any "Remedies" for cold starts?

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Originally Posted By: c3po

I really feel there is more of a benefit with MMO in the oil during the wintertime since it has a pour point of -60 degrees.


That is a function of the solvents, which evaporate from the engine heat. The effect is fairly short-lived.
 
Originally Posted By: PT1
Shouldn't anyone who considers "watering down" the viscosity of your 5w30 oil with a solvent like MMO should really just use a synhetic 5w20 or a thinner 5w30 like Castrol Edge? I mean really folks...have we not learned enough about oil on this site to know better than to add solvent and a 3w oil to our sump versus get a beter performing oil in the first place. Or how about a 0w30 or 0w20?

Adding MMO to your sump to give better cold start performance is simply bad advice IMO.


While I doubt it hurts a whole bunch based on how durable our engines appear to be, I agree. Why bother buying too heavy an oil and tweak it to a thinner state? Just buy thinner oil to begin with. Without some unusual problem ..a PROVEN issue, the deposit control of contemporary oils is outstanding if used over a sensible OCI. Now if you've got some problem prone engine, or one that's suffered neglect in the past (may be used to you), then there may be cause to adulterate a perfectly good oil.
 
Do you have a garage? Park it inside overnight and it will be about 20 degrees warmer in the morning.

If not, does it have a block heater? If so, put a timer on it and let let it warm up for an hour before you start it. A magnetic heater can work if you stick it on the engine block or oil pan but it is not as good.
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
This morning it went down to like 20F here, and both our cars are parked outside - promptly results in pretty noticeable start up clatter for some time, then smooths out...
Tbird 4.6L has MC 5w30 with MC filter
Elantra has Castrol (probably) 5w30 with oem filter

We both let cars warm up for a few min before driving, and then drive gently for the 1st few min's too...

So the amount of start up clatter is very probably harmless and normal - BUT it would be nice to minimize it...

so, in respect to oil (Or Gas?) additives, is there anything one can do?

[I am thinking of adding a bit of MMO to the bird's oil(kinda scared to do it on the Elantra as it has a much smaller sump) and gas and perhaps a bit in Elantra's gas (only)...

I was wondering what others are doing against start up clatter...



20* F shouldn't be a problem for a well maintained engine, however I do beg to differ when it dips well below 0. I've told this story a few times in posts but it is worth repeating. I have a cousin who lives up in the Adirondack north country, and it can go to minus 30*F at times. I had spent a long weekend with him a few years back and it had gotten to -25F during the night. My van had sat IIRC 3 days with Mobil 1 5W30 in the sump, and I thought this van was going to give birth when it finally started up. The noises were not good to hear. His Toyota at least 15 years newer with the same M1 fill sounded no better.

On another trip under similar weather conditions with the addition of 1 qt of MMO, the start was much easier and not as hard on the ears. His Toyota had the usual M1 fill no MMO. It was very easy to tell the difference. He became a MMO believer.

Try it, for less than $5 for a qt you might become a MMO user too. Even if only for the winter OCI. JMO
 
Not trying to dismiss you but we run 5W30,10W30 and 5W40 in Michigan in synthetic and conventional varities with not any issues. It was 3 degree's out today not counting wind chill andno one batts an eye. Last week I say a kid in shorts attending a school function so 20 degree's F is so totaly insignificant for the oil you are useing. You might need to check battery,cables and conectors. If you have anything with a side post battery nasty corrision likes to hide inside the boots that protect the cables. See it all the time in Michigan cut openthe boots clean them out and grase them up then tape them shut and wow what a diference. Same thing goes for any lose conections else where. A weak battery or bad cables is more likely to be an issue at the nice and warm tempatures you have right now or as I like to say "not an oil related problem"!
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint

20* F shouldn't be a problem for a well maintained engine, however I do beg to differ when it dips well below 0. I've told this story a few times in posts but it is worth repeating. I have a cousin who lives up in the Adirondack north country, and it can go to minus 30*F at times. I had spent a long weekend with him a few years back and it had gotten to -25F during the night. My van had sat IIRC 3 days with Mobil 1 5W30 in the sump, and I thought this van was going to give birth when it finally started up. The noises were not good to hear. His Toyota at least 15 years newer with the same M1 fill sounded no better.

On another trip under similar weather conditions with the addition of 1 qt of MMO, the start was much easier and not as hard on the ears. His Toyota had the usual M1 fill no MMO. It was very easy to tell the difference. He became a MMO believer.

Try it, for less than $5 for a qt you might become a MMO user too. Even if only for the winter OCI. JMO


There is no doubt MMO will help cold start...but how good can it be for the balance of the OCI? I would never use it except for winterizing or cleaning an engine.
 
JB,
after reading about the oil pressure in your wife's car with MMO i am only going to add a bit of MMO - my oil level is normal anyway, so i can't overfill by much...

I don't have any starting issues (battery, etc) - the cars start right up - i was just mentioning the noise AFTER it starts and while idling.

I mentioned in the opening post that we have no garage.

Like i mentioned it's probably not a big deal at all. I'll just experiment with a small bit of MMO anyway to see if it does anything...
 
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Originally Posted By: PT1
[ I would never use it except for winterizing or cleaning an engine.


Certainly not a problem. There are plenty of products I won't use either.
cheers3.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Some days my car rattles a lot on cold starts; some days it's whisper quiet.

I predict the pattern will work out like this:

1 hour in the store, never rattles.
Park at night, start in the morning, sometimes rattles.
Park on Friday, start on Monday, always rattles.

One of my Delta 88 rattled on some starts. I know the rattle harmless but I don't like it. It makes the engine sound old and junky. It's old, but no junky allowed on my watch. I have plenty of filters around so I pulled off the e-core, poured the filter oil back into the engine, poured in 6 ounces of MMO to launch a small attack on known sludge, and put on a Baldwin. No rattles yet. I blame the Anti Drainback valve on the e-core which may have failed because it has run too long.
 
I have two:

1998 White Delta 88 258,000 miles with an overachiever 3.8L engine no sludge. Transmission is great after ARX solved a winter R->D hard shift problem. Everyone that has driven this has noticed that this 3.8L engines gets better highway mileage than the 4 cylinders. At 1200 miles on ARX I saw I was wasting my time and pulled the oil and put it into another car. Average 28 or more MPG on E10.

And yes, my white paint peels just like all the other cars painted white around those years.

1997 Green Delta 88 193,000 miles with an underachiever 3.8L engine with some sludge in corners, crevices, and recesses. Transmission is junk. This gets as bad of gas mileage as my 1993 Roadmaster 5.7L Chevy 350. Average 23 or less MPG on E10.

Both run very well. I have swapped many parts back and forth and can't find what causes the low mileage.

Think of Twins with DeVito and Schwarzenegger. They should be the same but are as different as can be.

The green Delta 88 was rattling so I switched from the e-Core to the Baldwin.
 
Lubro-Moly Mos2 Antifriction Treatment [Re: Taylor]
harrydog


Registered: 07/17/03
Posts: 726
Loc: Ohio I used this stuff a few times back in the early '90's in my Honda Civic when we lived in New Hampshire. It was my commuter car and it was never garaged so it would often sit out all night in -10 to -20 degree weather and starting the car in the early morning was brutal. You could actually hear the engine making grinding sounds for the first few seconds. The moly completely eliminated that because it apparently had coated the engine parts and provided lubrication before the oil started circulating properly.
 
Currenty running GC and MMO with a K&N oil filter. So far this is the best combo i found for my 3.4L. Right now the wind chill is 10 degrees....i should go out there and start her up, haha.
 
at 20 degrees and cold starts, I hear my power steering whining. that PSF must be molasses at that temp!
 
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