old people keep unplugging my truck

[Dweano]

I know I need synthetic fluids. I'm planning on switching everything over to synthetic when summer comes around (bad timing I know but all the money I make during the winter goes to actually paying off the ranger...haha

 

[mattpresley]

Im in saskatoon, saskatchewan, canada...it routinely gets to -50 *C or colder. A couple weeks ago we had a 2 week spell where it was between -40 or -50 every night. It gets cold enough that the fluids in teh axles/tranny get thick and slow the vehicle down.

saskatchewan? I see plates from there in Arizona all the time and wonder "HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU PRONOUNCE THAT?". Then the city is named saskatoon .
Sounds lik imported beer. who were the first settlers?

 

[koda6966]

Be careful with that horn idea.. old people are immune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szwPd_JbRP0

 

[R***A**N**G**E***R]

get a can of mase and spray the cord. so when he/she goes by to unplug it the stuff will be frozen and when their hands get warm and start to sweat the stuff is going to burn and if your lucky they will rub their eyes or face and boom they will think twice before they reach down to unplug it again

No plug in here!!

We recently had a couple weeks of extremely cold weather with days dipping down to -15 F and my truck started just fine and warmed up just fine, I have a remote start and I let it run 10 to 15 minutes before I head out the door.. I love my remote start, best invention ever.

 

[TheOne]

crap i have yet to plug my truck in...-35 C and lower meh starts right up every time

granted 875 CCA on a motor designed for 500??? it turns over whether or not it wants too...no problems yet!

 

[Dweano]

Be careful with that horn idea.. old people are immune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szwPd_JbRP0

Upgrade to air horns...then proceed

 

[brendank]

crap i have yet to plug my truck in...-35 C and lower meh starts right up every time

granted 875 CCA on a motor designed for 500??? it turns over whether or not it wants too...no problems yet!

I've got similar ideas. I added another battery to help out with winching duties. With almost 2000cca at the touch of the key, it doesn't leave much room for choice.

That's pretty lame that someone would unplug your truck, unless you cut them off or something. Did they unplug it again? Leave your number on the note and tell them to call you if they have a problem....

 

[Shran]

I need to invest in block heaters for my vehicles. Lately its been unnecessary, but it was down in the -20 range and it will be again.

I swear my F150 had one at one point, but I cannot find it now. Either I wadded the cord up and stuck it somewhere when I swapped the front clip a few years ago, or my dad clipped it when he was driving it. Sounds stupid, I know. My old Ranger had a block heater for a while but the cord melted off.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

There was a couple days this winter around here that I was wishing I had a diesel for the block heater, lol. My F-150 was reluctant to start and the trans felt like it was full of glue... same with our '89 F-350, and it wasn't even in the double digit negatives. I couldn't imagine what it would be like living in that frozen wasteland up north, lol.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

There was a couple days this winter around here that I was wishing I had a diesel for the block heater, lol.

Actually, I don't know about sask, but here in Ontario, block heaters come standard on ALL vehicles now. They are a life-saving device. lol

I've also heard about this stuff that's used on aircraft wings. It's a pad with an adhesive side that you can plug in and it warms up. I've heard of ppl putting that directly on their oil pan.

 

[-Nathan-]

The pad tye heaters don't work half as well as the element type that take the place of a freeze plug...they warm the whole block.

 

[mn_smokeater]

yep freeze plugs work the best in most cases.

i made a simple quick write up bout engine heaters so for yall who dont know what they are enjoy!

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70748

 

[idriveafordranger94]

Why is your truck plugged in? Is it a diesel?

 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Hello

The general rule is 1/2 hr /L. So for a 4.0l it takes 2 hrs to warm up.

igiveup

Wow, that's so far off the mark, it's not even funny. After 30 minutes of idling in -35*C, my engine has reached it operating temperature. But who wants to idle their truck for 30 minutes unless its diesel?

Let the engine run for 30 seconds and then drive off gently. That's enough to warm up your engine. Basically, waiting for 30 seconds ensures that oil has time to reach the top of the heads before driving off.

Sometimes when its really cold out (-30 or so) I'll let my truck warm up for 10-15 minutes while I wait inside my apartment. But that's more for personal comfort, as it then takes less time for the inside of the truck to warm up.


Oh yeah, and for those of you in the southern states, up in the northern parts of the continent (North Dakota, Minnesota, Canada, etc.) all cars come equipped with block heaters that you plug into. In all of the prairie provinces, most of the parking lots have plugs installed so that you can plug in your vehicle's block heater. This keeps the oil inside the block from turning into molasses.

 

[CopyKat]

Ya that 1/2H per liter of displacement is BS.

When I start mine I wait till the oil pressure is at 50 PSI and if it's real cold then i wait for a bit till high idle comes down to around the 1000 mark.