So how are cars starting this morning in midwest?

[bustednutz]

Well it was +25 here in Virginia Beach this morning at 6am. Not very cold compared to the rest of you. But cold for here.
The Mazda 3 started right up with Dealer bulk 5w?. The wifes 2006 Hyundai Accent started right up with Castrol GTX conventional 5w20. No strange noises from either.

 

[scoobie]

-2 F at startup time this evening. running 5w25 synthetic. started smoothly, ran smoothly. i just ran it very gently.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Was -29F here at drive time. '08 Trailblazer (5.3L) started right up on Motorcraft 5W30.

PathFinder and Frontier started right up on Pennzoil Platinum 5W30.

'03 PathFinder has original Battery.


MolaKule, that Trailblazer is going to self destruct with that Ford oil in there.

 

[SevenBizzos]

-14F on startup this morning. It turned over and started and then made a hellanoise for 5-7 seconds after. I'm not sure what the noise was, but it didn't sound good. Tonight it's supposed to be -20F, so we'll see how tomorrow morning goes.

Because I'm lazy, the car ran 25 minutes before I drove it. The temp gauge was 1/2 way to normal operating temp when I got in.

Maxlife Synthetic 5W-30

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
-27F this morning. Driveway parked '99 F150 last run 8 hours before. Started fine after a relatively slow crank. No block heater. Running Chevron 5w30 SL (old supply getting used up...). Running the heavy duty battery size. No block heater. Warmed up for 5 minutes, and took off creaking and bum ping like ususal in the cold. Also the usual power steering pump whine for abut 3-4 minutes. Those who've owned Fords in the cold know that sound!

The '97 explorer started fine too, but it was in the garage with the block heater plugged in (wife's car).


RP ATF in my PS pump has completely eliminated that whine by the way......

 

[typ901]

-5F this evening (excluding wind chill)...Rotella T 5w-40, in '95 Range Rover started a little slowly, but 8 hours only sitting in open parking lot. However, the Land Rover's of this era are known to have flooding problems, and not having real strong/fast cranking starters. Bi-Annual battery replacement, with annual sparkplugs and/or cap & rotor replacement seem to help.

 

[HM12460]

+5 degrees at 5 am this morning. the silverado started like it was 50 out. still on the original battery (2003) GM dealer bulk, 5W-30

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
MolaKule, that Trailblazer is going to self destruct with that Ford oil in there.


Well, it surpised me too, but that's what the dealer put in there before I left Oklahoma last week when it was 71 F there.

Were you guys in Wisc. colder than we?

 

[buch434]

-27 This morning and my Passat with GC cranked slower of course but started fine and after approx 2 minutes of idling I was on my way. Thank god for heated seats !

 

[terminaldegree]

Car was outside overnight in Elkhart, IN. Was about -5 f at startup and no problems/weird noises. Oil is in my signature, about 30% left on OLM and 3 month old battery.

Forecast is for -28 tonight here in WI. Car is in the non insulated garage... Will see how cold it is tomorrow morning!

 

[deven]

I dont understand how cars starting at very very low temps has to do with oil? I have had cars start at -20 but it sounded like a diesel obviously telling me that the oil has not circulated to all parts of the engine. As long as you have a sound battery any car will start with NO oil in it at -60 degrees before it seizes in 15 seconds.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Quote:
MolaKule, that Trailblazer is going to self destruct with that Ford oil in there.


Well, it surpised me too, but that's what the dealer put in there before I left Oklahoma last week when it was 71 F there.

Were you guys in Wisc. colder than we?


Only in Oklahoma would a Chevy dealer put Motorcraft oil in you car.

When I got up on Thursday morning it was -30F.

 

[labman]

Originally Posted By: deven
I dont understand how cars starting at very very low temps has to do with oil? I have had cars start at -20 but it sounded like a diesel obviously telling me that the oil has not circulated to all parts of the engine. As long as you have a sound battery any car will start with NO oil in it at -60 degrees before it seizes in 15 seconds.


The engine still has oil in all the clearances of the bearings. The viscosity of that oil makes a big difference on how hard it is to turn the engine over even if most of the oil being pumped is going out the pump bypass.

My 77 LUV starts better in cold weather now than when new. It now has 5W-30 instead of 10W-30. With the cooling trend, maybe I should think of a longer OCI over the winter and an 0W-30 synthetic.

 

[wander2039]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
-27F this morning. Driveway parked '99 F150 last run 8 hours before. Started fine after a relatively slow crank. No block heater. Running Chevron 5w30 SL (old supply getting used up...). Running the heavy duty battery size. No block heater. Warmed up for 5 minutes, and took off creaking and bum ping like ususal in the cold. Also the usual power steering pump whine for abut 3-4 minutes. Those who've owned Fords in the cold know that sound!

The '97 explorer started fine too, but it was in the garage with the block heater plugged in (wife's car).


RP ATF in my PS pump has completely eliminated that whine by the way......


Hmmm when I change the mt fluid in the Ranger this spring I thought about putting RP in the ps. Although I think part of the problem with the Ranger is the ps filter I put on. Guess I won't know till next winter.

 

[tigrpal]

-17.5F air temperature, -1F coolant temperature. Amsoil XL5W-30. New Optima red top. Started easily with a very short chirp. '03 GMC Sonoma.

 

[fsskier]

Report for Cedar Rapids:

THURSDAY MORNING: Official record set (for the date) -29F.
1994 Escort, (commuter car) 240k miles, Mobil 1 0W20 motor oil.
Car sitting in driveway, cranked effortlessly and started easily.
Digital thermometers at my house read -31, NW side of town.

FRIDAY MORNING: OK, I live in a hollow that gets VERY cold on still nights. Sometimes frosts at night in September when the City is above 40 degrees. ANYWAY:

Digital thermometers (calibrated at Rockwell International, enviromental labs) read -40.7F at 6 am. Yes, I took a picture!
Escort in driveway: Key does not turn. Several attempts and force make it happen. Clutch pedal is frozen. It cracks and breaks loose, then works ok. Motor cranks slowly, pops, stalls.
Recrank, sputters, starts, howls, growls, squeals, screeches but runs.
Then: back up into the street, cannot steer to straighten out.
Power steering seems stuck in glue but eventually I get it turned. Step on gas, pedal is stuck. Then, it breaks loose, now I am going 30 mph, 5,000 rpm in low gear, pedal will not return. So much for "drive easy till it warms up"
After two blocks it returns to idle, then works normally.

Arrive at Rockwell, Wow, not many cars here, I can park close to the gate. But, the gate will not open!!!
All in all, just another day in paradise.
(And, the ski areas have lots of snow)

fsskier

 

[Spykem4e]

okay, after some calculation, its -33c or -28f this morning. 2005 cadillac cts (mobil 1 5w30 full synthetic)just started very fine but poor power steering, what a buzzing noise! after letting it warm a bit, I drive the car but jeez! I guess the grease in one of my front wheel bearing is slush! It makes a weird noise.

My gf is gone now (her car was in the garage) so I put mine in the garage and I'll see if it helps! lol

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
Only in Oklahoma would a Chevy dealer put Motorcraft oil in you car.


To add insult to injury, I should have mentioned that this is a Ford dealer, so naturally this is what they would use.

The V8 seems to start well with the Motorcraft 5W30.

 

[IndyIan]

I'm impressed your car started at -40 without a block heater! I also love the description of how the car ran.... What amazes me is that nothing seems to be be permanently damaged from these type of starts. At 0F it will run just like it always has.
My record without a block heater is around -33C, with 5W30 dino oil... It took 4 or 5 tries of cranking to get a pop and then it ran under protest. I was about 5*C from the pour point temperature, you were maybe 10*C
I'm sure that morning you were glad you weren't starting $20k worth of car!
Ian

 

[3putter]

All these startup stories bring back many memories of growing up in WI during the 60's and early 70's. I think the greatest advance in cold weather starting has got to be Electronic Fuel Injection. How many times I recall having to pull the airfilter off and squirting starter fluid directly into the carb while someone else cranks it over. Sometimes the carb butterfly would be frozen and you would have to hold it open with a pencil or something. Shudder ! We were using straightweight 10w Penz at the time.