Lowest temp you ever started an engine.
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I LIVE in WINNIPEG & with the WING CHILL IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN - 50 also Colder here than at the North Pole more than once . Water Freezes when you throw it in the air from a bucket . 4 UR car in Winter XCELLENT Battery , Antifreeze Good 2 - 40 , SYNTH OIL or SYNTH /DINO Blend OIL , Battery Warmer, & Manditory Block Heater or 2
My aunt/uncle lived in a mining town called Leaf Rapids (200km North West of Thompson) for years and I can confirm this. When they forgot to plug the car in the night before, they had to get a ride to work as the car wouldn't turn over. One summer when they came down to visit family in Toronto, my dad had installed a magnetic oil pan heater, battery warming blanket and block heater in their Ford. They ran dino oil and had 0 issues because of it. When it was plugged in that is.
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OK, this is a reprint of my post from Jan 16, 2009
Note how many things did not want to work at -40, real air temp, not chill factor. Clutch pedal frozen, gas peddle stuck down (warm up resulted!) power steering left me cross wise in the street with no steering, etc.
Here goes: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
Note how many things did not want to work at -40, real air temp, not chill factor. Clutch pedal frozen, gas peddle stuck down (warm up resulted!) power steering left me cross wise in the street with no steering, etc.
Here goes: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
I've never had a really cold start. I will say, some colder mornings the Escape takes a while to warm up and then doesn't stay warmed up. If I stop at the McDonald's drive thru on the way to work it gets to the center of the temp gauge right as I get there, but then from idling in the drive thru the heater starts to get cold again and the temp gauges goes down. The Chevy with a V8 actually seems to retain heat better once warmed up - is it possible the small 2.5L in the Ford doesn't hold heat as well?
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I managed to start my 1982 Diesel Suburban in -42F while I was in college, my rusty beater was one of the only ones that started up
Last winter, -12F, 1947 Ford 2N Tractor. Castrol 20w-50 in the pan, no block or battery heaters, no ether. Just plenty of choke and a little luck. I've since changed to Valvoline Synthetic Maxlife 5w-30 year round in this rig. It carries 20 psi at idle on the hottest days, no need for 50 weight oil lol. I was just using up $1.38 per jug Castrol 20w-50 from AAP anyway.
Early '80's in Barnes, WI. Leaving my sister in laws after a nice dinner around 11pm. Vehicle was a 1958 Ford wagon with a 3 on-the-tree with Mobil1. Car started right up but I had to wait about half an hour before I could shift the trans. Temp -40F.
The coldest for me was -30 . I was stationed in Grand Forks N.D. The car was a 1970 AMX ,and I had not plugged it in overnight . I was really surprised it started without any difficulty .
Probably -10 to -15 for me, but of course local news urinalists were making like Armageddon was beginning, claiming wind chills of -20 or so. Anyway, I can't remember all the vehicles I've started at those temps, but they all had Mobil 1 and fired right up. I know my 08 Jeep has started in those temps a number of times with Mobil 1 5w20, with no issue. The transmission had Pennzoil Synchromesh in it and the diffs had synthetic gear lube, likely Mobil 1, in them at the time. The gear box was certainly noticeable, but worked fine and warmed up quickly. Fortunately, that Jeep has a blast furnace for a heater, and it warms up quicker than any other vehicle I've owned.
I know of a guy on a Jeep JK forum who worked in mines in northern Canada and he ran M1 5w20 in his 3.8 JK. He usually plugged it in, but said there were a couple times he didn't. He said it started fine, but did make alot of noise, but warmed up and quieted down pretty quickly.
I know of a guy on a Jeep JK forum who worked in mines in northern Canada and he ran M1 5w20 in his 3.8 JK. He usually plugged it in, but said there were a couple times he didn't. He said it started fine, but did make alot of noise, but warmed up and quieted down pretty quickly.
Early 80's in northwest Minnesota in January-36 degrees. Had Mobil One 10-30 in a Ford van with a 300 cubic inch straight six, and the motor barely turned over and boom, it fired....I was shocked.
Last winter -42 02 jeep 4.0 val 5w30 HM. Engine did start slow but oil warning bell was ringing gauge showed zero
presure for about 6 seconds. Purchased Oil pan heater worked great.
presure for about 6 seconds. Purchased Oil pan heater worked great.
-44C in Northern Finland
M1 5W-50 in the sump.
M1 5W-50 in the sump.
17 degrees while deer hunting in Stewart, Mississippi. 5W30 in a Nissan Frontier and it started fine. 17 degrees is plenty cold enough for this Cajun from south Louisiana. I know some of you from up North may laugh at that, but the coldest I'm used to is 30 degrees down here and thats rare.
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-38F 1988 Pathfinder running 5w30 Mobil 1 synthetic (before the creation of 0w) never plugged a car in. Wouldn't shift gears until warmed a bit so I'd idle around the block a couple of times when colder than -20F. My Civic after that was about the same only a manual so the clutch hated me until it warmed a bit. I'd have to basically double clutch colder than -20F. Both cars drove like concrete with wheels in those temps. Chipped some teeth I'm sure when hitting bumps.
Originally Posted by Wingman
-60. Minot North Dakota in the early 70s. It was not an unusual occurrence back then.
Why not?
Spent some time there myself. Not warm in winter.
Coldest start ever: -42F/-41°C in northern Montana, with 0w-30. Cranked a little slower but no issues. While up there, starting at -15F / -26°C was a regular occurrence in Jan/Feb.
Last couple of years, coldest start was around 15°F / -10°C during the winter, with 5w-30 and no issues.
-60. Minot North Dakota in the early 70s. It was not an unusual occurrence back then.
Why not?
Coldest start ever: -42F/-41°C in northern Montana, with 0w-30. Cranked a little slower but no issues. While up there, starting at -15F / -26°C was a regular occurrence in Jan/Feb.
Last couple of years, coldest start was around 15°F / -10°C during the winter, with 5w-30 and no issues.
Originally Posted by Wingman
-60. Minot North Dakota in the early 70s. It was not an unusual occurrence back then.
Maybe with windchill, which doesn't affect a car. But -60 is the coldest ever recorded in ND. With 95% of my life spent in that region, -60 is unusual, even back then. A couple weeks worth or lows of -30 or so not unusual. Highs of -10 to -20. But colder than -40 without windchill is unusual. Even in ND.
-60. Minot North Dakota in the early 70s. It was not an unusual occurrence back then.
Maybe with windchill, which doesn't affect a car. But -60 is the coldest ever recorded in ND. With 95% of my life spent in that region, -60 is unusual, even back then. A couple weeks worth or lows of -30 or so not unusual. Highs of -10 to -20. But colder than -40 without windchill is unusual. Even in ND.
I don't know if I posted on this already but trying to remember all the cold starts.... I know this pat winter we command started the 3500 in -30 C ambient by accident. Not plugged in, just a nice cold soaked truck in the morning. It started fine.
I know of one time on my Tb, the winter of 2007 I was up in Pelican Narrows visiting a buddy. Parked my Tb Friday evening and started it Sunday morning without plugging it in. If I recall it was about -30 to 35 C ambient. It started fine but man was it cold and unappreciative of the prospect we were leaving.
This past winter while plugged in, the TB started in -40C to take the kids to school as the busses do not run at certain temperatures. We are situated on a slight rise in the area but travel through the "dead zone" as the road drops down. The temperature always drops in this area and it was neat to see the windshield frost up as the temp exceeded -40. but to be fair, there is little wind when we get those cold snaps so it really was not bad out at all.
I know of one time on my Tb, the winter of 2007 I was up in Pelican Narrows visiting a buddy. Parked my Tb Friday evening and started it Sunday morning without plugging it in. If I recall it was about -30 to 35 C ambient. It started fine but man was it cold and unappreciative of the prospect we were leaving.
This past winter while plugged in, the TB started in -40C to take the kids to school as the busses do not run at certain temperatures. We are situated on a slight rise in the area but travel through the "dead zone" as the road drops down. The temperature always drops in this area and it was neat to see the windshield frost up as the temp exceeded -40. but to be fair, there is little wind when we get those cold snaps so it really was not bad out at all.
-33C without block heater. Oil was castrol edge 0w-40. Will post a picture this winter off coldest start up
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