DownEast coast of Maine. Winter of 1962-1963. 1962 Buick Special V6 Convertible . Always started at -20F. As a side note, when the temperature got up to 40F that spring, I put the top down. Had an overcoat on, plus the heater on full, but the top was down after a long cold winter.
Lowest Winter Temp You've Started a Vehicle?
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After seeing all the low temps listed here, I got curious about the freezing temperature of a lead acid battery, and did a little research.
At 100% SOC, freeze point = -92.0 degF
At 85% SOC, freeze point = -62.0 degF
At 62% SOC, freeze point = -16.0 degF
At 40% SOC, freeze point = +5.0 degF
At 100% SOC, freeze point = -92.0 degF
At 85% SOC, freeze point = -62.0 degF
At 62% SOC, freeze point = -16.0 degF
At 40% SOC, freeze point = +5.0 degF
-27F with a Civic CVCC 1500 back in the eighties.
The car would have had the 10W-40 I used in everything at the time in it.
It also had a manual choke. I pulled the choke knob all the way out and cranked the car without touching the throttle.
She started and ran. I don't know that we ever had much heater output that morning though.
The car would have had the 10W-40 I used in everything at the time in it.
It also had a manual choke. I pulled the choke knob all the way out and cranked the car without touching the throttle.
She started and ran. I don't know that we ever had much heater output that morning though.
A vehicle cannot get colder than the ambient temperature.
Wikipedia: The effect of wind chill is to increase the rate of heat loss and reduce any warmer objects to the ambient temperature more quickly. Dry air cannot, however, reduce the temperature of these objects below the ambient temperature, no matter how great the wind velocity
Wikipedia: The effect of wind chill is to increase the rate of heat loss and reduce any warmer objects to the ambient temperature more quickly. Dry air cannot, however, reduce the temperature of these objects below the ambient temperature, no matter how great the wind velocity
-22F on a Chevy S-10 with a 2.8 V6 running Pennzoil 10w30. Started okay but when I pushed in the clutch it didn't come back up. Took a while to warm up before I could drive it.
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-40C in Northern Quebec in the early 90's snowmobile trip. I had a shop truck with me, a 1980 Dodge van with slant 6 with 10W30 Gulf conventional oil. No block heater on it, but it started each night when we went into town to drink and watch the girls...
Had to kick the gas peal 10-15 times to pump some raw gas it, but it started. My friend had his dad's new Ford PU with FI, but it never started.
We rode snowmobiles during the day at -35, after all we drove all that way, not going to sit in the motel...
Had to kick the gas peal 10-15 times to pump some raw gas it, but it started. My friend had his dad's new Ford PU with FI, but it never started.
We rode snowmobiles during the day at -35, after all we drove all that way, not going to sit in the motel...
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-23F.
My cutlass ciera 3300 with new battery and SuperTech Synthetic didn't crank fast enough, flooded, and didn't go.
So I took my backup vehicle, a dodge dakota 2.5 with a 5 year old WM battery and 5w30 conventional. It cranked but fired!
The clutch was amazingly stiff and the whole experience dreadful.
My cutlass ciera 3300 with new battery and SuperTech Synthetic didn't crank fast enough, flooded, and didn't go.
So I took my backup vehicle, a dodge dakota 2.5 with a 5 year old WM battery and 5w30 conventional. It cranked but fired!
The clutch was amazingly stiff and the whole experience dreadful.
This subject brings up a story that happened decades ago....and it wasn't necessarily that cold, but it still brings a smile to my brother's face:
This was sometime in the late 80s and it was -30F one morning. My brother had two fuel-injected cars and a '66 Ford Bronco pickup with the 170 c.i. engine that had a manual choke. He had thin oil in the fuel-injected cars and 10W-40 in his Bronco.
His two fuel-injected cars would not start. He thought that both him and his wife would be staying home from work that day, but on a whim, he tried his '66 Bronco. It took right off and that's what he used to drop his wife off at work and then he took it to work. It was many years later before he would admit that fuel injection was a better system than a carburetor.
It was also possible that his Bronco's engine was pretty loose and spun over a lot faster.
This was sometime in the late 80s and it was -30F one morning. My brother had two fuel-injected cars and a '66 Ford Bronco pickup with the 170 c.i. engine that had a manual choke. He had thin oil in the fuel-injected cars and 10W-40 in his Bronco.
His two fuel-injected cars would not start. He thought that both him and his wife would be staying home from work that day, but on a whim, he tried his '66 Bronco. It took right off and that's what he used to drop his wife off at work and then he took it to work. It was many years later before he would admit that fuel injection was a better system than a carburetor.
It was also possible that his Bronco's engine was pretty loose and spun over a lot faster.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
-38C (-36F). The power steering screamed for a solid 30 seconds and it was extremely unhappy. IIRC, I was running a 0w30 at the time.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
-42 in Bosnia after day and night of skiing. 10W40 INA Sint oil.
Car was OK, I on other hand froze my a.. off.
Car was OK, I on other hand froze my a.. off.
I don't remember the exact temp, but it was lower than -30C (-22F) for sure and I was in my 95 Accord stick shift. The Manual transmission and the clutch were extremely heavy. The engine fired up no problem with 5w30 GTX in it.
Had -38C a few years ago during the Polar Vortex. I took this pic next day at 10AM when the sun had been out and it warmed up. My Explorer started right, up but I had a block heater, so cheated....Still the motor howled like a Banshee until the chain tensioner got pressure. Using 5W30 PP
-72F near Destruction Bay, YT in January 1983. Had many times of -50F to -60F while living in the interior of AK for many years, but that Yukon day was a lowest ever for me to start a vehicle. Block heaters, oil pan heaters, and battery blankets are sooooo nice.
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Around +30
Got 0w30 in the Camry, it's ready!
Yup, I think the coldest for me was 25°F, most likely a 10w30 or 10w-40 (that is all I used till I came here).
Around +30
Got 0w30 in the Camry, it's ready!
Yup, I think the coldest for me was 25°F, most likely a 10w30 or 10w-40 (that is all I used till I came here).
Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
-72F near Destruction Bay, YT in January 1983. Had many times of -50F to -60F while living in the interior of AK for many years, but that Yukon day was a lowest ever for me to start a vehicle. Block heaters, oil pan heaters, and battery blankets are sooooo nice.
Folks, I think we have a winner.
-72F near Destruction Bay, YT in January 1983. Had many times of -50F to -60F while living in the interior of AK for many years, but that Yukon day was a lowest ever for me to start a vehicle. Block heaters, oil pan heaters, and battery blankets are sooooo nice.
Folks, I think we have a winner.
MolaKule
Staff member
-37F on an '03 PathFinder using Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30. No screeching, no ticking, no engine noises.
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-10F or so, it doesn't get super cold in chicago but the windchill or w/e they claim is always -50F but machines cant tell the diff.
My G35 and maxima started right up no issues. I didn't try the other cars.
My G35 and maxima started right up no issues. I didn't try the other cars.
-45F Grand Forks ND, 89 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight 3800, Valvoline 5w30 conventional probably. Cranked slow but immediately fired thankfully. Power steering pump wasn't happy at all!
This was at college, so my car was in a huge parking lot. So I spent the next hour or so running around the parking lot with jumper cables trying to get everyone else's toilet running. I didn't even really have anywhere to go, just wanted to see if it would start
This was at college, so my car was in a huge parking lot. So I spent the next hour or so running around the parking lot with jumper cables trying to get everyone else's toilet running. I didn't even really have anywhere to go, just wanted to see if it would start
-10F. The Jeep cranked a bit slow but fired up and made lots of unhappy noises, haha.
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Had to kick the gas peal 10-15 times to pump some raw gas it, but it started. My friend had his dad's new Ford PU with FI, but it never started.
Yes, some vehicles with carbs could be coaxed into starting when it certainly wasn't a good idea.
Had to kick the gas peal 10-15 times to pump some raw gas it, but it started. My friend had his dad's new Ford PU with FI, but it never started.
Yes, some vehicles with carbs could be coaxed into starting when it certainly wasn't a good idea.
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