cold weather quirks....

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Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Cold weather (and wet) usually exposes the worst behavior of any older higher mileage auto.

29 here this AM, but only for an hour or so.

Most newer cars are unfazed...
98 Camry in the fleet started and rolled right off this AM at 0 degrees with a 6 year old battery. A small investment in plugs every so often helps. I usually change them out in the fall when miles traveled justifies. Oil is T6 in 5W 40.
 
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Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
This morning my new rogue sounded like a cement mixer for 10 mins. Also the cvt will run the engine at a higher rpm to facilitate warm up. Not really happy abut running 2500-3000 rpm on a stone cold engine at 25 mph with honey-thick oil.


yeah - my Rogue sounds terrible when it's cold. I usually start it up, go back into the house to pour my coffee, and then I putter through my neighbourhood until it warms up.

It was -26C this morning, but the Rogue rides pretty good in cold weather - my Pontiac Vibe felt like the Flintstones sedan in cold weather...
 
Originally Posted By: OldSparks
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
This morning my new rogue sounded like a cement mixer for 10 mins. Also the cvt will run the engine at a higher rpm to facilitate warm up. Not really happy abut running 2500-3000 rpm on a stone cold engine at 25 mph with honey-thick oil.


yeah - my Rogue sounds terrible when it's cold. I usually start it up, go back into the house to pour my coffee, and then I putter through my neighbourhood until it warms up.

It was -26C this morning, but the Rogue rides pretty good in cold weather - my Pontiac Vibe felt like the Flintstones sedan in cold weather...
Better shocks or struts usually supplied with a wider range fluid. Doesn't matter in the south so much.
 
It was 4F yesterday AM and I noticed my 04 Camry's five speed AT was slow to shift out of third gear until everything warmed up. Other than that, all else was normal.
 
Something was screeching on my truck; I suspect the belt tensioner is showing some age, that or some idler. Will shotgun replace this summer I think. Stupid stiff steering too.

Jetta blows more oil smoke on cold startup, and might sound like a cement mixer. Last time I drove it the car decided to freeze up a parking brake--didn't think it was that cold, but it stuck nevertheless. Lots of rattles pop up.

Started the Camry when it was a bit warmer, and found that the fresh Redline MT-90 now makes it creep forward when in neutral. Weird. Don't recall that before, might need to change that oil again. Then again, if the wife doesn't notice...
 
My brother-in-law works and lives in Northern Canada where it gets really cold. He swears by Red Line 0w-20 in his Ford pickup with a V8 engine. He say when he's stuck leaving the car out in the open without the coolant and pan heaters he says it still starts right up. He said with other synthetic 0w-20 oils his engine made noise for a while after start up but not with the Red Line. The company he works for is now using this same oil in their vehicles after seeing what it's done for Stan's pickup.

I asked him about anything unusual about driving in such cold weather and he said that if he leaves his pickup out for a while he has to remember to close his eyes when he first turns on the heater because the blast of cold air stings when it first comes out of the vents and hurts his eyes.
 
-40C/F really brings our some interesting noises in any vehicle if you aren't using a block heater or an oil pan heater for sure, even with 0w20 oil. Suspension, interior...all make noises and behaviors that surprise me each time. Luckily those times are rare.
 
About 4 degrees here this morning where I live, Ram cranked over alittle slower than usual. Once turned over she purrs away though. Squeaks are little more prevelant on the Ram on frozen days/nites. Cant complain for a 15 year old truck though who still fires right up when called upon!!
 
My Honda Odyssey transmission acted weird this morning, temperature was -17 degrees Celsius, and it was hesitating to move even when I step on the accelerator, it had the same feeling as when my transmission failed the last time. It went back to normal after about 50 yards.
 
My stupid undersized Honda battery struggles mightily in below zero weather. I should have upsized. Car still started though.
 
My neon started FASTER than usual. I wonder if the computer is programmed to give 4 cranking revs before even thinking about injecting fuel, to get oil pressure up etc, except to inject fuel ASAP if it's under zero out.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
My neon started FASTER than usual. I wonder if the computer is programmed to give 4 cranking revs before even thinking about injecting fuel, to get oil pressure up etc, except to inject fuel ASAP if it's under zero out.


My Cherokee usually cranks 3 or 4 times under normal circumstances. In this cold weather, it's not uncommon for it to fire off after 1 revolution. I think the starter turning so slow helps haha.
 
Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
I find everything is pretty normal until -15C/5F, below that the starter does start to work a bit harder and there is bit more start up noise and I'll let it idle a bit longer before going.
I agree with this. When it is below -25, the weird noises are even more pronounced.


Funny that around 5f is when my transmission is a little slow to shift and power steering (hydraulic) is heavy. 10f and warmer there is hardly any difference. Also it takes a little bit longer to get up to operating temps (additional 2 miles) as it was -5f this morning.
 
25 here this morning. She started up and purred like a happy kitten! I started it one morning when it was -2 (even had Valvoline 20w50 conventional in it) and started right up as silently and smoothly just like on a summer morning. I never get any weird noises or quirks anytime whatsoever. Car always sits outside,never had a garage.
 
It was below 30F in South Texas and Sunny Florida ?

It was 55-56F at 7:00 AM in So Cal, it was so cold I had to let the car idle for 1 minute before shipped to reverse to get out of garage. The engine didn't get to operating temperature of 183-185F for more than 3.0 miles.
 
-15C/5F starter cranks engine slower engine catches within 3 seconds.
Tire pressure is reduced by bitter cold seems to ride smoother.
 
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Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
It was below 30F in South Texas and Sunny Florida ?

It was 55-56F at 7:00 AM in So Cal, it was so cold I had to let the car idle for 1 minute before shipped to reverse to get out of garage. The engine didn't get to operating temperature of 183-185F for more than 3.0 miles.


you know.. it took about the same distance for mine to get up to temp this morning. but it was -7F when i left the house for work.

this morning here in NW Buckeyeland it was -7.
where My buddies Mom lives in Alaska it was 16.
 
-15 C
2005 E46 BMW

Weird mechanical grinding noise from the dashboard.

Soft knocking noise from the engine when first started.

Power windows are frozen.

Door trim snapped off when opening one of the doors.
 
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