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Bitter Cold


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well, let's see.....

fuel pump control circuit decided to quit working, jumper wire used instead

started quite well at a balmy 0*f no choke, just pump it 8 times, turns over just fine thanks to the 5w30

after it ran for a little bit, released the clutch too quickly which killed the engine -- after a quick battery recharge, lit up right away

then let it sit until about 6pm with block heater working -- fired up like it was 70 and sunny :banana:

 

I (love) my block heater :banana:

 

just a fyi, it's warmer in Sveden, even above the arctic circle :eek:

scroll down to bottom of page in link for weather!! http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/index.asp?nyheter=1&ProgramID=2054

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I am so glad I got my choke working, last year I had to wedge my shotgun on the gas pedal to keep it running while I ate breakfast. 3 degrees tonight, -3 or so wind chill. Whats funny is I can fire up the Beast on the coldest of days, its weberized, but my "superior" fuel injected RX will not start no matter what I do. On a normal day it will start fine, but it does not like the cold at all. And I hate driving it in the cold, as the heater core is clogged, so I get no hot air :mad:

-Bill

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I've always had good luck with subaru's in the cold. The Justy started yeterday morning at -3F just fine. My '89GL wagon never had trouble with the cold, and even the older carbureated subaru's started in the cold fine (yes, one of them often refused to idle when warm, but it never failed to start in the cold.....). I run 5W50 synthetic in them -- gotta put synthetic in the Justy's transmission... it felt like molasses in the morning... I've never had a block heater on any of them.

 

I could not for the life of me get my old tractor started yesterday though. Jumping another battery to the starter motor to crank it faster, starter fluid, everything.... not even a pop. Oh well.... Guess I need a block heater on it :lol:

 

Z

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I love my soob in the cold, hot air out of the vents in 2 mins! It's cold for here (N. Cal) but only about mid 20s F at night.

 

A while ago I noticed that the heater duct on the pass side (by the center console, under the dash) was leaking a lot of cold air. I tightened up the metal strap with some wire and it's been great since.

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Ben, maybe your water pump......the seal has gone....i have been taking the White SS this last week. I drove the Brat Sunday before it dropped 50 degrees in 4 hours. Its snowing now, so when i get home from work, will be taking the Brat out for some fun in the snow.

Edited by bheinen74
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My subaru has a nasty habit of starting/dying, starting/dying, starting/dying then on the fourth or fifth time actually stay running. I need to adjust my choke on the weber. Other than that it runs fine. I double clutch 2nd and third until its warm otherwise they like to grind. Syncros are too cold to keep up.

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Ben, maybe your water pump......the seal has gone....

 

I had something similar happen on my old '85 GL wagon once -- on a very cold day (-5F or so) it overheated badly, and started spurting coolant and dripping oil it got so hot. I don't know if it was a bad thermostat that stuck closed, or if the coolant started icing up and clogged the radiator or what... but that engine was HOT. The next day it was fine... but about 6 months later it developed head gasket trouble.

 

Z

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Yea i dont know what the deal is. Ill go out there alittle before work to see whats going on. I added a qt of oil after i noticed the puddle last night. I saw that temp gauge go slowly up then all of a sudden it went down to the normal mark. Frozen rad prehaps. I probally dont have a good mix in there.

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-20 This morning. It's the first time my Brat has refused to start due to the cold. I'm kinda surprised it's done so well considering it came from Florida. I guess I'll have to put a block heater in it, but that won't help much when I'm away from home and don't have a place to plug it in.

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just went out now to the BRAT, which is in a very cold non heated garage. pumped pedal as turned key, gave 3 pumps, started right off. smoothly backed it out, engaging 4wd lever. it is now warming up at idle, i came back in. I am just going to go like 4 blocks to the bar for a drink. might take the cam to get some pics, still snowing. I can hear the boxer running still.

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Synthetic engine oil definatly helps cranking in the cold. I also use the biggest battery that will fit in the battery space. My 76 & 78 4X4s (manual) shifted same as warm weather after I started using synthetic gear lube. The 3ATs I drive now all function better cold with synthetic ATF.

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How is it affecting your soob.

 

not good!

 

I have to keep the pedal to the floor on the ea81 until it warms up... with the pedal to the floor it runs around 1500 rpm, rough... after that all is great... I think I'm using a ton of fuel during that warm up time because my mileage is the suck right now...

 

need to figure out what's causing it... I'd much rather be inside where it's warm while I wait for it to warm up...

 

it was about 5°... but I think anything too far below freezing makes it not idle when cold... could my cold idle circuit be frozen or something?

 

 

--Spiffy

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snowing and cold, cold, cold here too. The wagon starts and runs just fine, but the suspension creaks and groans a bit in the sub-zero stuff. Sometimes the lifters make a racket too in the morning. 4x4 still works, had a chance to use it tonight with some fresh snow on the ground.

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my 275k mile EJ22 in my loyale really doesn't like it. even with the red top, it just won't fire up below unless it's had the block heater on. And even then, I let it idle for about 25 minutes this morning (heat off, rad fan off)....and it still barely moved the temp gauge.

 

 

the XT6 fires up pretty easily, this morning (14 below) it cranked pretty slow at first, but still no trouble. and it warms up quick too!

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Had cold start/run issues with my EA-82 last winter (92 Loyale wagon). Serviced the idle air control valve, put a seal kit in the oil pump, installed a new t-stat, and cleaned up the temp sensor contacts this fall, all thanks to the good advice and how-to's here. Starts and idles just fine now (overnight ambient temps -25C last 2 days) The block heater makes it even better (the car was missing the connector cord last year) I get heat within 5 minutes after only 2 hours plugged in. 5-30 in the engine. Gearbox (5 speed 4 wheel drive) is like molasses, what are you guys running in yours?

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