Cold weather oil

[Tony10s]

Originally Posted By: jayg
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Well that makes perfect sense. In your other post you acted like people around there did not have a care in the world about running a 5w30... Which they wouldn't if the use a block heater etc. My point being was how well it would go running a 5w30 in -40°C or colder unaided, vehicle sat put in that cold for 12+ hours. Like you stated, some there do just that. But the obviously are in the minority. Likely the strong minority at that.

I do agree with you 100% about the people here in the contiguous US worry far too often about cold oil performance. Only in Montana Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Upper Wisconsin, Upper New York state, Vermont, Inland New Hampshire, and Maine away from the coast would have any times to be concerned with cold oil performance. And that's only a very small percentage of the time as compared to interior Alaska. If I lived in Fairfax, Vermont where I went to on vacation I would run a 0w30 in the winter. That place was 14 miles from the Canadian border and it can get quite cold up there at times.

Well I did say in my original post that most had block heaters but also that's because they bought it with one. Most people even here can't be bothered to remember to plug it in all the time religiously like some of us do. Yet, they still drive on with no oil related failures.

+1 to jayg ... There was nothing confusing about your first post. Being in Alaska, if anyone knows about operating a vehicle in extreme cold temperatures, it's you.

 

[Tony10s]

Originally Posted By: jayg

Jayg, that's a very beautiful picture.

 

[bbhero]

Ahh you are rather off here.... Read what it said again. Ohh people don't care about what they run... But many have BLOCK heaters... Of course they don't care if it us a 5w.. maybe even a 10w for that matter... Block heater changes the circumstance to a large degree. Granted there are obviously some that well run something without that being put on their motor.

 

[ndfergy]

Originally Posted By: Shannow

Why humans choose to live in even 10W locations escapes me.


It's an inexplicable calling like migratory birds born from ancient mans evolutionary advantage in the northern climes. In other words HOME. However, that same evolutionary advantage has a hic-cup: why do I have this baldy spot on the back of my head? Maybe Mother Nature is saying, "Been there, done that, time for you to move on". I think I'll stick for the time being for fear of regression

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Northwestern Colorado at 6300 ft can get very cold at times. In 1984 we dumped dumped 800+ megawatts on the electrical grid when our instrument air lines froze up even though they were insulated and had heat tracing.

 

[jayg]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
Ahh you are rather off here.... Read what it said again. Ohh people don't care about what they run... But many have BLOCK heaters... Of course they don't care if it us a 5w.. maybe even a 10w for that matter... Block heater changes the circumstance to a large degree. Granted there are obviously some that well run something without that being put on their motor.


I don't think you understand the block heater situation here.

Just because somebody has a block heater here doesn't mean they have mechanical sympathy and use it. 95% of the cars on the road here have one and they are dealer installed for literally every new car.

They dude with a rusted out Subaru Loyale and a block heater cord dangling out the front grille might use it occasionally but not all the time. We know there's not a boutique full synthetic 0w in the crankcase that would double the value of the vehicle. If it starts, that's good enough for some people. They aren't checking their oil pressure gauge. I know for a fact that other people in my town just walk out at -20F, start their car and then come back in 30 minutes and drive it. It has a block heater BUT I know they don't use it unless they think about it or it is convenient for them. Others, do it religiously. There are people who care and people who don't everywhere in the world and even the ones that don't care make it to work and 200k on the odometer most of the time.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: jayg
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Ahh you are rather off here.... Read what it said again. Ohh people don't care about what they run... But many have BLOCK heaters... Of course they don't care if it us a 5w.. maybe even a 10w for that matter... Block heater changes the circumstance to a large degree. Granted there are obviously some that well run something without that being put on their motor.


I don't think you understand the block heater situation here.

Just because somebody has a block heater here doesn't mean they have mechanical sympathy and use it. 95% of the cars on the road here have one and they are dealer installed for literally every new car.

They dude with a rusted out Subaru Loyale and a block heater cord dangling out the front grille might use it occasionally but not all the time. We know there's not a boutique full synthetic 0w in the crankcase that would double the value of the vehicle. If it starts, that's good enough for some people. They aren't checking their oil pressure gauge. I know for a fact that other people in my town just walk out at -20F, start their car and then come back in 30 minutes and drive it. It has a block heater BUT I know they don't use it unless they think about it or it is convenient for them. Others, do it religiously. There are people who care and people who don't everywhere in the world and even the ones that don't care make it to work and 200k on the odometer most of the time.





I think the two of you are actually closer in agreement than you are apart in disagreement. It’s the wording that is confusing the issue.

Case in point; my father used Havoline SAE 30wt in his 1962 International TraveAll religiously. When we lived in Eastern Oregon we had a winter where temperatures hit -30F. He had no block heaterand the vehicle was outside. He started it which took a few tries, jammed a stick cut to the right length to depress the gas pedal a bit so the engine ran at a higher idle speed, and came back in and had another cup of coffee. He did this for a couple of weeks the the weather warmed up into the teens so there was no more issue. He thought about a block heater but in those days ( early 70’s) it wasn’t as simple as it is today. That vehicle lasted for many many more miles before we sold it in the 80’s.

 

[bbhero]

Of course they may well not use it all of the time.... That would be really trifling I'd bet. So, yeah of course that makes perfect sense. But when it gets rather cold which it certainly does in interior Alaska I bet they use them at those times. I bet that is far more often than down here in the lower 48.

I think PimTac is right here. We likely agree a lot more than we think. Reading/writing things can easily lead to this. I've been there done that before.

At the end of the day here Capt... I believe what you are stating here about your observations. 100%.

 

[TurboTravis]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
If I lived in Fairfax, Vermont where I went to on vacation I would run a 0w30 in the winter. That place was 14 miles from the Canadian border and it can get quite cold up there at times.


The biggest question has shifted from motor oil choice to why someone would choose to go to Fairfax for a 'vacation'.

 

[bbhero]

Easy... A) Far away from where I am at. B) We stayed at a very nice Bed and Breakfast that was on a farm. C) I wanted to travel all through the local country side and drive up into the Green Mts.

 

[Tony10s]

Originally Posted By: jayg
.... I know for a fact that other people in my town just walk out at -20F, start their car and then come back in 30 minutes and drive it. It has a block heater BUT I know they don't use it unless they think about it or it is convenient for them. Others, do it religiously. There are people who care and people who don't everywhere in the world and even the ones that don't care make it to work and 200k on the odometer most of the time.

I would assume that using the block heater would be the best thing to do, but I know that you know what the people do in your area. And like you said above, many don't use it and are doing okay. I have never lived somewhere where it gets extremely cold like where you live and where others on here live (like those on here who live in Canada). So, you know first hand about having a vehicle in those conditions, and I obviously don't.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
Easy... A) Far away from where I am at. B) We stayed at a very nice Bed and Breakfast that was on a farm. C) I wanted to travel all through the local country side and drive up into the Green Mts.

Cool! Now we're posting about bed and breakfast places? Here in La. there are a few haunted plantation homes that you can spend the night at and if you're lucky you might see a ghost or two. Then, if you live through that, you can enjoy a very nice breakfast the next morning and share your ghost stories with the other guests, if they made it through the night.
Maybe you can ask the ghosts about winter oil.

 

[Ryan_in_MN]

Yep. Lived in MN for 37 years. I used 5w30 syn or dino on vehicles that made 292k and 117K. No need to ventured into 0w30. Not at all opposed to it, but never really the need. My sister lives in Winnipeg. She has run dino 5w-30 on her civic for 250K. Now I suggest syn to her, but she's happy with her mobil dino.

 

[Uphill_Both_Ways]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Why humans choose to live in even 10W locations escapes me.


No sharks, scorpions, tarantulas, termites, boxing kangaroos and baby-snatching dingos.

'Course, the police here don't keep statistics on the number of babies killed under collapsing igloos thanks to polar bears scratching their backs on protruding blocks of ice — mark my words, a scandal the lid of which is just waiting to blow off.

 

[Uphill_Both_Ways]

Originally Posted By: PimTac

He thought about a block heater but in those days ( early 70’s) it wasn’t as simple as it is today.
A block heater is nothing more than an electric coil screwed into a drain-plug hole or frost plug, and has been for 90 or 100 years. My '72 Pontiac's 400-cubic-inch engine had one for each cylinder bank.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: Uphill_Both_Ways
Originally Posted By: PimTac

He thought about a block heater but in those days ( early 70’s) it wasn’t as simple as it is today.
A block heater is nothing more than an electric coil screwed into a drain-plug hole or frost plug, and has been for 90 or 100 years. My '72 Pontiac's 400-cubic-inch engine had one for each cylinder bank.



The closest thing I’ve seen around here is a magnetic heat disk that sticks to the oil pan. Obviously we have little need for block heaters in our neck of the woods but I did use the magnet one when it was well below zero many winters ago in Eastern Oregon. Not exactly the same as yours which would be the ideal system.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Uphill_Both_Ways
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Why humans choose to live in even 10W locations escapes me.


No sharks, scorpions, tarantulas, termites, boxing kangaroos and baby-snatching dingos.

'Course, the police here don't keep statistics on the number of babies killed under collapsing igloos thanks to polar bears scratching their backs on protruding blocks of ice — mark my words, a scandal the lid of which is just waiting to blow off.

Maybe Shannow should do a Winnipeg to Regina to Edmonton road trip during a bad January.

Have to leave Calgary off, though, because they might get some strangely nice weather. I already told him how we got hit with -28 C something like six weeks ago. And to think that I'm cheering that it's only -11 C right now.

 

[Uphill_Both_Ways]

ˆˆˆ
One year in Calgary I couldn’t get time off for Christmas, so I didn’t book a flight to Winnipeg. On Dec. 22 I suddenly got the time off, but I was without wheels.

So I begged a ride to a strip of beater used-car lots by a truck stop and picked up a full-size, brown ’71 or ’72 eight-cylinder Ford Something station wagon for about the same price as an airline ticket after telling the guy I just wanted something that would get me to Winnipeg and back. He asked a guy in the shack who looked around from the steps and said the Ford might make it. Their candour had to be a Christmas miracle.

Checking out the car (the interior and exterior weren’t too bad, actually) before getting it licensed, I saw a quart of straight 30 Esso oil at the bottom of the back passenger-side fender well (under a moulded cover); a quart, so who knows how long it was there. I had the engine oil changed and drove the car for about 100 miles toward Banff and back to see if the thing could handle the trip. It was great, though a little heavy on gas, but I figured that was because mountains are uphill both ways.

I was somewhere between Moose Jaw and Regina at about 2 a.m. when the oil light came on around the time a Regina radio station said it was –38° — or maybe it was only –35° — without the wind chill. Y’know, when it’s so cold you can hold a conversation in a whisper two miles apart and a car's fenders fall off if you drop a ping-pong ball onto the hood.

So freezing my everything off, I poured in two litres of oil that didn’t register on the dipstick, though I sure didn’t wait long out there for it to trickle down to the oilpan, then grabbed the quart can of oil from the fender well where the heat from the car wasn’t.

It might as well have been tar. The oil made no sound when shaking the can. I idled the very low-oil engine on the side of the highway with the oil can under the heater outlet for 20 minutes before I ran out of nerve and punched two holes through the top. I had to get it into the engine. And the car was running low on gas. The oil poured, but man was it slow.

I made it into Regina at 70 km/h (the light stayed off) and bought six litres of oil at a Petro-Can after filling the crankcase and gas tank at the station, then made it to Brandon where I bought more oil and filled the tank again.

It did get me to Winnipeg — the second Christmas miracle — and on Dec. 27 I traded it in for a new Plymouth (they must have been very hungry) and drove back to Calgary in style. Well, sorta.

 

[dlundblad]

Threads like this remind me of the BITOG'r who can feel a difference in starting their snow blower in 30*F weather with 0w30.

Don't forget, 10w30 and 10w40 are both good down to 0*F.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Uphill_Both_Ways


No sharks, scorpions, tarantulas, termites, boxing kangaroos and baby-snatching dingos.


So you are cool with the snakes, spiders, venomous lizards, fish and octopus... At least you aren't afraid of the plaxe