i do not have a garage so my cars are in the elements.i pull my cars up close to the house to try and keep them out of the wind as much as possible but, when it gets bitterly cold (like it is going to this weekend) i have always woke up in the middle of the night to run my cars for 15min. or so so they won't freeze up. does this do more harm than good? I have heard both ways.
2007-02-01 23:16:24 · 5 answers · asked by asachamp1988 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
The BEST way to keep it from freezing up is to use fresh coolant mixed at the level required for the temps your area encounters.
Starting it up at night seems like a waste to me, as it will cool right back down quickly at those temps.
Also, use oil that is 10W-30 or 10W-40 or so, in that freezing weather.
2007-02-01 23:39:16 · answer #1 · answered by Trump 2020 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I own a shop, build engines, and have worked on cars for the better part of my life. I must admit that your question is a bit different, but yet plausable. The question is; why not just put in enough antifreeze to keep the engine safe, or purchase a dip stick type heater for the engine, that will keep the oil and engine warm enough to avoid any damage? When you say "bitter cold" what are you talking about, 50 below zero or just zero? Starting an engine when the temperature is sub-zero can be very hard on the engine. Why put it through this? Metal expands, and contracts to temperature change, and aluminum is the worst to do so. Imagine the area the crank shaft runs in as a hole. Metal gets smaller when cold, and the holes the crank runs in will get smaller, and the crank itself will get smaller, so this opens up an excessive amount of space the crank runs in. Oil will become jell at these temperatures, and will work the oil pump hard to pump this jell, so the amount of protection the crank shaft has will be severly handicapped. An engine heater can resolve this problem, and allow for a more normal condition to exist. To put it short, yes you are in fact doing more harm than good to the engines. When an engine is machined and assembled, this is done at room temperature, and these specifications apply mainly to normal operating temperatures, as in the average temperature the engine will see most of the time. Anytime you go to an extreme, you are outside the parameters of normal. Three types of metal comes into play here. The engine block is made of one metal, the crank shaft is another, and the bearings are still yet another. An engine turns very slow in severe cold weather due to the cylinder walls getting smaller. Common sense will tell you that this creates an adverse condition. Combine this with jell for oil, and you open up a condition in which the engine was never designed to operate in. This is partically why engines are left running in very cold weather, that and the fact fuel becomes unstable at very low temperatures. If you are in doubt, you would be better to drain the engine of the coolant from the radiator, and remove the drain plugs from both sides of the engine block, and leave it alone until the weather gets warmer. Of course this is my opinion, and I'm sure some may disagree with me, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. If you have doubt, then drain the engines, so there can be no questions, and besides I'm sure you need your sleep.
Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!
2007-02-02 07:55:50 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Does your car have a heater in the block that you can plug into mains power? If so, use it. Another possibility is a low wattage heater you can put under the engine cover.
Running the engine for 15 minutes is not going to do it a lot of good.
If you own the house and there is enough land, I'd think very seriously about some kind of garage.
2007-02-02 07:59:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
if it's cold your oil should have a 5w for its lower value , and be synthetic . there are "add on " oil pan heaters that plug in to 120 v if you don't have a block heater ( how cold is bitterly ? ) and the coolant blended for -40. i live in Canada and have never gotten up in the middle of the night to start my car , i don't think it's too good for it , cold starts kill.
2007-02-02 15:17:41 · answer #4 · answered by sterling m 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it is pointless to get up and start your car in the middle of the night. nothing exept the coolant will freeze and you can get anti freeze for that. fuel will freeze if you are living somewhere where the tempurature gets below 150 farenheit which i doubt. LOL
2007-02-02 07:42:06 · answer #5 · answered by jacob w 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋