Perfecting Going EOC After Dark
 

I am no expert at this stuff, and in fact I am new to this site. However I would like to share what I have learned in hopes it might help another newbie out.

My car is a 2009 Chevy Cobalt LS Coupe XFE, and so far I'm getting just above 45 MPG and climbing higher every time I drive.

At first my attempt at driving EOC in this car made it difficult for me to steer, and it spooked me. Latter I discovered my own stupidity was the reason- I had a radar detector wire wrapped around my steering column which resulting in it being very hard to steer in manual. The wire had got hung up and pinched in the steering column. So I had to take care of that fast because manual steering was just about impossible.

Ok, most of my spare time is now after dark. I think night time makes it double scary for a newbie to try driving EOC down hills and mountains. But I now find it's becoming natural.

Most important thing I found when driving after dark in EOC is to TURN MY LIGHTS TO ALWAYS ON. Otherwise all of my headlights and taillights would turn OFF until I turned the key back to the ON position, and that is an attention getter for the police that we likely need to avoid. So one of the first things I do at night time is to turn my lights to all-on. This way the lights are all on even when my key is in "Off" (and the brake and signal lights work).

The next problem I noticed with my Cobalt was that if I used the KEY to restart that all of my lights would blink off/on. So before I even read about it here, I started bump starting as I have done this for many years anyway, as I have almost always drove a stick shift. So by bump starting my lights do not shut off/on when I re-start, everything is as smooth as I can get it.

However, due to my battery not getting the charge that it used to get my lights do get a little bit brighter when I restart. It's not a big deal though. I had a real good test today as I was driving EOC right past a cop parked in a parking lot (speed trap) that pulled out behind me and followed me in town. I was sure to keep the motor ON while he was behind me. I think I got his attention because I was going a little slow for the 45 zone I was in. So I brought the car up to the PS. And when I bumped started right in front of the cop and my lights got a little brighter likely caught his attention as well. But after a couple miles of following he went on past me and drove on down the road. So, I guess all of the lights are working fine in EOC or this police officer likely would of told me, as they do not hesitate to let pull you over here.

I have discovered a situation when it is better for me to bump start in a lower gear as opposed to 5th gear. If I am going EOC down a steep hill and then start to go UP HILL a bump-start works much better by shifting to 4th or even 3rd gear depending on speed and how steep the incline upwards is. I feel this needs to be pointed out here in the Bump-Start sticky. 5th gear is not going to work well if you have already started going up a steep hill in EOC, you will kill your engine FAST.

It seems everything electrical works fine after dark in EOC (in my car) as long as the key is turned to "On". My CD player does not skip a beat, I manage to run a cb radio (high power), GPS, radar detector, stereo turned up high and a cell phone charger while running with high beam headlights on! But, as one can imagine, all of this pull on the battery while running the engine half as much takes a big toll on the battery. In cold weather, and/or and old battery, it would be easy to deplete a full charge in no time at all. So, it may be obvious, but it should be noted that when running EOC after dark it's a good idea to turn off all electrical things that are not in use or needed. I guess that is common sense, but I thought it should be noted. Of course if one is trying to start a manual and it does not have enough power to start with the key then a bump start will do the trick, even if you have to open the driver's door and push! (I have done it before)

Otherwise things are going smoothly and I have gone right past many cops parked in speed traps while in EOC. Unless they are listening for a motor or are looking for slow drivers (such as intoxicated drivers) it seems driving after dark in EOC in these hills and mountains and in the small towns works out pretty well. The biggest challenge is keeping a good charge on the battery and keeping the lights on the same constant level of brightness to keep from drawing attention from the police that may not approve of such tactics. I find that it's best to ride in neutral as much as possible and sometimes it seems best to leave the engine ON until a steeper hill is topped.

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope something I said here is of help to somebody.

Peace. :)

Re: Battery life - once you've warmed the engine, the battery is in a warm environment, and outside temperatures don't affect it so much, unless it's not in the engine compartment.

EOC at night while running everything known to man - Keep in mind, your alternator has to recharge your battery using power from the engine... by doing this at night, using all that crap is costing you a large chunk of your instant mileage, because each time you start the engine, it has to work harder to recharge the battery from the intermittent drain.

Keeping it charged - You really should have no problem with this, actually. Most batteries have a reserve capacity of nearly 1/2 hour, and some up to 90 minutes. They can outlast anything you're going to throw at them for 3-5 minutes of coasting, and cycling a battery a little deeper than normal won't hurt it either, to a noticeable extent, as long as you're not going too low.

A big thanks for the info. I'm an electronics major that plays alternative banjo as a hobby. I'm am NOT a good mechanic!

BUT, I should point out that I do know a little something about the Cobalt's layout. I am afraid that the Cobalts all have their batteries (All use a single battery to the best of my knowledge) in the rear next to the donut-spare-tire located underneath a false compartment for the trunk's floor. So the cold weather is bound to impact the battery no matter how warm the engine gets, unless I fold down the rear seats so the inside heat could reach the trunk (light bulb!!). :) -

So, maybe in the wintertime I will fold down the back seats to help the inside heat reach the battery! Thanks for inspiring the idea! :)

That's a pain. Several cars also have them in a pocket in the front bumper where you have to take the wheel off to actually remove/replace it.

You could always put a resistance heater in the bucket that the battery sits in, with a thermostatic control on it... set it and forget it, basically. The small current draw of a resistance heater working in such a small space could probably be satisfied by increasing the charge life by 50% or so. Then again, if there is enough space to insulate around the battery, you'd be amazed how much energy a battery loses as heat just from being used... you'll actually warm it up just by starting the engine a couple times, and some insulation might keep it warm long enough to keep a higher state of charge!

I am glad you mentioned that. Now I will be looking for a way of keeping the battery warm for the oncoming winter. I never would of thought of the battery having trouble holding a charge due to it being away from the engine if you had not of mentioned it!

Thanks.

First, if it were me, I'd look into insulating it, then something to monitor the temp back there over a few trips to get an idea of what's going on back there. (IAT sensors just give a voltage reading, and you can monitor them with a plain old multi-meter, in real time.)

If just plain insulation doesn't keep it from over cooling, even maybe then I'd look into heating the cubby that it's in with something like 15-30w heat pad or something similar.

Also, if you get under the car, you can probably see where the battery box pokes down under the chassis... if you can see it, just a simple foam box around the outside will prevent a great deal of heat loss through the windage effect (metal conducts heat to the outside air, which is moving and drawing the heat away.)

If you don't have one, you may want to get a voltmeter so you can monitor your battery's voltage while on extended EOC's, especially in winter driving.

basjoos and Jammer -

There are also digital voltage meters that you can plug into your cigarette lighter, but that would be a "dedicated" meter. Here's an example (kinda bulky) :

Digital Voltage Meter and Socket Multiplier*::*CIGARETTE LIGHTER POWER & EXTENDERS*::*Installation Accessories (TOOLS)*::*AUTOTOYS

The ScanGauge also displays voltage.

CarloSW2

Wow, thanks basjoos (LOVE YOUR WORK!!), cfg83, and "Christ".

Here in eastern Kentucky our nights are now cold enough to wear leather jackets. I am keeping my eye on my tire pressure, and I will take action of some kind to deal with this Cobalt battery being located in such a poor spot in the trunk. I am an electronics major and have made much of my living working with DC electronics of all types...

I'm not sure a volt meter would help me very much because I believe the voltage is likely to stay close to the standard 12.6 volts that most car batteries have. However "amps" or "cranking amps" are another story. In other words, in cold weather the battery voltage might very well read fine in EOC or parked. But the moment I go to start/bump start etc then the battery may be so cold that it wont carry it's weight under the load so well and the resulting dimming of the lights are bound to become a larger issue after dark. Upon such a start after going EOC on a clear cold day I would also expect the battery to dip into low voltage (temporarily) as well, at least until the alternator kicks in.

I would like to have a batter voltage gauge however. But from what I understand I will still need to find a way of keeping this battery warm in the winter time if I am to ever to consider driving EOC on clear cold days/nights. I wonder if the heating wrap some people wrap around their plumbing pipes underneath house-trailers would be a good way of going or not?, but I know that would require a 110 AC to 12 Volt DC converter.

Hehe... I get "quotes".

The pipe wrap is probably sufficient, except wholly unsuitable bacause of the amount of energy it would take. The converter would involve a loss, then you'd still have to burn the wattage for the strip itself. I'm honestly thinking that just insulating the box could allow the battery to keep itself warm from the first time you use it to crank.

Picture of where my rear car battery sits -Cobalt XFE
 

Hey I'm sorta Baptist, so I hope you do not mind the quotes around your handle. :D

Here is a picture from my pic folder here that shows where my battery sits underneath the floor board of the rear trunk:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ja...e-tools-vg.jpg

Yea I keep all of that mess underneath the false compartment out of sight. I like your idea of insulating it. I hope that is all I need to do. After tonight's test drive to raise my mileage I notice the colder the nights get, the dimmer my lights are getting when I drive in EOC. I have to do something soon. Your idea sounds like the best way to start. I did not realize those pipe wrap heaters pulled so much current- that's all I need is to smoke another DC to AC converter, there are a lot of cheapies on the market that do not have the amperage to power hardly a flashlight.

Hey, your exhaust pipe runs somewhere close to that spare tire well, does it not?

There's a way to extract some of the waste heat, probably, if you can make a way to get the exhaust to heat that spare tire well.

When I saw that pic, I thought "weight reduction"... lol. I don't even carry a spare tire anymore in most of the cars I drive. Cara still has hers because I'm lazy and it's underneath her, thus not taking up room, but still probably hurting my aero. I'm going to get a few empty 1lb propane cylinders and fill them up to 150PSI and keep them in the back where the jack goes, since I bent the crap out of the jack about a month ago.

That way, if I get a flat, I'll have some air and I'll even keep a roadside plug kit (or a can of Fix A Flat) to get me home, at least.

About the name - it's actually my name. It's not pronounced how you think it is, either. Lots of people tend to think that it's some religious reference, especially on other forums... it's not. I'm agnostic, and I respect others' religious beliefs.

The "I" isn't a long "I" sound. It's a short "I". The best way to explain it is that it's like saying Crystal without the "al" at the end.

I think it has to do with you never having been resurrected.

At least, I don't think so. I imagine the Savior wouldn't spend much time on a gearhead forum, but who knows?

Ever said that to a guy named "Jesus"? (Hispanic Name)

No. But that's a cultural thing. Nor would I say it to anyone named Madonna, Mohammed, or Moses. Those folks are given their names by their parents, as a token of respect to their respective faiths.

You chose yours. Why?

FYI, Christ is a perfectly legitimate (albeit increasingly rare) name
Christ - meaning of Christ name

And I wouldn't presume to know what anyone was thinking when they named their kids ;)

To the point: My exhaust pipe is to the far left side on the bottom with a chrome end showing from the rear, it is several feet away from the right side of the car where the battery sits at. I like your idea, but as I say, I'm into electronics, and I am not very good with mechanical stuff. About all I ever did was change my plugs and wires. SO it would be a high challenge for me to re-route the exhaust pipe to keep the battery warm, given the distance between them. Shucks, that's something the engineers at GM should of thought of!

I know it makes little sense, but I have not found added weight to impact my mileage very much- not yet anyway. I drove my mother down to her home town in the far east side of Kentucky (mountains are close to West Va, very curvy roads) and I had not learned the art of driving in EOC yet, but my mileage was actually as good or better than I got without the added weight of about 200 pounds of stuff we both brought with us to set up in a house that nobody had lived in for a long time. I really expected the weight to impact my MPG, but it actually was about the same as driving without all of that weight. I still do not understand how that could of happen, but it did. Either way I like to be prepared for emergencies on the road, thus one reason I have a powerful CB Radio in my little car. In these parts it is all too easy to get stranded way out in the mountains and not even see a car go by.

I understand what your saying about your handle/name. But when reading it it's more likely to be pronounced in the Biblical manner, just like "Jesus" is a name of some Hispanics yet is not pronounced the way it reads to most Americans. There are plenty of other examples too, such as a famous river in Africa that is often pronounced wrong.

I live in a pretty hilly region too, E TN. I had a tank or two that involved carting very full loads of firewood, about 1200-1500lbs which puts me over the limit when you add full fuel tank and my non-aerobic butt, and found that my mileage was really quite good. The truck climbed slower, but glided much, much longer and faster.

FWIW, my handle is simply my initials, verbalized. It's not terribly creative, but it is at least unique. Sorta.

Jammer, you're killing me. Add your car to the Garage listing. Christ blows me away with his Caravan (God knows mine never did that well), I'm curious to know how you do compared to EPA.

Well, that sets me straight. I had no idea.

Okay, enough threadjack. Sorry, folks!

Weight doesn't make a huge difference over 45... unless you're talking about a large weight, like 500#. FWIW, 100 lbs is about equivalent to 1/10 off your 1/4 mile ET, or about 7-10HP, but that's a suggestion, not concrete numbers.