need cold-weather advice!

[i(heart)delis]

hi-

i am moving from raincouver to a little village waaaaaaay up north soon, in the northwest territories, where in the winter it can be -30 to -40 for many days in a row.

i have never had a diesel vehicle there. i will have access to an electrical outlet, but not an indoor garage.

any tips on what i can do (apart from a block heater) to make starting up easier? any tips on who to get to do it (i am not a very accomplished mechanic :) ? any tips on extreme cold-weather driving?

thanks for any info!!!

jen

[Jester]

I remember not too long ago someone was talking about an inline coolant heater. Search the posts.
Other than that, Mardy probably knows, CVI will probably install it for you.

Apart from the block heater, if you have a spot that's YOURS only, you could have a small canopy with sides, you could have a "soft" parking garage, and with a small heater running inside there overnight, at least the temperature would be above zero, eliminating lock freezing problems, ice on windshield and all that stuff.
something sort of like this:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/produ ... 20+x+10-ft.

[coaxial]

I would make sure all fluids are sythetic or synth blend. Oil, gear oils, trans fluid, etc. can be switched to synthetic. Proper coolant mix for low temps for sure. You will need a good diesel additive that will prevent your fuel from gelling or freezing and add lubricity. A good battery, or two batteries, and a heating trick or two, suck as block heater, oil pan heater, coolant heater, battery heater, etc.

When I lived in colder places when it was -40 -50 etc we would always block off some or all of the wind flow to our radiators. Usually with cardboard from cases of beer stuck in front of the front radiator grill Not sure how you would accomplish that on a delica as they scoop up cold air from below..

[brewskie]

This is the biggest concern for me when weighing out the pros and cons about buying a van. This winter in Winnipeg was brutally cold and I need a vehicle that starts every morning.

[JMK]

I have a recirculating heater installed now, and it really works well.

Some of my relevant posts from the previous threads

Just a head's up on the lower rad heaters. When I was going through a bunch of the forums elsewhere that dealt more specifically with diesel engines and block heaters and the options for same, there were some horror stories about them. It seems to relate to the fact that the warm water can't really get past your thermostat so most of the heat is simply dissipated by your radiator to the air, (not really the greenest of solutions either). So if the thermostat doesn't open up, often the water can actually start to boil in your lower rad hose and all your block gets is some conductive heating, better than nothing I suppose. ALthough circulating heaters may cost at least twice as much (they go into your heater hoses) they are thought to be far superior to the lower rad hose heaters because they actually circulate warm coolant around the block. Apparently you want the type that does not have the check valve. There are some on eBay for around $30.00. If you want a good read on it:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.ph ... =zerostart

Now back to block heaters. I saw a post yesterday that ranked the effectiveness of the various block heating systems. The rad hose insert (as recommended above) was second from the bottom after the electric dipstick. The heater hose recirculating unit was the top:

http://www.teamswift.net/viewtopic.php?t=20017


Quote:
did some research... in order of effectiveness, here's how i would rank different engine heater styles:

1 - inline pump recirculating (splices into heater core hose)
2 - frost plug internal (traditional block heater style)
3 - block mounted external element (bolt on)
4 - magnetic block mounted element (if there's some place to attach it)
5 - inline non-circulating (rad hose)
6 - dipstick heater

i put #3 on my car. #2 wasn't available at the parts store i use and i didn't know about #1 until i started looking this stuff up today.


See also:

http://metrompg.com/posts/block-heater.htm

[Green1]

my advice would be to shell out for a webasto "blue-heat" system, they're pricey, but they heat your engine using your existing diesel fuel meaning you can start anywhere you are, even when no electricity is available (you may have it at home, but will you have it EVERYWHERE where you might park for more than a couple hours?)

The Webasto is the "cadillac" (or in this crowd, the "super exceed" ) of engine heaters, probably not worth it for most people near the coast, but for anyone who spends lots of time in really cold weather they're a really good idea!

[JMK]

I agree on the Webasto, almost bid on one on eBay last year. In the end I went the poor man's route and got a Honda Generator and plug my recirculating heater into it, make a cup of tea and wait. This is what some hunter's I know do, so I do the same at the trailheads when it's cold. Of course now you've got the hassle of the Generator, but we also use it at night to run a heater to keep warm while sleeping.

[Mard]

hi,
This is a cheap use at your own risk solution. I lived on a homestead in the north -30 weather. We put a stove pipe on the ground under the trucks engine and stuck a tiger torch in it for 5 min or less. It worked every time. Becareful...I think I may be story telling this is not good advice.
good luck!

[JMK]

My mechanic friend in Calgary told me to do the same thing, so I know you've got a lot of company and I haven't heard of anyone going up in flames yet.

In my case I need it at the trailhead after multi day backcountry ski trips. THought it would be more convenient to carry a Honda generator to power my recirculating heater than a tiger torch, albeit slower, and more expensive if it gets stolen.

[i(heart)delis]

hi,
This is a cheap use at your own risk solution. I lived on a homestead in the north -30 weather. We put a stove pipe on the ground under the trucks engine and stuck a tiger torch in it for 5 min or less. It worked every time. Becareful...I think I may be story telling this is not good advice.
good luck!

ha ha ha!!! think i will pass om this one... that sounds like how we heat my friend's kit-plane engine when flying around the nwt.... sketchy but effective :)

[i(heart)delis]

so,

thanks a lot for all the info. does anyone out there actually have a webasto blue-heat thingy? i priced them out to be around $2,000. ..... yikes!!!!

anyone know how much they are installed if i got my hands on a used one?

and i do love the temporary garage idea, but it would get shredded by wind and thrown rocks :)

jen

[Green1]

haven't seen him on the forum much recently, but JungleJon has a webasto installed in his Deli (I keep meaning to meet up with him and actually see it!)