Warming your car up in cold weather

[roosterk0031]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Tighten that belt.

PS pump is on back side of engine, on bottom, have to lay on back, loosen bolts, put crowbar start pushing and then try to tighten belt. If it wasn't for my 14 yo girl learning to drive with it, I'd remove the PS. Hear a grinding noise on way to work this morning, part of the rocker panel was rubbing on rear tire.

I really don't think it's possible to get it tight enough, even warm the PS is dieing, it's not that cold here often enough that driving 3 minutes at lunch isn't easier, only twice so far this winter.

[Frank Lee]

Pump must be locking up- they don't draw that much hp so don't require super tight belt. Gonna have bigger problems than squeal soon.

[roosterk0031]

Your probably right about the PS pump, but I don't want to mess with it, I'm looking for a replacement commuter so hopefully it will get my 14 yo thru HS, (8 miles per day vs my 120 it has a lot of life left) 6 months till school permit.

Noise get's worst when wet, not sure which belt. AC seized a few years ago but shorter serpentine belt got around it. Going to use your tips and try rough up the idler, a 3/8" dia. wood dowel scope didn't help me find the source.

Enjoy your post Frank.

[Frank Lee]

Thanks, I aim to please!

[turbotomass]

Like other I'll start the car; turn on my lights, cd player, pick a CD, seatbelt, scrap ice if necessary, and drive off. A good point is that maximum oil pressure is obtained moments after starting. You can see this on car with oil pressure gauges stock. I agree with not racing or driving aggressively until warm. I more or less get in and drive off.

[jtbo]

If I need to scrape ice off from windows or remove snow from the car, then I let it run time I'm removing icy stuff as otherwise french quality product freezes windows from water vapour which comes from my exhaling, well, it still does that, but not quite as badly.

If there is no ice, then there is no this issue either and I can just drive off.

Oil is thick when cold, it will not create such good protective film to parts (despite there being oil pressure, it just is not reaching so well), so no high revs, no high load until engine is warmed. There is also possibility to crack head of diesel if pushing too early, especially easy with 6 cylinder small diesels, turbo bearings are also something to worry about, 150 000rpm on syrup kind of lubricant might not be the best thing to do.

New oil is more forgiving, good quality fully synthetic oil is more forgiving, but in ready built world there is no rush, so why to do oil quality testing at the early morning?

Also there is fuel economy point, cold run enrichment is making mixture richer and not only at idle, but if you put your foot down it will be lot richer mixture and again lot more consumption than with warm engine, also it is lot of unburnt fuel going trough the motor, which in turn washes oil from cylinder walls, which again causes more wear to engine.

So being gentle first, teasing, slowly building up the heat before pushing bit more and more is way to go as is with many, many, other wonderful things.

[SwamiSalami]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

And then there are the autostarts. Ooooooh, the autostarts.

What's an autostart?

[Saskwatchian]

Originally Posted by SwamiSalami

What's an autostart?

Remote start is almost a standard feature in Saskatchewan and other colder parts of the country. Great for getting into a warm vehicle but horrible if you are looking at your fuel consumption.



On the subject of torque converters not locking up at cold temperatures, I currently have a malfunctioning coolant temperature sensor, when it reads below 22˚C (but above -40˚C which seems to be its "no reading" reading) the torque converter will not lock in any gear.

[roosterk0031]

Since this was brought back up, Stratus's power steering pulley shattered when almost home one day in May or June, so I cut the belt off and drained most of the oil out of the rack.

Since then my 15 yo girl is happily driving it her 4 miles to school and back getting 33 mpg(last 3 tanks at 5 over epa hwy) is coasting into corners and doing quite well. She mentioned to me one day that some one tailgatted her most of the way home, only to find out a few days later that it was one of her teacher/coachs's remarked that she was driving 53 mph on the hwy on the way home, almost exactly 55 via speedo cause tires are one size under.

[JRMichler]

Another start 'n go. I'm out of the garage before the dash display boots up. I do this summer and winter, regardless of temperature.