Highway Driving in -20 and colder

[NoDelie]

Try to use a higher temp thermo 190 not the 180. that way the coolant will get hotter and you warmer

[thedjjack]

Try to use a higher temp thermo 190 not the 180. that way the coolant will get hotter and you warmer

The problem is you will have to change it back in the summer for climbs. If the cooling system is good shape I would block the radiator. Just keeps the rad from over cooling at -20. Or honestly move to the Coast (west) or California or something.

[CV-25]

If you skiing 16 inches of -17 Rocky Mountain Dry Pow Pow today like us Eastern BC and Western Alberta guys were, the last place you want to be is on the coast......only problem full ski gear in the Deli heading to the hill

[naterade]

Ok, back from my road trip, and there's a few issues that are quite apparent


I did not get any cardboard over the rad due to time constraints
I'll rack up on newb points with this, but what are all the 4 radiators underneath the van? I'm still new to this vehicle. Looking underneath I see 2 small radiators in front of each tire, plus the main rad on the engine, plus something as well right on the front nose of the van, behind the bush bar.

So a return trip between Calgary and Edmonton, temperature between -20 and -30 with blowing snow. I'm guessing driving through that wind at 100km/h equals around -50 or lower... So some pretty extreme conditions for this van.

The van did not warm up past 1/3 on the guage for most of the trip, a couple times it went up to half for a short while. Inside temperature didn't read much past 16, and I was fully bundled up and still a bit chilly. The heater was blowing slightly warm, never hot.

So I think it is obvious my thermostat needs replacing!

The 'outside' temperature on the console wasn't showing any colder than -19 the entire time, which I thought was strange, because it was much colder than that but perhaps has something to do with the faulty thermostat??


And a new thing, hoping someone has seen this:
3 or 4 times during both trips, the battery, a/t temp, and coolant(?) (next to A/t temp) lights would pulse on and off all at the same time. A few times i could see the headlights dimming as well, in time with the red lights pulsing. So it's some sort of electrical issue. I was running the fan on high, fog lights on, rear defrost, and mini inverter to charge my phone, so perhaps I was just overloading the charging system? When it started affecting the headlights, I would turn off some things, and it seemed to go away, but I would like to get this figured out... Anyone else ever experience this?


I wonder if all these issues are just due to the extreme cold that i've been driving in? It has been consistently below -10 since Christmas, and the last week or so has been much colder. Edmonton was around -30. Maybe my Deli needs a thaw??


Thanks for all the help thus far

Nate

[snelson]

Hey Natorade, glad the trip went well, although chilly!!

The lights on the dash at the same time unfortunately indicate your alternator is possibly on it's way out - but since you say you had your inverter gong the same time could just mean it was 'overloaded' - Do the lights come on without the inverter on??

You'll need to replace it or rebuild it shortly - not to worry too much though as there's plenty of info on this site to rebuild or at least find a source for replacement.

X2 on the thermostat replacement, the -19 could actually be accurate as windchill has no effect on engines, only skin - it's irelevant.

I've been driving to work daily this past week in minus 20 and once the engine warms up it's toasty - not hot- but a toasty drive to work.
Cheers
Steve

[naterade]

My cold frozen deli





Good news, forecast is saying +5 for Thursday!! +5!!

[coaxial]

didn't read the whole thread, but here's my solution for the orignal question. Highways/city in -30 or colder no problems.

Cardboard over 1/2 - 1/3 of the radiator. More or less as needed.

For me I switched to dot4 synthetic brake fluid, with the dot3/old fluid my brake and clutch pedals got really stiff (5 speed shares fluid for brakes and hydraulic clutch).

Josh

[K-Factor]

A few thoughts from Northern AB:

First, there is a good chance you need to rebuild your Alternator. (the light for the Trans and Batt are often on the same system and may come on together) if the light goes on again, and your lights are dimming, check the voltage on the battery while the unit is running vs shut off (be sure there is no load on batt like lights etc.) If you spend 10-15$ at Can tire you can get a nice little digital multimeter for this if you don't already have one.

The battery by itself should be around 12.3 to 12.6 volts. Running it should be 13-14.5. Rev it slightly to see if the voltage goes up. If the light is on, and the voltage is high enough to say it is charging, you have another problem. If the light is on and your voltage stays the same, running vs not, it is likely that your brushes are shot. I have had a number of alternators do this as they are about to fail. The brushes are starting to loos contact as they wear out. It may not be long.

Second,
I used a few peices of cardboard. I folded it a bit, and cut out a few bits so it would fit around lines etc. Then I screwed it right onto the tin engine guard with a drill and some self tapping screws. 5 minutes. This covered the lower section going directly to the rad from under the van. (just ignore all of the other coolers, the cold weather should not hurt them) Then I cut out a narrow piece and rigged it to cover the space just below the bumper that goes straight into the rad from in front. Paint it black if you care about how cool it looks. 2$ at Princess Auto.

I would avoid putting cardboard directly on the rad unless it is an emergency. This can "cook" any crud in your cooling system into your rad, causing it to not cool well in the summer. The best is to block the direct cold air out and let the fan draw in air from the sides etc as it needs to. This should not only help the temp, it may even help economy some.

Hope this helps!

PS, although mine is a gasser, I find the temp reads a bit cool too, and I have a 205 deg F thermostat. That would be about as hot as you can get. You may not need a thermostat just yet. If it read zero, that would be different. Thermostat on the diesel = big job. Cardboard the snot out of it first!