Winterisation for Ecomodders
 

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere (apologies to those in the Southern half of the world ;) ) winter is approaching.

For us in Scotland (as far north as Frozen Russia but warmed by sea flows) my mods are limited to doubling our screenwash fluid strength and making sure we have old carpet and/or mats in the boot to help us get unstuck. And also making sure we have full tanks before any major journey as well as water, food, mobile phone chargers and spare fuel.

Last year we had really bad snowfalls which meant we worked from home as much as possible and A-junior missed a few days of school. Apart from that the main concern was a lack of places to put shovelled snow.

So what changes do you make at this time (seasonal) of year ? What tips can you pass on to the rest of us ?

For us:
Snow/ice scrapers for glass
Snow tires for my car - 55 mile commute
Wife gets by on "all season" tires.
Keep checking tire pressure - it goes down with temperature
More grill block for my car; remove in summer
Winter-capable wipers. Either the type with a boot over the springs, or the new one-piece type
Rear drive vehicles: several concrete blocks in the cargo/trunk area; 150-200 pounds. Likely more for a truck. The combination of snow tires plus weight over the drive wheels has gotten me through truly hazardous conditions without incident.

Last winter I installed an oil pan heater, so I'm now plugging it in, using a timer to run it several hours before driving. I'd prefer the type that installs in a freeze plug hole but I'm not up to the installation job.

The Cremation of Sam McGee
by Robert W. Service

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.


Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam ‘round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;
Though he’d often say in his homely way that “he’d sooner live in hell.”


On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka’s fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we’d close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn’t see;
It wasn’t much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.


And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel and toe,
He turned to me, and “Cap,” says he, “I’ll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I’m asking that you won’t refuse my last request.”


Well, he seemed so low that I couldn’t say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ‘taint being dead—it’s my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you’ll cremate my last remains.”


A pal’s last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;
And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale.
He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee;
And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.


There wasn’t a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,
With a corpse half hid that I couldn’t get rid, because of a promise given;
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: “You may tax your brawn and brains,
But you promised true, and it’s up to you to cremate those last remains.”


Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load.
In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring,
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows—O God! how I loathed the thing.


And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow;
And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low;
The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;
And I’d often sing to the hateful thing, and it hearkened with a grin.



Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the “Alice May.”
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then “Here,” said I, with a sudden cry, “is my cre-ma-tor-eum.”


Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;
Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;
The flames just soared and the furnace roared—such a blaze you seldom see;

Then I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.


Then I made a hike, for I didn’t like to hear him sizzle so;
And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow.
It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don’t know why;
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky.


I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: “I’ll just take a peep inside.
I guess he’s cooked, and it’s time I looked;” . . . then the door I opened wide.


And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: “Please close that door.
It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear you’ll let in the cold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.”


There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.


—From Later Collected Verse; by Robert Service;
Dodd, Mead & Company; New York; 1970; pages 33-36.

I wrote a blog post for EM a few years ago now on this topic... here it is.

9 Tips to Winterize Your Car EcoModder Style

Time for a roll of packing tape to meet Mr. Grill

I use synthetic oil and drive little enough that fall is the time of year for my yearly oil change, at this point in time I also do a tune up, check my timing, clean the points on the distributor cap, top off washer fluid and coolant and every other year change my spark plugs, in a month or two when we start to get snow I'll put my snow tires on.
I also tend to clean out the trash that collects in my car, check the pressure in my spare tire, make sure I have jumper cables, lube the jack and make sure that nothing has happened to the 100 feet of rope that lives on top of the spare tire.
In the back hatch I also tend to keep a spare wool hat and warm gloves, a tool box with spare light bulbs, paper towels, hand cleaner and of course tools.

This year I found a ceramic heater that plugs in to the lighter plug that I am going to try seeing as how my 4 mile drive to work is to short for my car to warm up fully and my windshield never fully thaws.

Block heaters (Coolant, oil pan and hopefully transmission as well this winter), grill block, belly pan (helps with engine warm up as well as aero.), synthetic oil, snow tires, winter wipers and a good scraper.

Ah, yes, gotta find that piece of cardboard which fits over the windshield to limit the need for defrosting/scraping.

In addition to using my block heater, and my normal upper grill block, I've installed dual oil pan heating pads and put in a full radiator block. Read more about it here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ale-19264.html

Think I'll subscribe to this..if the iS makes it through an MOT for not too much She'll need a WAI and some fettling