-37C this morning

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It was -37C this morning at the Edmonton Alberta Airport and I had my first opportunity to test the starting ability of my 86 VW Golf running Castrol HM 5W-30. It turned over slowly but still at a reasonable enough pace to fire off after about three revolutions. A slight whirring sound could be heard for a couple of seconds until the oil made its way to the top end of the motor. Conclusion: the HM at 5W-30 is going to be okay for extreme winter use.
My 2000 Chev Venture van loaded with ESSO XD3 0W-30 started on the first turn as though it was still summer. That has got to be one heck of a good all-season oil for the north. The 89 Dodge van and 90 Accura that my boys drive also are running Castrol HM 5W-30 this winter and they both fired off first crank with no hesitation.
All of our vehicles are equiped with oversized high capacity batteries that are monitored and kept at full charge when cold weather is forecast. This more so than than anything else is the the reason they start unassisted in these extremely cold temperatures. I think we are in for a long cold winter this year.
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Nice. That makes the GTX HM 5w-30 a heck of a formulation if it cranks like that and warms up (down) to 12cSt. Not far from a 5w-40 synth in that respect.
 
I think that cold blast is headed our way for the weekend.
I've got GTX HM 10w-30 and SLOB in my car, and I didn't plug it in for a while today. I have other starting issues, but the engine spins quite well.
Had some water develop in my fuel system today also, so to all my fellow Canucks, put some gas line anti-freeze in your tank!
 
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It was -37C this morning at the Edmonton Alberta Airport and I had my first opportunity to test the starting ability of my 86 VW Golf running Castrol HM 5W-30. It turned over slowly but still at a reasonable enough pace to fire off after about three revolutions. A slight whirring sound could be heard for a couple of seconds until the oil made its way to the top end of the motor. Conclusion: the HM at 5W-30 is going to be okay for extreme winter use.




How many miles do you have on that Castrol HM 5W-30? Do you have an oil pressure gauge?

It would of been interesting to see how it would of started with a three year old OEM size battery instead of the well charged oversized high capacity battery.
 
may have to make another run for the border to clean out my favorite Esso dealer in BC of that wonderful engine elixir XD3 0w30
 
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may have to make another run for the border to clean out my favorite Esso dealer in BC of that wonderful engine elixir XD3 0w30




Yep, if we could get it down here in Walmarts, it would sell like hotcakes.
 
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It was -37C this morning at the Edmonton Alberta Airport...




Was it the real temperature or your counting the "wind chill factor" in? As cars won't be affected like us by this. They'll only freeze faster.
 
So if ESSO XD3 0W-30 is ideal, which I agree as I use it as well here in Ottawa, then why bother with other stuff, especially HM? Why not XD3 in all vehicles or at least a 50/50 blend?
 
FWIW, that whirring noise likely had nothing to with the engine itself or oil getting circulated, it was probably one of the drive accessories like alternator, or power steering or something, just being noisy until it created some heat. Power steering is susceptible to becoming really noisy when started cold. If it was engine and lubrication related it would likely have made a ticking or knocking noise.
 
Speaking of gas line anti-freeze, I was cleaning my basement this summer and found a case of dry gas that I bought long time ago (may be 10 years or more). They are all in their original contatiner and have a foil seal still on them. Are these dry gas bottles still ok to use even if they are more than 10 years old? Is there a shell life for dry gas bottles?
 
Yeah, this winter is unreal for weather so far. Its +16C this morning in Ottawa.....no starting issues here!
 
It's warmed up to 0F from -2F here in CO Spgs.

Cutehumor, the cold is at your doorstep buddy!! Your lookin at about a 30-40 degree drop from today to tomorrow.
 
fpny - I'd pour some into a clear container and see what it looked like, if not discolored or rusty I'd try it out. -37C = ~-35F Brrrrrr.
 
Hopefully that cold weather doesn't come to Toronto anytime soon, it was 16C (61F) when I left the house this morning!

We have never gone as low as -37C though, the coldest I've ever seen is -25C and that's extremely rare. It's pretty rare when it gets below -15C here actually. But that's still too cold for me.

My wife's car is usually parked in the garage, but two or three times a week I get the garage spot and hers is outside. So it'll be interesting to see how Syntec 5w30 fares in her engine, compared to GC 0w30. I'm sure the 5w30 won't flow nearly as well at -20C, although it'll probably be pretty close when it's -10C and warmer.
 
My outside dial read +4F this AM, thats -15C for you metric guys. Glad I changed the modular over to M1 0W-20 last weekend. I had been running GC, but regardless of the specs, I still think M1 0W's flow much better at colder temps than the Syntec 0W.
 
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