Give the cars a quick run?

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
If the oil reaches 180f is that enough to evaporate condensation.

And will your oil temp reach 180F just by idling when it's -30C outside? On many cars it won't. And it's not just a matter of reaching it. It needs to stay there for a while, too to burn off moisture.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: dparm
Not worth your time. It won't serve any useful purpose. Millions of cars go many days without being started. Unless you are going to drive it for 20-30 minutes and get the oil up to temp, you're just going to be polluting a lot and pumping thick oil around (accelerating wear).

Make yourself an Irish coffee and enjoy being indoors.


PS, currently -5 F with a windchill of -25 F here in the Chicago suburbs. I have no plans to go start my car until later in the week when I need groceries.


Not quite.
If my car isn't plugged in and its -30 out I've gotta start it and let it run for an hour every 6 hours or it won't start,period.
OP
If you need one of those vehicles to actually start I would run them once or twice daily for an hour. Yesterday my car wouldn't start after sitting for 8 hours.
Once ambient temps increase you'll be fine.
I suggest those who don't actually live somewhere cold to give some actual thought to their answers. If an emergency arises and he runs out there to start that car and it just "clicks" then the whole extra wear and fuel dilution argument doesn't mean much does it.
I wouldn't start both though. Just one,then it can jump start the other if required.
If some life or death emergency arises,God forbid,with the few dollars in few truly matter.

Just saying,coming from a guy whose been living with daily -30 temps and my car wouldn't start when I needed it to.


Do you have a problem with the battery or starter? My Cherokee has a pretty significant battery drain and in the extreme cold I do try to drive it every few days to work and back. I don't want the newer battery to freeze.

But other than that, I have had vehicles sit for a few days in these extreme cold temps and they start up. I wouldn't say start right up as the oil is molasses and the battery is low.

Will be interesting to see if the Focus starts tomorrow. The battery is only charging to 12V.

This is my Cherokee starting Over sitting overnight in -8 temps. Old battery cables and the parasitic draw did a number on the CCA, but it still started.

 

[RISUPERCREWMAN]

Last summer I installed a Sears Di-Hard Platinum just for this reason as the old stocker battery was on its way out.

 

[A_Harman]

The weather in MI is supposed to warm up by Friday. Wait until then and give the road crews time to clear the roads, then take your cars for 1/2-hour drives. I let my Dodge diesel pickup sit outside for weeks at a time during the winter. I plug in the block heater overnight before I start it, and it fires right up. Right now, there is about 18" of snow on it, and I'm planning to dig it out on Saturday and go for a drive. That is, weather permitting, and there isn't much salt on the roads.

 

[Boss302fan]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Not worth your time. It won't serve any useful purpose. Millions of cars go many days without being started. Unless you are going to drive it for 20-30 minutes and get the oil up to temp, you're just going to be polluting a lot and pumping thick oil around (accelerating wear).

Make yourself an Irish coffee and enjoy being indoors.


PS, currently -5 F with a windchill of -25 F here in the Chicago suburbs. I have no plans to go start my car until later in the week when I need groceries.


I agree 100%.

We all should be down in Naples FL on the beach drinking our favorite beverage... LOL.

 

[Vikas]

Unless you have electrical gremlins in the car (parasitic draw), there is no reason to do that. And if you do have the draw, you need to fix it.

 

[Drew99GT]

Total waste to start it then stop it thinking you're keeping the battery charged and in good condition, or your getting the engine warm in any way. That just strains the battery and alternator even more and probably won't keep the battery charged anymore.

Idling for 10 minutes in sub zero conditions probably won't even get the oil above 20 degrees, and it will cool right back off in an hour to the same ambient temps it was at. It takes 20 to 30 minutes of engine operation under load to get oil at operating temperature in freezing conditions.

If you're concerned, bring the batteries from your vehicles inside where it's warm. That makes a huge difference in cold starting if you have a battery that's somewhat weak. With a good battery, correct viscosity oil, and an engine that has a good state of tune, it should start no matter what, even at 20 below 0 F.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
No. I have a Saturn with summer tires that's been sitting all week through nasty cold weather. It started right up after a -8'F overnight at the end of this spell, though the power steering system sounded angry.

The only angle, though, is the snow removal. If you move your cars to do this to improve your driveway, you've done something positive. And, your cars work for you.



Which is what I had to do...so they did move around.


Won't be starting them again for a while....including the one in the garage....

 

[rslifkin]

I've let the Jeep sit for a few days with temps in the single digits and hovering around the 0* F mark plenty of times before. It's usually a little more unhappy sounding when I crank it and runs a hair rough for a few seconds on start, but it's never failed to start on the first crank due to the cold.