Warming your car up in cold weather

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Miller88

The fluid that comes with it is about the thinnest you can safely run in it and is pretty well regarded. I think the problem just comes from everything being cold - I usually upshift to 2nd around 1500RPM and as soon as I push in the clutch, the engine goes right to 2000RPM.

All of our Fords seem to do this They have all gone back to the dealer for it and Ford just says it's normal to heat up the cats quicker.

I'd love to be able to do a block heater, but I'm an apartment dweller and it's not an option at this point. I have been looking into alternate methods of doing a battery powered heater ... but the intiial investment of a few deep-cycle batteries and a high powered inverter would negate any fule savings (and run up my electric bill).

Is it synthetic or dino-squeezings?

There is a huge difference between conventional and synthetic oils at cold temperatures. The viscosity ratings are at operating temperature (about 212°F) and regardless of synthetic or conventional, the same grade oil will have the same viscosity. However, as temperatures decrease, conventional oils will get much thicker than synthetics, even if they are the same grade.

If you can convert to synthetic, I'm sure you will notice a big improvement in cold weather.

Relevant page from BobIsTheOilGuy:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-104/

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by Miller88

The fluid that comes with it is about the thinnest you can safely run in it and is pretty well regarded. I think the problem just comes from everything being cold - I usually upshift to 2nd around 1500RPM and as soon as I push in the clutch, the engine goes right to 2000RPM.

2000rpm is really high, but I don't think that's undriveable...my 1ZZ has 1500rpm cold idle, so I just have to run higher rpms than normal to avoid it. Better moving along inefficiently than not moving at all right?

[Miller88]

Originally Posted by darcane

Is it synthetic or dino-squeezings?

There is a huge difference between conventional and synthetic oils at cold temperatures. The viscosity ratings are at operating temperature (about 212°F) and regardless of synthetic or conventional, the same grade oil will have the same viscosity. However, as temperatures decrease, conventional oils will get much thicker than synthetics, even if they are the same grade.

If you can convert to synthetic, I'm sure you will notice a big improvement in cold weather.

Relevant page from BobIsTheOilGuy:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-104/

The ford trans fluid is full synthetic and I run 0w-20 in the winter. 5w-20 in the summer for cost ($25 for 5 quarts vs $18 for 5 quarts).

Originally Posted by serialk11r

2000rpm is really high, but I don't think that's undriveable...my 1ZZ has 1500rpm cold idle, so I just have to run higher rpms than normal to avoid it. Better moving along inefficiently than not moving at all right?

The problem is I can shift. If I shift out of 1st at 1500RPM, in second it's going to be 1000RPM. As soon as I press in the clutch, the engine races up to 2000 and it just won't shift when it's that cold.

[ever_green]

15 seconds is my waiting time, because my car's manual asks for it. my car switches to open loop with a hint of throttle or switching from park to neutral/drive. so i do that too.

i have noticed that my instant highway MPGs stay in 26-30 for first 15min after super cold starts no matter what i do (car is in closed loop and 14.5afr). then they improve to 31-40mpg after that depending on speed. anyway doesnt matter since i don't do any highway driving anymore.