Video: The Joys of Driving a Geo Metro in -31*C Temperatures

[Peakster]

In response to MetroMPG's Metro engine won't stay warm in super cold weather. I love how the car sounds like a lawnmower at startup (WARNING: there are a few choice phrases on the video, but I'm sure you all can handle it):

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/Loy3ihHBSJE[/YOUTUBE]

And yeah, that's a pretty honest picture of how I think while driving at this time of year . I even have cardboard covering 100% of the radiator too.

Feel free to discuss.

[Gone4]

What happened to your bicycle!?

I experience -31C and colder every year at my university, but not all that often. For better or worse, I have never driven in it, just walked a few miles each direction and gone sledding. Honestly that doesn't look fun or safe to deal with.

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by GenKreton

What happened to your bicycle!?

I specifically took the trip to show how the engine never warms up, or stays warm unless it's constantly being revved at 3000+RPM. Otherwise, yes, I ride my bike when I don't travel too far from campus.

Remember, I'm not getting rid of the Geo until school is up .

Originally Posted by GenKreton

Honestly that doesn't look fun or safe to deal with.

It's certainly not fun. That's why most people (with normal cars) use their car starter to warm their vehicles up for 20 minutes around here.
Oddly, I feel safer driving in -31*C weather compared to -3*C weather because the roads always feel much more slippery near the freezing mark.

[MetroMPG]

That sound... around 2 minutes in - that was your heater blower motor complaining about its supercooled bushings. Ask me how I know

Question: you say you have cardboard over the radiator. Do you mean over the grille, or the radiator? You'd have a little more heat retained if you blocked the grille itself.

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

That sound... around 2 minutes in - that was your heater blower motor complaining about its supercooled bushings. Ask me how I know

Really? That's weird since the heater fan was fully off until 4:18. It's true that me heater fan makes weird noises. The garbling sound it sometimes makes (not featured in video) tends to worry passengers.

Question: you say you have cardboard over the radiator. Do you mean over the grille, or the radiator? You'd have a little more heat retained if you blocked the grille itself.

Yeah, the cardboard is slotted directly in front of the radiator itself. Sometimes the car's temperature will nearly overheat with it on during highway speeds (I slide it over a bit to have some air going through, to prevent overheating) and the complete opposite while city driving.

[MetroMPG]

Oh - in that case, it's the speedometer cable.

[MetroMPG]

The advantage of using a grille block is the rad fan can still pull air through the radiator if it needs to. But it can't when there's a piece of cardboard on the other side. Grille block = better. Also, you're not getting any significant aero benefit by blocking just the rad.

[Peakster]

Strictly for heat retention for the coolant temperature, wouldn't a radiator block be best since it prevents air going through the rad completely? I guess one theory is that a grille block would prevent air from rushing through the engine compartment.

On a side note, I remember that last year's grille block didn't have any aerodynamic benefit at all.

[MetroMPG]

That you were able to detect.

Keeping frigid air from rushing through the engine compartment is more important than keeping it from rushing through the radiator, I'd say. Blocking the grille will also help the transaxle to warm up sooner & retain more heat.

[Peakster]

Okay, thanks MetroMPG.