On Monday, 6 January 2014 15:25:40 UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/6/2014 2:01 PM, True North wrote:

On Monday, 6 January 2014 14:13:58 UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:

On 1/6/2014 11:36 AM, Tim wrote:



10" of drifting snow and -10 below 0f. and breezy. (wind chill like -40)







Not the coldest place on the planet but it's the coldest place I know of seeing w haven't had this type of weather in years.







No need to go anywhere...















The coldest weather I ever experienced was in Zion, IL back in 1973.



I've forgotten the actual temps but one weekend they were like what you



are experiencing now ... double digits below zero.







Someone advised me that I should start my car every couple of hours and



let it run for about 15 minutes to keep the oil from thickening and the



battery charged. Big mistake. (I had a 1969 Ford LTD with a 429 c.i.



engine).







It started and I let it run for the prescribed 15 minutes. It didn't



start again for two days. I finally removed a spark plug and the



electrode was fully encased in ice, as were the electrodes on the other



seven plugs. You would think that running for 15 minutes would have



heated everything enough to remove any residual water vapor, but I guess



not.





I have a block heater on my Highlander and now have to purchase a battery blanket.

Those two items are more than enough for our climate.

A normal winter might require 6-10 instances where I use them.

My outside plug is controlled by a switch at the top of the basement stairs.

In the cape Cod style house I built in the burbs back in the mid '70s, the switch was right over my head in bed.

I didn't even have to open my eyes...just reach up to get the warmth flowing.

The old 77 Aspen Wagon's slant six loved me for it.





Yeah, this winter I bought one of those magnetic heaters for my diesel

powered tractor. It's only 200 watts and thermostatically controlled,

so I leave it plugged in all the time. I stuck it on the bottom of the

oil pan and it seems to help a lot. Although sluggish because the

battery was cold, it still fired right up the other day after running

the glow plug for 20 seconds. It was 5 degrees at the time. Diesels

don't like cold.


Another good reason for the block heater, besides easier startup, is reduced wear on the moving engine components.
I read recently that a vehicle engine from the colder regions of Canada would have as much wear in 3 years as a 10 year old Kalifornia vehicle.
Gotta baby those engines up here if you want to get 10 + years out of them.