RE: Eurolocks and foul weather

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.com.pl>]

Igor wrote:

	>Here's yet another trick from the Country that the rest of the
world somehow 
	>perceives as one_gigantic_Siberia: in the evening, right before
you shut the 
	>engine off, pour a glass (200ml) of gasoline in the cranckcase
and let it idle 
	>for ~30 sec. 
	>In the morning the engine would start much easier coz gasoline
has kept the oil 
	>dilluted to a less viscous state. Within minutes of driving the
gasoline vapor 
	>would have burned out in the carb through the recirculating sys
and the oil 
	>would get back to the spec. Worked well at mild temperatures
(down to -20°C).
	>
	>Of course I am talking here about Russia circa mid eighties.
The syntoils were 
	>unheard of back then. Some braveheads ventured into building
the *TENs* (the 
	>spiral type ~220v heating elements, commonly found in electric
tea kettles) into 
	>the oil pan. They worked like a dream. The car equipped like
this would sport a 
	>standard ~220v plug with a cable in the front grille.
	>In Canada I saw a lot of cars, outfitted with such devices.

Yeah, mid eighties...
In mid eighties in Poland gas (like many other goods) could be obtained
only on coupons. This did not apply to diesel fuel, though. No passenger
cars with diesel engines were manufactured in communist countries, so a
"west-made" diesel was everybody's dream. My parents used to have a
friend who was smart enough to make some money (which required some
special talents in these difficult times) and bought a Ford Granada. It
was the pre-1977 model, which looked like a classic American car and was
_very_ impressive. There's one problem owning a diesel, though. As the
temperature decreases, the paraffine in the fuel cures and clogs the
fuel filter. Normally as the winter approaches, gas stations begin
selling winter fuel which is resistant to low temperatures. We lived in
the country of "socialism with the human face" though, so you never knew
what you put in your gas tank. Our friend found a solution. He was
parking the car next to the street lamp. He put a small electric water
boiler (the wonderful little device that can boil a cup of water in no
time that we, East Europeans, use to blow fuses in hotels all around
Italy ;-) ) in the engine compartment (don't know exatly where) and
wired to the street lamp. Result: time controlled engine heater, it
switched on at the night and switched off in the morning :-)

	>Yet one more funny story. I once owned an ancient 2L 45hp '57
car that had a 
	>3-sp gear box, with straight cut non-syncronised gears and with
the shifter on 
	>the steering column. BTW, if you  haven't mastered the art of
double clutching 
	>you're ain't gonna get no gears changed on that car :)

Are we talking "Pobyeda" here?

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.com.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)








> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Igor Kessel [SMTP:e6941tb@ix.netcom.com]
> Sent:	Saturday, November 15, 1997 12:15 AM
> To:	Dan Simoes
> Cc:	barmstea@usia.gov; quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject:	Re: Eurolocks and foul weather
> 
> Dan Simoes wrote:
> > 
> > > A trick which is used in Russia in the winter to fight a frozen
> door lock:
> > > Heat up the cigarette lighter, firmly push it up against the
> keyhole, insert
> > > and turn the key QUICKLY :)
> > 
> > You guys must leave the windows open then, or you have external
> > lighters :) (think about it)
> 
> No, we ask a friendly gearhead passer-by to lend us a lighter.
> 
> Incidently while we are on the subject.
> In January and February if I happened to leave the car overnight
> outside on the 
> street I normally won't even bother to try to start it up in the
> morning (at -35 
> to -40°C). I would catch a cab out on the street, jumper cables in
> hand.
> For 2 rubles he would give me a jump start; everybody's happy :)
> 
> Here's yet another trick from the Country that the rest of the world
> somehow 
> perceives as one_gigantic_Siberia: in the evening, right before you
> shut the 
> engine off, pour a glass (200ml) of gasoline in the cranckcase and let
> it idle 
> for ~30 sec. 
> In the morning the engine would start much easier coz gasoline has
> kept the oil 
> dilluted to a less viscous state. Within minutes of driving the
> gasoline vapor 
> would have burned out in the carb through the recirculating sys and
> the oil 
> would get back to the spec. Worked well at mild temperatures (down to
> -20°C).
> 
> Of course I am talking here about Russia circa mid eighties. The
> syntoils were 
> unheard of back then. Some braveheads ventured into building the
> *TENs* (the 
> spiral type ~220v heating elements, commonly found in electric tea
> kettles) into 
> the oil pan. They worked like a dream. The car equipped like this
> would sport a 
> standard ~220v plug with a cable in the front grille.
> In Canada I saw a lot of cars, outfitted with such devices.
> 
> Yet one more funny story. I once owned an ancient 2L 45hp '57 car that
> had a 
> 3-sp gear box, with straight cut non-syncronised gears and with the
> shifter on 
> the steering column. BTW, if you  haven't mastered the art of double
> clutching 
> you're ain't gonna get no gears changed on that car :)
> 
> That car had a watercooled engine. In the winter my buddies would
> laugh at me 
> when I would drain the water out of the system every evening before
> parking the 
> car overnight.
> The following morning I would laugh at them while watching them trying
> to start 
> their engines, running with cabls around cars etc.
> I would just pour a bucket of hot water in the cooling sys and my car
> would 
> start right up from a quarter-turn. I would then jump start their
> cars, filled 
> with pure 100% antifreeze.
> 
> -- 
> Igor Kessel
> '89 200TQ - 18psi (TAP)
> '98 A4TQ - on order...again. For the third time and counting.
> Philadelphia, PA
> USA