COLD: Extreme Weather Preparation

[michaelgroves]

We never did any really cold-weather regions on our trip, but we investigated it thoroughly. Firstly, a diesel (or petrol) powered engine heater is unbeatable. We fitted a 5kW Eberspacher, and Webasto make a similar unit.

They can be set with a timer to warm the engine in the morning and optionally, turn on the interior heater fan in the car. And you can leave them running permanently if the engine is struggling to keep up to operating temp (esp diesels). They use about 1 to 2 litres per hour at full capacity, and they take about 10-15 mins to bring the engine from cold to operating temp. They are virtually silent and don't require re-fuelling, so they can be used all night

If you have one fitted, it's not a bad idea to make a habit of using it before starting up in the mornings even in warmer weather - cold engines wear literally hundreds of times faster than warm ones.

People with experience travelling in Siberia and Mongolia told us that when it's really cold - below 40 (C or F) - it's better to keep the engine running, even if you have block, battery, sump and radiator heaters! At that temp, other things like belts start becoming brittle.

Another thing to keep in mind in really cold conditions is that your tyres can get damaged easily when they are brittle too. Also, when parking up for the night, your warm tyres can end up frozen into the ice!

For an interesting read on a winter Siberia expedition:
http://turtleexpedition.com/adventures/intro.php

Rgds,

Michael...

 

[Scott Brady]

Great feedback on the fuel heaters Michael. Time to start investigating them...

Having a warm heater in even the moderate mornings would be very nice

 

[YJ Dave]

When on several night long trips here in Co I have had a few nights where the temps dropped to minus 20 F at 13K feet. Getting the Jeep running in the AM can be a chore.

What we did, after the Jeep would not start, was build up a wall of snow around the base of the Jeep (to block the wind) and set up our camp stoves to warm the oil pan. After 30 minutes the Jeep fired up. It worked well for pulling ideas out of thin air, but I'm sure that a true engine heater may have worked better.

Has any one tried to seal the underside of the engine bay with cardboard to reduce the air flow over the oil pan in cold weather?

 

[flyingwil]

When I lived in WI and temps would reach -5, the tires would freeze. I also would research this a bit, but frankly do not have time. I would suggest, airing up when stopped, for an overnight.

Also the $3 cans of Lock De-Icers, work wonders on frozen valve stems.

 

[Pskhaat]

When I lived in WI ...

My wife's from WI. We're usually back in that are around the winter solstice and -5F sounds like a warm sunny day there. There's something about that state that seems to trap the cold weather systems, I have had my shocks freeze, the springs pretty much stiff as wood, tires out of round until warm, DOT3 fluid freeze solid on the clutch/brake systems and get me stuck in gear (thus no starty). Ahh Wisconsin, where the 0w-20 runs like frozen honey. Also had a windshield wiper crack in half and just fly off.

 

[bigreen505]

Also had a windshield wiper crack in half and just fly off.

Carry a complete spare set of winter wipers. When it gets really cold they can freeze and break. The Winter SilBlades that Nathan carries are proven. I am testing the Bosch Icon blades and so far so good. They seem relatively indestructible compared with standard blades (winter or regular), but I have not had them for a winter yet, so the jury is still out.

Oh yeah, speaking of that, either get wipper nozzel heaters or mix rubbing alcohol with your windshield wiper fluid, roughly one bottle of alcohol (normal size bottle, not sure how big they are) with a gallon of washer fluid, of half that if it is not terribly cold. The washer fluid bottles say that freezing point is -25F, but in actual use the stuff will freeze on your windshield at highway speeds as warm as 10F. You don't have to mix well, just dump both in the washer fluid bottle in the car, driving will make sure everything is well mixed.

I like the concept of heated washer fluid in theory, but in practice I worry about squirting heated liquid on cold glass.

Also, see if you can rig up some sort of headlight washer system, it really makes a huge difference.

 

[bigreen505]

Tire chains are a good idea, especially in very deep snow.

There is a lot of debate on tire siping. My feeling is it makes the tires more flexible and significantly increases traction on ice and hardpack snow.

 

[asteffes]

Tire chains are a good idea, especially in very deep snow.

There is a lot of debate on tire siping. My feeling is it makes the tires more flexible and significantly increases traction on ice and hardpack snow.

So, along these lines, has anyone ever asked a tire shop to sipe new tires only, say, half the usual amount? If they do X sipes per inch, maybe X/2? This might provide some of the advantages of a fully-siped tire without sacrificing as much lifespan. Just a crazy thought that I came up with while thinking about the Revos I plan to buy this winter. They're already heavily siped from Bridgestone, but not as much as a tire siped by a shop.

 

[bigreen505]

You would have to buy your own siping tool. I think the hand tools run about $60 and you can put the sipes exactly where you want them.

 

[bigreen505]

One more thing to add to the list, not really a mod though. Use Rain-X liberally on all your windows, ice doesn't really stick to the stuff, so scraping is a much easier job. Also consider a tarp or something to go over your windshield -- pull it off and you are good to go, no scraping required.

 

[BajaTaco]

One more thing to add to the list, not really a mod though. Use Rain-X liberally on all your windows, ice doesn't really stick to the stuff, so scraping is a much easier job. Also consider a tarp or something to go over your windshield -- pull it off and you are good to go, no scraping required.

Excellent tips and very easy to do. Thank you

 

[Pskhaat]

A little late to respond, I just noticed this post:

With living in this extreme weather....whats the need for steel toe boots??

Has nothing to do about keeping warm/cold. Driving through freezing rain, and thousands of miles of snow make a lot of ice/snow/grit buildup on the suspension components (like packing in between springs) and on the mud flap areas, and all in the wheel wells that can get so hard you can't pry it off/out with your hands. You can either hammer it off or simply kick it. It's the kicking of the buildup where steel toed boots really come in handy.

Additionally, you can then use your foot to chock the chains for instance, and other handy uses.

 

[jmeadows]

synthetic lubricants all around.

When I graduated from college I lived in NW Colorado (Craig) and it routinely got to minus 40 (no wind chill factored in) and with Mobil 1 in the crankcase the car started up every time - it took half an hour before the heater worked, but the engine started fine.

I dont think this was mentioned, but it should be. Wind chill does not affect inanimate objects, it acually only affects warm blooded animals without fur. Essentially wind chill is the wind blowing the 1/2" think layer of warm air away from your skin, exposing it to the full cold. So when you see that the temp is -20 and -40 with wind chill, your gear will act as if it is -20, you will act as if it is -40.

-Jordan

 

[devinsixtyseven]

yes. it's roughly calculated based on the rate of temperature change of exposed skin...the "high end" would be if you put bare skin against a very good conductor at the same temperature as ambient air, or jumped in the water (if it werent completely frozen). the rate is higher as the differential increases, so the wind chill temperature is just the calc'd temp of still air that would cause the same cooling rate on exposed flesh as constantly moving warmer air.

basically it just means it's really frickin' windy . anything that isn't at ambient temperature will get there much quicker if the wind is blowing, and warm up slower--engine and drivetrain for example.

i dont know how wind chill affects cooling rates of engines and such, but a simple calculation assuming a constant ambient temperature (reality is the boundary layer like jordan mentioned) would probably get something close enough, if you needed to turn off the engine and were concerned with how quickly it would cool or warm up again.

-sean

 

[DaveInDenver]

I dont think this was mentioned, but it should be. Wind chill does not affect inanimate objects, it acually only affects warm blooded animals without fur. Essentially wind chill is the wind blowing the 1/2" think layer of warm air away from your skin, exposing it to the full cold. So when you see that the temp is -20 and -40 with wind chill, your gear will act as if it is -20, you will act as if it is -40.

Good point. While a wind chill has no real correlation to an inert object, since it will only cool to the ambient temperature and that's it, a wind /will/ cause things to cool faster. So for example your engine will reach ambient temperature faster with a wind than without. Ultimately it's really an academic point because if the air temp is cold enough to require block heaters or that the engine can't be shut off, whether your engine freezes in 10 minutes with a breeze or 20 minutes with still air is probably not important.