-15º Cold start - Chicago GP owners

[Exile]

So this is a rather superficial and perhaps obvious question, but i'd like to hear some input from more knowledgeable mechanics than myself.

I live in Chicago area, its currently -15ºF / -32ºF wind chill. I haven't started or driven my car in 48 hours, cause it was buried under 3ft snow drift all day yesterday.

Question is, is it safe/smart to start it at this point with it being sooooo cold? Or should I wait till the ambient temp comes up? I don't need to drive it, it can sit if need be.

Just looking for some facts on this...

[Scottydoggs]

it can sit in a snow cocoon till you dig it out and fire it up then.

its safe to start it. but if your not going any where why bother.

[Exile]

it can sit in a snow cocoon till you dig it out and fire it up then.

its safe to start it. but if your not going any where why bother.

aha yep that's been my thought for the last 48 hrs. It does have remote start tho, so I can half ass clean it off and just start it from the couch.

My slight concern is I'm sure the oil is pretty molasses like, for both motor and SC. Is this even a concern? What about the coolant...im uncertain what the temp range is on that stuff.

[ItHurtz]

I was just pondering the oil problem. I just put in a qt into the truck and it didnt really wanna come out. Trucks running to warm it up but wtf, I need a -10w30 oil in this temp dam

[TheNoob23]

My gp has been telling me to 'change the oil soon' on cold starts during this weather

[Scottydoggs]

if your not going any where dont start it. let it sit, the car dont know a thing.

[Exile]

Hmmm, alright. It shall sit till tomorrow at least then. Save myself the premium if its not beneficial to attempt to keep it warm.

[Scottydoggs]

your engine dont know if its been iced over for a week or a day, let it rest. lol

[JDrach]

i decided to start mine after not driving it since late Fri night. Wouldn't turn over, had to replace the battery. Altho the battery needed replacing anyways, but still. Next time I'll be more prepared.

[chris99gtp]

i had to make sure my coolant was good for the cold. it was only good till -5* so good thing i checked... We were also interested in what the coolant would actually look like if we kept it that way so we have some of it sitting outside and its very slushy.

[02NavyBlue]

Haha good thing you added more antifreeze then. All this talk about fluids in the cold weather has got me to put 3 bottles of oil outside in the snow. It is currently 0°F out there (-18°C). The first two are both mobil 10w-30, one is conventional and the other is fully synthetic. That's my real comparison. Then for kicks I have some castrol SAE 30 (also called HD 30) out there too, which will probably be like honey. I'll test it in an hour or so when they've cooled down real well.

[Exile]

Should be interesting 02Navy lol...

My battery should be g2g, its just over a year old. My coolant tho, I have no idea. Its due for a flush probably in spring. Fingers crossed xD

[02NavyBlue]

Well the results are back, the two oils actually were quite similar at -2°F surprisingly. The only difference was that the synthetic didn't form a little pile before leveling out like the conventional did. I guess the biggest difference is when you get down to like -20. The SAE 30 was gooey like glue.

[Grimsin]

-23 Celsius tomorrow. hope my car starts, gotta drive to toronto get in the big rig and probably heading to California.

[big daddy]

Im having this.prob...in MN -24 this morning car started warmed up.for 10 min.....when I got in to drive the car I noticed the Security light was on and stayed on.....then when I go start car this afternoon the car starts then kills right away.....ive tried turning key to.on and waiting 10 min till security light turns off then starting still kills.....then tried spare set if keys and didnt work either.....I cant figure it out and im lost

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[Exile]

Im having this same prob...in MN -24 this morning car started warmed up.for 10 min.....when I got in to drive the car I noticed the Security light was on and stayed on.....then when I go start car this afternoon the car starts then kills right away.....ive tried turning key to.on and waiting 10 min till security light turns off then starting still kills.....then tried spare set if keys and didnt work either.....I cant figure it out and im lost

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

I've read about the security feature on these cars a lil, but not enough to give you advice. I'm curious what the solution is tho... this issue makes me nervous anytime I disconnect my battery.

[Scottydoggs]

cool testing. now warm it up to room temp, and do it again tomorrow when its warm. i bet it flows amost like water lol

[02NavyBlue]

Yeah it does, I use it in the lawn mower and power washer (summer obviously) and it's like 30 weight should be. It is like water when I drain it after it was running to do an oil change.

[cavell]

Syn oil flows a little better when cold. 0-30 is hard to find. 0-20 is easy to find. All the Asian cars use it. But I am not using 0-20 in my car.

[WolvesSoulZ]

My car starts even at -40C, even with the XP Cam. Shush. I use 5w-30.

The four days temperature hovered between -35 and -40C, I used my car on each.