cold weather starts

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moooooooo

moooooooo

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Threads
25
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831
Location
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
no i know this is normal for you northern hemisphere people, and some severe southern hemisphere types, but where i live we've had quite a few close to 0 C and sub zero C temps. Yes it's winter and i love "our version of cold winters". But it's cold for us.

due to an ongoing, condition/illness i havent driven the beast for nearly 3 weeks and have had to catch the public transport bus but i notice the windscreen has been frozen along with the bonnet/hood and side windows a few times in thelast 3 weeks.

Yesterday morning i was up early...ok to drive (yay!!) and had frozen windscreen as it was 0 or 1 Celcius.

So i pressed the keylock transponder thang...nope...had to use the key to unlock it...started it up while i went to find a bucket....threw a couple of buckets of water over the windscreen all ok...except the inside had mucho condensation on it...and i noticed the exhaust smelled so bad.

Is that normal for not having driven it for nearly 3 weeks? (the exahaust smell) ??? it's was NOT a sulphur unleaded smell just almost like "this is what you git when you dont start me for 3 weeks you...."heheh ??

also wondering if the factory battery (mine is 2005) would wind down so much that the transponder wouldn;t open it?

Given we dont get many sub zero events (one or two a year) and unfortunately the beast doesnt fit in the garage it has to sit in front of the garage door.


Tonight is forecast for even lower temps and it 1C right now.

Any advice welcomed.
thanks
peter
 
given no one replied.

i was able to drive briefly yesterday, no swollen feet. Keypad worked ok, didnt get a chance to smell the exhaust output, as i drove seriously up to the shops n back in 4 minutes. The LC wasnt even warm when i pulled back into the driveway at home
 
At the train station tonight the beast struggled to start.
Now we are talking three weeks of not driving it.

But really?? Factory battery on the way out after only 7 years ?? And just because I hadn't driven it for 3 weeks?

Happy for your thoughts.
Peter

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD
 
I can't remember if the factory battery is sealed or not... if its not sealed, then it might just need a little (or a lot) of water added... our subie battery was getting pretty weak, then i checked the water level and it was almost dry! i added quite a bit of water to it (deionized only) and it kicks butt again, been great for another year now.

BTW, i think 7 years on a battery is all one can reasonably expect, hence the type of warranties you see on new batteries.
 
7 years is a long time on the stock battery. The ECU richens the fuel mixture to heat up the cats faster. A strong fuel/petrol type smell is normal.

What exactly do you mean struggled? It definitely cranks slower and weaker in the winter; however, it's still the same 4 cranks to turn-over.
 
moooooooo said:
But really?? Factory battery on the way out after only 7 years ?? And just because I hadn't driven it for 3 weeks?
Click to expand...

Hi Peter, 7 years for OEM battery must be a record, mine died at about 3 and after a 2 week lay off. Sorry your not well must be hard not using the Cruiser, Lcool are running a Tech day at Autocraft in Geelong on 04/08/12 if your interested.
 
As you probably know, if you aren't running the car a lot the battery will eventually die. And given that it is a factory 2005, that's a long time. I'd expect that battery to be way below its capacity specs, and given that it was lying idle for a long time the amount of power left in the battery will be quite low to start the engine especially in the cold.

I do not drive my truck that frequently. Had difficulty starting and replaced the battery with a new one 1.5 year ago and I have difficulty starting it sometimes at the moment when temperatures are around 75F. After driving it for a long time, the battery is fine. If I am going on vacation for a long time I usually usually just disconnect the battery.
 
Thanks guys. No its not sealed and is an Exide. Yeah I suppose 7 years is pretty good and also the 3 weeks is the longest break its had. Previous would have been a few days. I'll check the cells and add distilled water if necessary but also look at a new battery.
Thoughts there ? I have an Ultima yellow top as my auxiliary.

As far as struggling to start it sounded low and it started then died but started ok the second time.
Cheers
Peter

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD
 
Greetings from Alaska:
0 deg C will not cause any problems with your truck.
Just let it warm up for a few minutes after you start the engine.

I would avoid throwing water on it in subfreezing temperatures !@#?

Just give it about 10 mins to come up to operating temperature before you drive it.
People in Fairbanks drive them regularly at -50 deg C with no problems
 
marshotel said:
Greetings from Alaska:
0 deg C will not cause any problems with your truck.
Just let it warm up for a few minutes after you start the engine.

I would avoid throwing water on it in subfreezing temperatures !@#?

Just give it about 10 mins to come up to operating temperature before you drive it.
People in Fairbanks drive them regularly at -50 deg C with no problems
Click to expand...

No need to let it warm up more than a few seconds. Just drive gently until it's up to normal temperature (which will happen much more quickly when driving than idling).
 
driving it today for 2 hours at 100km/h and it's fine again

i suppose the 3 week lay off was not good.
but anyway, i have gone offroad in the past and had the solar panel on the auxillary, but as i mentioned the most was a few days without driving it on the main battery.

i'll replace it when i can.
cheers
peter
 
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