Cold weather warm up?

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: zpinch
Steve, I would assume the 'more' volume would be in the radiator? Not necessarily in the block circulating at engine startup?


In our engines the thermostat is mounted remotely, not in the block as manufactured. The bypassed water is sent to a heat exchanger and then the heater core. If the equipment is not in operation the HE does little to remove heat but it does add a much larger volume to the amount of water in circulation independently of the radiator.

Much of our operation uses so much heat that the radiator is virtually unused!

 

[gathermewool]

Last winter got into the negative double-digits last year here in CT and from that I noted the following: it was dry. Unlike the positive teens, 20s or 30s, my windows didn't fog up from my breath. If I breathed out heavily the fog would form, but immediately dissipate as it absorbed into the dry, dry air.

I don't claim to know what -40 is like, but my point stands. If the car is dangerous to drive, i'll warm it up. If it's safe, I'll drive off nearly immediately. Why? I dress warmly and don't mind the first 10 minutes of not having heat. If my wife felt differently, the car would be warmed up.

 

[linksep]

Originally Posted By: meborder
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Fogging the inside of the windshield is caused by improper clearing of snow/ice. You need to clear the vents on the outside (typically below the wipers).

Running the heater/defroster on a cold start is another error. Run defrost at the lowest blower setting or not at all ... the heater removes heat from the motor; you want warm-up to go as quickly as possible.

Run the heater/defroster once the temp gauge starts to move, and refrain from using max blower until operating temp has been reached.

The above determines your warm-up time in sub-freezing temps. However if you are properly dressed for the outside temp, you could begin driving away after a brief idle.


so, just for fun I tried it this way this morning. that is to say, I left the heaters off and let the truck warm up while I got my son ready to go.

it was about -8°F this morning and there was frost. so I started it up and scraped the windshield then went back inside.

when I got back out about 15 minutes later (longer than I expected) the engine temp was up into the "normal" range, and the inside of the truck was still stone cold (as expected).

I got back in to drive and couldn't see out the windshield because it had frosted over AGAIN. so I got to scrape it twice.

so I've come to a new conclusion:

the point of idling in the morning is not to warm up the occupants, and it is not to warm up the engine. it is to warm up the windshield so you can safely drive away when it is time to leave.

so from now on, I will do like I have always done, and start it up with the blower on defrost and 75% blower speed. sure, the engine will not be "warm" when I leave, and neither will the interior, but the windshield will be clear and I won't have to scrape twice.

who knew ... all these years I've been doing it right all along.


I call [censored] or Cheap-[censored]. There's no possible scenario where 15 min at -8F is long enough to cause a situation where a second scraping was required because even cheap $1.29/gal undiluted blue washer fluid couldn't clear the super minor frost that could accumulate in 15 minutes. I'm talking midwest blue washer fluid with alcohol in it (and typically a -20F or -25F temp rating), not that Kalifornia blue water or the kind you make at home from tap-water and a blue dye tablet...

 

[linksep]

Originally Posted By: meborder
In my experience, if you get in a stone cold car and take off, your windshield will be fogged over in about 1.5 miles and no heat in the heater to burn off the moisture.

better to let it idle for 5-10 minutes in the driveway so there is some heat shortly after you start driving so you can keep the windshield clear.

admittedly, some cars warm up quicker than others, so YMMV.


What is with you SD guys not being able to keep your windshields clear? Crack the driver's side front window 1/8" to 1/4", put the heater on defrost, about 50% fan speed and go. Use wipers and (alcohol containing) washer fluid as needed for exterior fog/ice. Drive.

 

[Clevy]

Isn't he referring to frost on the inside of the window due to the moisture expelled when breathing.
-35c and our cheap blue washer fluid clears the exterior off just fine too.

 

[Olas]

With a carb and a manual choke, my cold weather start & warm up routine involves two pumps of the pedal to operate the pump jet, pull the choke handle somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8", turn the starter and feather the throttle till it catches.
For the first minute or two of running, too much or too little throttle will make it cut out. Once the temp gauge starts to move it'll hold idle just fine

 

[supton]

I have often cracked a window to deal with moisture, done that for years. Or as necessary.

I don't use washer fluid to clean ice. I have found that within a minute it causes a worse problem than what I had before. It just smears over the windshield once the alcohol evaporates away.

What I hate is when I scrape, get a clean windshield and drive off, only to have it frost over again! Not on the inside but outside.

 

[meborder]

Call what ever you want.
you weren't the one who had to scrape twice.

i don't use blue juice anymore, i switched to red. yes, that probably would have worked, but if it froze to the windshield then i'd be stuck waiting for it to thaw.

and to address the "no possible way" comment:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airp...eq_statename=NA

notice at 6:30 how the dew point and the temperature were the same.

i really don't care if you believe me or not. the truth is what it is. and those that know me know that i won't lie to save my own bacon, let alone for dramatic effect hoping to impress a bunch of people on the 'net i'll never meet.

have a fantastic day, sir!

Originally Posted By: linksep

I call [censored] or Cheap-[censored]. There's no possible scenario where 15 min at -8F is long enough to cause a situation where a second scraping was required because even cheap $1.29/gal undiluted blue washer fluid couldn't clear the super minor frost that could accumulate in 15 minutes. I'm talking midwest blue washer fluid with alcohol in it (and typically a -20F or -25F temp rating), not that Kalifornia blue water or the kind you make at home from tap-water and a blue dye tablet...

 

[linksep]

Originally Posted By: meborder
Call what ever you want.
you weren't the one who had to scrape twice.

i don't use blue juice anymore, i switched to red. yes, that probably would have worked, but if it froze to the windshield then i'd be stuck waiting for it to thaw.

and to address the "no possible way" comment:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airp...eq_statename=NA

notice at 6:30 how the dew point and the temperature were the same.

i really don't care if you believe me or not. the truth is what it is. and those that know me know that i won't lie to save my own bacon, let alone for dramatic effect hoping to impress a bunch of people on the 'net i'll never meet.

have a fantastic day, sir!

Originally Posted By: linksep

I call [censored] or Cheap-[censored]. There's no possible scenario where 15 min at -8F is long enough to cause a situation where a second scraping was required because even cheap $1.29/gal undiluted blue washer fluid couldn't clear the super minor frost that could accumulate in 15 minutes. I'm talking midwest blue washer fluid with alcohol in it (and typically a -20F or -25F temp rating), not that Kalifornia blue water or the kind you make at home from tap-water and a blue dye tablet...


My post came off as a personal attack and for that I apologize. On the other hand you allowed your OCD to control you with no attempt of you controlling your OCD. My daily drivers (7 most recent cars) have been parked outside in MN for 15 of the last 18 winters. Are there days where I let them warm up for as much as an hour? Yep. Are there days where I use windshield washer squirters half a dozen times or more in the first mile of driving? Yep. Sometimes I "start & go" sometimes I warm it up, sometimes I use a block-heater, sometimes I don't (cars that don't have them). In 18 MN winters, not once have I needed to scrape my windshield twice..(and I currently drive a POS Saturn that requires 45 or so minutes of highway driving to put out usable heat...I have owned the car since new, complained about warmup time under warranty, and replaced the thermostat because the dealer wouldn't with no effect on warmup or max idle temp of 160F during cold weather...)

To the OP, you're fine doing what makes you comfortable. 45-60 seconds is plenty of time to get oil flowing (as long as the oil hasn't turned to Jello from -40F to -50F air temps.