My girlfriend was almost in panic,the 1998 cr-v refused to start,she had to go to work.Got into my white 240,car started right away then died a few seconds later...wow it must be really cold ,my Volvo always start inthe cold.
A friend of mine came over to jump start our two victims,the volvo hardly started,so i was wondering if the gas additive products would help for the next couple of days of arctic weather?

thank ,
one ass freezing canuck.
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jlp

Thanks everybody.
Again your ideas,tips are very helpfull.

J.

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jlp

I remember years ago panicing about the quality of antifreeze mixture in my engine. My dad suggested putting a lit trouble light into the engine compartment to keep it moderately warm overnight.

For any engine to start at -45 it must be in absolutely excellent condition and even then some are just plain not engineered for these temperatures. A well tuned engine plus gasline antifreeze , an excellent high cold cranking amperage battery, preferably warm, inside storage out of the wind, a block heater, synthetic oil all help...and even then at -45 some good luck helps.
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Dave Kenney 1983 240 286000km

Hello,

Combined with gas-line antifreeze, what you need to do is keep your brick a little warmer. Block heaters are an essential item for any car parked outdoors in Canada unless you live in Vancouver. Substituting that, you can pre-heat your brick with a hair dryer in the intake hose. Make sure to disconnect the hose AFTER the Air Mass Meter, and put a brick on the accelerator to hold the throttle open. 20 mins of that on the coldest moring and you should have no problems at all starting.

Happy Winter Bricking!!!
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Richard - '87 245 DL 374,000 km, '82 242 GLT 121,000 km

A 'dry gas' is definitely a good thing to use. Even a cc of water in the wrong place can freeze and give lots of grief. Another good strategy is to keep your tank mostly full to minimize the chance of condensation forming.

I agree that "drygas" is a good thing to use. I am responsible for keeping 8 cars in family on the road and this is something that goes into the tank religiously of every one. From August until April I insist that each car get a dose every other fillup. I buy it by the case and pass it out to everyone, reminding them if they don't use it they are on there own if the car doesn't start. So I don't have to go out and rescue any of them when it is blue ******* cold. Have not had a moisture related nostart since I instituted this policy. Smitty is right when he says that a cc of water with shut you down.
Another good tip is to buy your fuel from a high volume dealer and stick with one place to buy from if you can. A GOOD dealer will check the tanks for water on a regular basis. Ask your gas station if they do this. Hope you can avoid anymore problems. Later,rcs