Brutally cold, a little preventative maintenance…

M

mattwithcats

Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Messages
3,084
Going to get very cold here,
going to fill the gas tank up on Monday, February 16th,
so a few extras will be added to the tank before filling…

Only a ten gallon tank on the Smart, so
half a yellow bottle of Heet and
two and a half ounces Techron Small Engine…

The Heet was 59¢ a bottle, and the Techron Small Engine was two for $3.99…
(both found at Ollies Bargain Outlet a few months ago
along with the Marine version of the Techron)…

 
Consider some BG Fuel system drier for future also. Co-worker also used some Phaser 3000 in his boat where there was water in his spare tank and got it cleared up.

I use Fuel Rite in my heating oil tank. They said no issue using it in regular gasoline also the same way. I had about 2" of water on bottom of the tank when checked with a water indicating paste. I use about 6 ounces on each fill up. I checked after like 3 fill-ups and there was less than 1/4" showing. I use it as maintenance now. I draw from top of the tank and they F'd up the install before I bought the house. Feed tube is 8" off the bottom = about 60 gallons I can't touch. It's a 500 gallon tank so not too concerned to fix that.

I used to use HEET and another version for MANY years when it got cold. Never had any issues unlike friends did. I also used it almost every tank during winter and kept the tank full on my cars.
 
All good points. Prepare the cars for the cold. Got to look into getting my truck a heated jacket. 😜
 
We have had -15 below zero weather here for a few days. My Honda Civic will start sitting outside when it's brutally cold. We have a 3 garage and the Civic sits outside in the cold because it's the least expensive vehicle and used as my DD. I put the battery tender on it when I am not driving it. It gives me as well as the car that warm and fuzzy feeling plus I know the battery is fully charged.
 
mattwithcats said:
Going to get very cold here,
going to fill the gas tank up on Monday, February 16th,
so a few extras will be added to the tank before filling…

Only a ten gallon tank on the Smart, so
half a yellow bottle of Heet and
two and a half ounces Techron Small Engine…

The Heet was 59¢ a bottle, and the Techron Small Engine was two for $3.99…
(both found at Ollies Bargain Outlet a few months ago
along with the Marine version of the Techron)…

Click to expand...
Very cold in Virginia is a relative thing.

When I lived in Vermont, very cold was below -20F.

For those nights -
1. air up tires for the anticipated temperature (tires drop 1 PSI for every 10 degrees F)
2. drive for a half hour to charge battery (now that I have an automatic charger, that would be simpler)
3. fill up tank
4. check fluids, especially washer fluid, ensuring it is the cold weather mix.

That’s it.

If you have to do more than that, you haven’t been taking care of the vehicle properly to begin with..
 
It’s -22 F this morning and as usual I plug in the block heater for the one vehicle that isn’t in the heated garage. It also happens to have a new Walmart Ever Start battery. Piece of cake. Also, I inflated all four tires on my 3/4 ton Suburban to 50 psi so it wouldn't set off the air pressure warning light.
 
Last edited:
earlyre said:
HEET shouldn't be needed with today's ethanol blended fuels.
Click to expand...
We also shouldn't need anything more than factory filter and recommended viscosity rated oil, but we do it anyway. Shouldn't need any engine flushes or piston soaks but do them also.

The Ethanol in the fuels should incorporate any moisture so it gets burned off. Depending on how much falls out of suspension it might need a bit of help.
SwampSurvivor said:
I do nothing to my vehicles in upstate NY ...
Click to expand...
Granted goes back to the late '80's. I was going to school at Clarkson in Potsdam, NY. For 2 weeks freshman year, 2nd semester, the high was -10F. I had multiple friend that had to get new batteries and have their cars towed to the shop to let the fuel lines defrost, then have dry gas added and let it run/drive it, fill the tank.
 
mattwithcats said:
Going to get very cold here,
going to fill the gas tank up on Monday, February 16th,
so a few extras will be added to the tank before filling…

Only a ten gallon tank on the Smart, so
half a yellow bottle of Heet and
two and a half ounces Techron Small Engine…

The Heet was 59¢ a bottle, and the Techron Small Engine was two for $3.99…
(both found at Ollies Bargain Outlet a few months ago
along with the Marine version of the Techron)…

Click to expand...
It's getting cold so you're going to wait a month before you fill up?
 
dnewton3 said:
I understand all on your list but this one.
What's up with this?
Click to expand...
Several truckers have told me this. The wind will remove the last of your heat from the engine and engine bay faster. My barely awake brain kinda relates this to the radiator grille blockers the truckers use to limit heat loss. Have used this advice a few times when a garage was not possible. Alway started. Three years ago I visited my sister when I had the F-150 it was about -25°. I parked right up against her unheated garage, blocking the wind. It started.
 
Astro14 said:
Very cold in Virginia is a relative thing.

When I lived in Vermont, very cold was below -20F.

For those nights -
1. air up tires for the anticipated temperature (tires drop 1 PSI for every 10 degrees F)
2. drive for a half hour to charge battery (now that I have an automatic charger, that would be simpler)
3. fill up tank
4. check fluids, especially washer fluid, ensuring it is the cold weather mix.

That’s it.

If you have to do more than that, you haven’t been taking care of the vehicle properly to begin with..
Click to expand...
What is the preferred cold weather washer fluid mix? What do our members in the cold parts of Canada where its -20F -frequently do?

I normally just buy the 6 pack case of -20F Peak or other from Sam's club. I run that year round. If getting colder I might add some of the Prestone Boost, 91% rubbing alcohol, 100% Ethanol depending if I remember to grab a bottle from work.

If running around I might buy a couple of the -34F bottles from WalMart.

Somewhere early 2000's I had to use the company car to go to my old college to interview new supervisors. I took the car home to prep and check it. Tires were low, spare had a sidewall hole in it (took a spare I had with same bolt pattern), cleaned all the windows, Rain-X'd everything, filled the washer bottle that was almost empty and looked like water with -20f stuff and brought an extra gallon. Snow was forecasted as well as single digit temps. Drive up sunny and cold, next day it snowed, they salted like crazy, roads melting, still single digits. Try to wash windshield, nothing, the lines were frozen. I never ran any of the fluid through it when it was melted, didn't even think about it as windshield was clean.

Had to do the stop and get out, wipe with towels or pour from the gallon with wipers. Only place to really stop was at a McDonalds right next to the large frozen lake with winds whipping. Parked behind and close to the building to block wind, let the car run for about 45 minutes. Hear from motor finally defrosted the lines. Ran fluid through good, filled reservoir and drove home. Had to stop once more to add more fluid as there was just so much salt spray from trucks etc that dried right away.
 
Yeah - been caught by frozen fluid in the lines, once, too. Using “Bug wash” in the summer here in VB, drive up to Vermont in late fall, had winter fluid, never ran the washers, and the “bug wash” froze in the lines when the temperature hit the teens.

Now, as part of the “fill with winter fluid”, I run the washers several times to clear the lines.

I don’t think I ever used summer fluid when I lived up there. Below freezing was a possibility year ‘round.
 
Sequoiasoon said:
What is the preferred cold weather washer fluid mix? What do our members in the cold parts of Canada where its -20F -frequently do?

I normally just buy the 6 pack case of -20F Peak or other from Sam's club. I run that year round. If getting colder I might add some of the Prestone Boost, 91% rubbing alcohol, 100% Ethanol depending if I remember to grab a bottle from work.

If running around I might buy a couple of the -34F bottles from WalMart.

Somewhere early 2000's I had to use the company car to go to my old college to interview new supervisors. I took the car home to prep and check it. Tires were low, spare had a sidewall hole in it (took a spare I had with same bolt pattern), cleaned all the windows, Rain-X'd everything, filled the washer bottle that was almost empty and looked like water with -20f stuff and brought an extra gallon. Snow was forecasted as well as single digit temps. Drive up sunny and cold, next day it snowed, they salted like crazy, roads melting, still single digits. Try to wash windshield, nothing, the lines were frozen. I never ran any of the fluid through it when it was melted, didn't even think about it as windshield was clean.

Had to do the stop and get out, wipe with towels or pour from the gallon with wipers. Only place to really stop was at a McDonalds right next to the large frozen lake with winds whipping. Parked behind and close to the building to block wind, let the car run for about 45 minutes. Hear from motor finally defrosted the lines. Ran fluid through good, filled reservoir and drove home. Had to stop once more to add more fluid as there was just so much salt spray from trucks etc that dried right away.
Click to expand...
I use either -35 or -40 windshield washer fluid year round. No way am I going to be changing windshield washer fluids to prepare for winter. As a result, no problems.
 
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