below zero cold starts

[pakizzie2015]

on Sunday Morning I had to start it. temp was -5. and as you said it started but wasn't happy.. I just sat there for about 15 minutes until it started to sound normal again.. I was surprised how fast it warmed up inside. My explorer took forever. The kizzie engine is louder than my four cylinders I have had. but again after the 15 minutes of warming up it was back to normal.. I took it slow driving it as the tranny was cold as well. After about 2 miles I noticed it was back to normal driving.. I guess I have been lucky to not have to drive in snow yet. I thought I would yesterday but now the rain came and it is gone..
I used the awd in a downpour once , road was really bad I felt the difference and a bit more safe. but with snow I may have to wait until next winter.

Modern cars don't need to be warmed up by idling for a significant amount of time. In fact, many experts agree that the best way of warming up a car is to just drive it. However, don't drive it hard until the car is at normal operating temperature. Idling it in your driveway is actually not great for the engine, not great for your wallet (idling is getting 0 MPGs), bad for the environment, is potentially harmful for your health, and simply doing little good other than making the car's interior warm for when you are ready to drive it. Modern computer-controlled engines with electronic fuel injection and multi-grade oils have largely made long idling warm-ups obsolete. I wouldn't warm up an engine for more than a minute unless I was in some absurdly cold region like -30 F. Even then, no more than a few minutes.

I also want to highlight the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning for people who idle their cars to warm up while doing things like shoveling snow or scrapping ice. It's a bad idea, especially if others are in the car waiting. The snow can block the adequate venting of the exhaust and cause carbon monoxide to build up in the cabin. A woman and her child died just a few weeks ago in the snow storm while the husband spent time digging the car out of snow. The car was idling so it would warm up.

Idling a car to warm-up for more than a minute is just really unnecessary and potentially dangerous. Just start driving it easy and it will warm up faster.

Thanks for the safety reminders about the carbon monoxide. very very true.. this winter I think in philadephia I believe this happened to a young mother and one of her kids.. husband shoveling out the car she stayed in the car. with exhaust pipe blocked.. sad truly sad.. I know better to ever do that.. when I was waiting my 5 minutes to let the car warm up a bit I had the window cracked a bit and if I was to be in there longer I would have gotten outside.. my Father taught me these lessons when I was young. and to this day long after my dad has passed I can still hear his voice in my head about things.

[nytq]

I believe the CVT applies some torque limiting when extremely cold until it's up to temp. I've experienced the same sluggishness when starting to move in freezing temps. Even if you floor it it just will not push alot of energy thru the CVT. Probably a safety feature so the belt doesn't snap when frigid.

[LPSISRL]

I also want to highlight the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning for people who idle their cars to warm up while doing things like shoveling snow or scrapping ice. It's a bad idea, especially if others are in the car waiting. The snow can block the adequate venting of the exhaust and cause carbon monoxide to build up in the cabin. A woman and her child died just a few weeks ago in the snow storm while the husband spent time digging the car out of snow. The car was idling so it would warm up.

That's tragic. I was listening to Car Talk awhile back and they stated that with newer cars, carbon monoxide poisoning was very difficult if not impossible as newer car's emissions don't have enough to poison you. What they do have enough of is other gasses, like carbon dioxide, that asphyxiate you rather than carbon monoxide poisoning you. The end result is the same but an autopsy would show asphyxiation and not carbon monoxide poisoning (though they are related, they are not the same). I though it was an interesting comment and I'm not bringing it up to correct but to share.

[KuroNekko]

I also want to highlight the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning for people who idle their cars to warm up while doing things like shoveling snow or scrapping ice. It's a bad idea, especially if others are in the car waiting. The snow can block the adequate venting of the exhaust and cause carbon monoxide to build up in the cabin. A woman and her child died just a few weeks ago in the snow storm while the husband spent time digging the car out of snow. The car was idling so it would warm up.

That's tragic. I was listening to Car Talk awhile back and they stated that with newer cars, carbon monoxide poisoning was very difficult if not impossible as newer car's emissions don't have enough to poison you. What they do have enough of is other gasses, like carbon dioxide, that asphyxiate you rather than carbon monoxide poisoning you. The end result is the same but an autopsy would show asphyxiation and not carbon monoxide poisoning (though they are related, they are not the same). I though it was an interesting comment and I'm not bringing it up to correct but to share.

Great point, but I think carbon monoxide is more dangerous given the poisoning effect. I think it works a lot faster and is harder to detect given it's odorless. With carbon dioxide, I think one would notice it's getting harder to breathe and would opt to roll down the window or open a door to get "fresh air" or oxygen. It would also probably take longer to have an effect compared to the matter of minutes it takes to kill someone with carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is what is believed to have killed the woman and her child in the case I mentioned.
http://nypost.com/2016/01/25/mom-and-so ... w-off-car/

[Woodie]

I keep reminding myself we own orphan cars that we have to (baby) so to speak.. and a little cash out of the wallet for a warm up is a small price to pay..

If you wish to baby your car because it is an orphan, you should go back up to the top of this thread and review the part where five different people told you that letting it idle to warm up IS BAD FOR YOUR ENGINE.

[FrankoLaMoya]

-35 celsius/-31 Fahrenheit here a few days ago... no remote start/no block heather/no garage/no issue

[WESHOOT2]

My CVT, steering, brakes, and tires were stiff.
My low-pressure light came on.
My passenger air-bag off light came on (my wife was in the seat buckled up).

It took a while to work right.

[kconklin33]

Had an interesting bug the other day. Got in my car, foot on the brake, hit the push to start, doesn't turn on... car went into the auxiliary mode but wouldn't turn over but was getting juice yet never engaged the starter. Took my foot off the brake and tried again, tried for a bout 10 times and then finally started with no hesitation? Immediately following the CEL came on. Drove it a mile to work and then back after. Fired it up the next day to bring it somewhere to put an obd2 scanner on it and as I'm driving the CEL turns off. Haven't had a problem since but struck me as being strange.

[kconklin33]

Also should mention, my cvt whines like crazy in the cold weather. Not as much when just in drive but when in manual/sport mode quite a bit. I always drive my car in the auto manual mode.

[FrankoLaMoya]

Mine does that too kconklin33. The whining is a lot worst during the first few minutes of driving after a cold start.