[Biggie]

Well here is the story. The temperature here in Winnipeg dropped to a wopping -33C (with the wind chill included it was -50C!) last night. Due to the fact my Accent has no block heater I was forced to park it outside, overnight from about 10PM to 7AM. That is 9 hours. When I went to start my car this morning, I fully expected to find her dead, but what do you know, she fired on the third rotation of the crank and came to life! Any car that can start and run in these conditions unprepared like it was deserves my respect! About that non-existant block heater, I see one in the very near future!

Rob

 

[da_moose]

I had a similar situation last year in Thunder Bay with my 99 Accent. Except it was actually -40C before windchill (that was a cold night). I decided to go for a drive with a friend of mine around 2 o'clock in the morning. Went to start it and she had a couple of tough rotations then fired up no problem. Last winter was one of the coldest winters I have experienced not necessarily in record temperatures but in consistency of cold temperatures. Never the less my car only failed to start one morning because I had only fumes in the gas tank and ended up killing the battery. However, all I did was pull the battery out, bring it inside and put a battery blanket around it. Left it for an hour or so, reinstalled it and it fired up. I'm really impressed with this car, it never fails to amaze me.

 

[meee2yo]

my car has never had problems, could be the 2 batteries and 1500 cold cranking amps that I have in here. I do let her warm up for around 15 minutes before actually driving her, to warm up the interior etc etc and it does not hurt the motor. Waste alot of gas that way tho. need to get my accent in a heated garage soon I hope.

of course, I am in chicago and last night was a cold night, -10 degrees !! it's warm down here lol.

[Edited by meee2yo on Feb 18, 2006 11:57 AM]

 

[atrimble_2001]

God I love livin in Cali.

 

[XericRally]

You know a shop light works well and is a bit cheaper.

 

[attist178]

Originally posted by meee2yo
[body]
of course, I am in chicago and last night was a cold night, -10 degrees !! it's warm down here lol.
[/body]

Dude...I feel your pain. I'm here in Chicago too, and today was freakin' COLD!!!! We got a different cold than Canada here though...it really is windy as hell here sometimes, and it just freakin' bites into you!!

 

[da_moose]

[body]You know a shop light works well and is a bit cheaper. [/body]

Using a shop light instead of a block heater? The idea of a block heater is to prevent the coolant from freezing inside the block. If the coolant freezes then it can crack the block as water expands when frozen. You also gotta be real careful where you put a shop light as they tend to melt things that are close to them (as I found out the hard way).

[body] quote: Originally posted by meee2yo

of course, I am in chicago and last night was a cold night, -10 degrees !! it's warm down here lol.



Dude...I feel your pain. I'm here in Chicago too, and today was freakin' COLD!!!! We got a different cold than Canada here though...it really is windy as hell here sometimes, and it just freakin' bites into you!!
[/body]

I'm in Thunder Bay and it gets very windy here as well. The rest of Ontario isn't as bad for wind but Manitoba, Saskatchewan get very high winds as the landscape is very flat. I don't really know how this compares to Chicago as most of the wind within the city is mostly caused by updrafts between high buildings (I'm assuming). BTW, last night was the coldest it has been all year. It was -28*C (-18.4*F) but with the windchill it was -40*C (-40*F) and NO these aren't approximate values although last year was much worse.

[Edited by da_moose on Feb 19, 2006 1:44 AM]

 

[JohnDoe641]

It was about 5 degrees here and I was expecting my car to just not start, but I was glad that it did. Though my brakes made some really awful sounds when I first used them. :c

 

[bvtmattyc]

with wind chill I'd imagine it was at least -20F yesterday all day here in VT. car sat oput in the direct wind fpor about 9 hours. Took about 4 or 5 cranks over by the engine, but it started.

I've only once had a problem with accents starting in cold weather, and it ws with my 2000 lc. But maybe that had something to do with it being -40F
ALL NIGHT one night. :dead:

 

[XericRally]

[body]The idea of a block heater is to prevent the coolant from freezing inside the block[/body]

Before New Mexico, (where by the way I think it may have it 70 degrees today =p) I lived in Stowe, Vermont there it gets cold. After that I lived on a small peninsula into Lake Champlain near Swanton, Vermont. There winter is Hell as the winds from 3 directions are off of a lake. My parents never had a block heater/garage and got by with a shop light every winter.

I can't imagine it being to dificult to prop the light in-between the radiator and exaust manifold using a coat hanger. A nice 100watt lightbulb will keep the temps under the hood above freazing. If you can't do this without melting wires, I would forever leave any modifications you were planning to make to your girlfriend. :lol::lol::lol:

 

[bvtmattyc]

sweet!! I live right now in Waterbury, just outside of Stowe!

when did you move from here?

 

[XericRally]

Many years ago, I left VT in 84'