Engine Block Heater and other cold weather fun questions.

[Stephen Kormilo]

At 09:10 AM 23/01/03 -0700, Zsolt wrote:

>-40 ouch. That's when it feels like you have no springs in the car and you
>can hardly close the doors.

Yeah, the car was pretty stiff ;-)

>I don't find 15-20 min too excessive.

Wastes fuel, and as Robert Mangas points out:

>  20 minute idle:  Great for thinning your oil out with fuel.*
>
>                                         *Fuel is not a very good
> crankcase lube...

I find that the engine gets warm enough for the heater to start blowing
warm air after driving only a couple of kms or so.  Takes only about 5
minutes of driving and you are actually getting closer to where you want to
go.  If you want the interior warm, invest in an in-car heater, although
they can cause other problems.

>  Luckily the coldest temperature we had this winter was only -25 last
> night. No problem starting the car yet. What kind of oil are you using?

Nothing special, 5w30 Esso Protec dino juice, because that's what was on
sale and I have used it before without any problems.  Besides, my A4 is
usually garaged, and not plugged in.

Even though I have it on the shelf in my garage, I didn't want to put
synthetic into my 'new' engine when I made the first oil change last fall
because of the 'excessive' oil burning I experienced with the 2.8 in my
former 98.5 A4.  The PO had changed the initial factory fill to synthetic
at about 7000 km, too early IMO.


Stephen Kormilo                            Silver 2002 Audi A4 3.0QM
		       Now departed:   Silver '98.5 Audi A4 2.8QM
				      Black '85 Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE

Instructor, Electronics Technology
Red River College
Winnipeg, MB
CANADA

email: skormilo at rrc.mb.ca
OR:    stephen at kormilo.ca