Thread: What did you do to your car today? Vol 2.0

I actually need to get a 4 outlet extension, the one you can see hanging out of my bumper is one of the three ways I have in there.

I need another outlet in there for my battery heater... Lol. I've got a block heater, oil pan heater, trans pan heater, battery pad, trickle charger, and now a heated blanket for my battery.

If I mounted something like that, it'd shatter the bumper if you forgot to unplug it before driving off. Lol not exactly something I'm looking forward to fixing.

how would you forget to unplug all that stuff at knee level, cant miss it really lol

Originally Posted by WarStryker13

You evoke jealousy in me...



That's the snow from early October, still the same depth as when it fell.

And yes, my car is running while being plugged in. It's necessary if I want my car to get warmed up within the hour.

I know its cold, but an HOUR? How 'bout a brick on the pedal? Am I missing something? Please enlighten me. Even when it's 0*F here, 10-15 mins is enough to achieve a warm car...Is -30 that much more worse?

the trouble with -30 is the oil tends to turn into mud, then the engine wont really want to crank even, why the battery warmer, same goes for the tranny fluid. then theres the block heater. it replaces a freeze out plug. anyone can install one.

the one up front looks to be the easy one to get to. the back side is blocked by the tranny. thats the most you need for normal cold temps. ben up there is going over kill on the warmers. but for his weather im sure it helps.

The front one near the starter.

I used my block heater every winter when I had my car in these MN winters. I even modded my 2012 truck block heater to work regardless of temp, from the factory they only work when the temp in below zero on 2006+ vehicles.

I wouldn't run it all the time though, I keep mine on a wall timer. It runs for 20-30min and is off for 10-20min, then back on for 30 and off again. Saves the electric bill a tiny bit and it still keeps the coolant plenty warm. The V8 in my truck is much larger than the 3800 and it kept the coolant at 70º when it was 20º outside when I checked it the other day.

Originally Posted by cheatah faheatah

I know its cold, but an HOUR? How 'bout a brick on the pedal? Am I missing something? Please enlighten me. Even when it's 0*F here, 10-15 mins is enough to achieve a warm car...Is -30 that much more worse?

It's like scotty said, at -30*F regular 10w30 is almost solid. Put honey in the freezer for 10 minutes, that's about how thick it will get.

-30*F doesn't really feel that much colder than 0*F, but you get cold much, much faster and things like batteries and lubricants stop working. Considering it can get down to -60*F at night.... yeah. It takes a while to warm up.

What I've done is pretty much overkill, yes... but she always starts right up without an issue, and I never have to worry about it.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

how would you forget to unplug all that stuff at knee level, cant miss it really lol

IDK, but I've seen plenty of extension cords in the middle of the road. lol

Well yesterday and today look completely different. Yesterday we had zero snow, today it is still snowing and is supposed to until 4am.

My 06 always had little rim leaks that I'd have to fill 3 tires once in a while, but randomly it got so bad I had to fill my RF tire daily. That's a bad rim leak. I took it to work and removed all 4 tires from the rims, cleaned all the corrosion off the rim sealing surface, as well as the corrosion that stuck to the bead on the tire, and re mounted and reinstalled. Seems to hold good now. I couldn't believe how much corrosion was on them, the tires have been on the rims about 2 years.




Now I need to replace the motor mount, it's making a lot of noise when the engine moves.

It's one thing after another when buying a used car. My 02 was the same way. Eventually I fixed everything and it's gone a long time without anything breaking. Half the car is new though lol. Just waiting to get to that point on the 06.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by 02NavyBlue

It's one thing after another when buying a used car. My 02 was the same way. Eventually I fixed everything and it's gone a long time without anything breaking. Half the car is new though lol. Just waiting to get to that point on the 06.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Hey, half a new car is better than a whole new car payment/price tag. Or a whole old broken down P.O.S. I'd say. We just gotta keep our old girls humming....

I had same weight synthetic oil in my junk a couple winters ago and it seemed to make cold cranking a lot easier.

Synthetic does alot better than conventional in the cold, but they both hit that point, about -30*F, where they thicken up and go really sticky.

This morning my car was at 1*F according to torque, even with being plugged in all night. That's how you know plugging it in is worth the effort/trouble.

Perfect point of reference for how cold it is outside up here and how a GP deals with it. My fans are tuned to come on at 195°F, and I've got an open cone on the end of my MAF tube, directly over the exhaust crossover.



Thats how my HVAC is set and what I see on my instrument cluster.



That's what temp my engine has been sitting at for the past hour and a half, just idling in park. It's only -12°F right now.

Originally Posted by WarStryker13

You evoke jealousy in me...



That's the snow from early October, still the same depth as when it fell.

And yes, my car is running while being plugged in. It's necessary if I want my car to get warmed up within the hour.

Ya, you can have that snow. LOL

Snowed a few more inches last night. Now its supposed to freeze tonight or tomorrow. Can't wait for that fun!

When it melts slightly and re-freezes, that's the best! Lol

Zero traction with any tires, even blizzaks. So much fun.

Probably the most anxiety I'll have concerning this car started today
took it out of storage. Drove it through some wet snow /rain and handed the keys over to a collision shop


we'll see in spring .... fingers crossed

you crashed it?

No.. just going for a spa day and maybe a little plastic surgery

i did re-read my earlier post. The wording isn't the best. I meant to emphasize the point I spent 3 hours getting the paint , jambs and wheels minty fresh only to drive it through slushy garbage on the way to collision shop