimes > a quick burst of smoke or fire comes up. Usually > smoke comes up once or twice and then the car starts. Caution: My uncle lost all the skin on his arm and his customers car when he did this and the car backfired and burned up. He never did that again. It is best to floor the gas pedal and leave it there. Pumping just pumps gas in and makes it worse (if you have a conventional carb.)
seifert@mako.UUCP (Snoopy) (01/25/85)
couple points about jumping cars. (No, not KITT or the General Lee! :-) )
long jumper cables are quite handy. Mine are 16', and longer would be
nicer. I think I saw some that were 20' once. That would be about
optimum.
Heavy gauge wire is a good idea, especially for long wires.
Four (4) gauge works well. (buy them when copper prices are down!)
Cables that will bend at 30 below are also handy.
*Before* you need to jump your car, or jump someone's car off of your's,
make sure you know how to get to the battery terminals. This is
pretty simple on most cars, but sort of a pain on others, especially
if the designers were afraid of electricity, and tried to seal the
battery in plastic. Next point: see what there is to attach the
jumpers to. If your battery cables have plastic/nylon type clamps,
find out if the bolts are hot. They may not be. Also, make sure you
don't overtighten this type of clamp, or you'll crack the plastic,
and at 30 below it will shatter in a zillion tini pieces. (ask me
how I know.) Just good and snug.
If you have a late-model car with computer that controls everything,
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, you may need to disconnect some things
to prevent blowing up a multi-hundred dollar computer brick.
And of course you all already know to attach the last wire away
from the battery, to keep sparks away from it.
--------
other hints:
use the thinnest oil you can find. even 5W30 is super thick
at those temps. I haven't tried the synthetics, they're supposed to be
better. When I was in chit-town, I wished they made a -30W50 oil
for winter. oh well.
The cans of starting fluid are quite useful.
An engine in good shape (good compression, recent tuneup,
good battery) will normally start even at these temps.
Do not race the engine until it warms up. The oil isn't
too good at it's job when it's almost solid.
If you can get electricity to the car, engine heaters, trickle
chargers, etc help. Having the coolant warm (ok, less cold) lets
the heater/defrosters work sooner too.
Attached garages help a lot.
_____
|___| the Bavarian Beagle
_|___|_ Snoopy
\_____/ tektronix!mako!seifert
\___/bryan@wucs.UUCP (Bryan Ewbank) (02/01/85)
> > Buy the biggest battery you can find. First, a battery only puts out > about 10 per cent of its real capacity at -40. Second, they engine > is VERY stiff. A lifetime guaranteed size 27 battery is less than > $100 at Canadian Tire. > > : > > Gordon V. Cormack gvcormack@watdaisy.uucp gvcormack%watdaisy@waterloo.csnet Actually, you want the STRONGEST battery, not the largest. See the February 1985 issue of Consumer Reports -- There is a namebrand rating of 'heavy-duty' batteries. All of those rated were size 21. All had much more cold cranking power than a regular battery, regardless of the size. The price range was from about $50 to about $100. Bryan Ewbank wucec2!bryan@wucs.UUCP
review@drutx.UUCP (Millham) (02/01/85)
I heard a hint on the radio this morning for cold starts, turn on the key to the run position, and leave it there for 1 minute. Then start the car. The idea is the same as turning on the headlights. -------------------------------------------- Brian Millham AT & T Information Systems Denver, Co. ...!inhp4!drutx!review