Yukon Ho!

[grampymoose]

Greetings from waaay north of the Mason/Dixon line! I've been lurking for a month (waiting for my first Geo tank) and thought I'd say hey.

I have a '95 Geo Metro and a '98 4Runner, both of which seem to be running well. The Geo is new (to me) and needs some work. My Geo baseline was disappointing but was done without any special driving techniques or mods ... I can only improve now!

I enjoy all your discussions, great tips and mods.

OH ... MetroMPG, it's your fault I'm here! I'm VERY impressed with your work on the Suzukiclones.

I've also started a blog on this site to chronicle my journey through the world of better mileage.

Keep warm this winter!

GM

[MetroMPG]

Hi grampymoose, welcome to GS.

Your Geo is the same colour as my Firefly #1 (98). Mine had (sandblasted) hubcaps though.

Like most Canadians, I've never been to the Yukon. I'm embarrassed to say the furthest north I think I've ever been is the stretch of Trans Canada just west of the BC border. (Looks like it's a little higher up than Calgary.)

Looking forward to watching your progress with the Geo. Tough time to be starting in on a gas log though, with the cold weather advancing!

[2TonJellyBean]

Hi Grumpy

Your neighbours are gonna be wondering why you're plugging the Metro's block heater in already! ;-)

[rh77]

Welcome to GasSavers!

I absolutely love the Yukon -- was just there in July. We rented a car in Skagway and drove to Carcross. It was some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. Just on that drive, we saw a bear wandering in the road and finally our first moose sighting!

So where abouts are ya (it's a big territory )

-Rick "RH77"

[grampymoose]

jellybean -

Grumpy ??? ... well my wife seems to come up with that one more often than not ... Yup, the block heater's ready to go!

bowtieguy -

We have a lot of "mobile" miners ... they have been working the claim they took over from their father, etc. A lot of them don't like the winters (can't mine then) and travel to Arizona, Texas or Florida. Most folks like that are the "real mccoy". They are, not surprisingly, very conscious of their fuel use too!

MetroMPG -

You have travels far farther than most Canadians (and Americans for that matter) we live on a very big continent. I'll be watching what I do and how the Geo behaves in cold conditions and reporting back to all.

rh77 -

You were within 40 miles of my house ... I live in Whitehorse (where 65% of Yukoners live). You're right ... Yukon is not quite the size of Alaska with a population of 30,00 people, 6,500 grizzly bears, 70,000 moose and about 200,000 caribou! Hope your trip was enjoyable! My last trip to Skagway was July 11 to meet my sister who works on one of the cruse ships ... we may have passed each other?


Thanks to all for the comments and welcome ... I'll keep the blog going with car-related facts from the deep freeze, comment on the threads.

Keep up the quality work!

GM

[jwxr7]

Welcome fellow metro driver .
Looks like you are just over 5000 km north west from where I live . Do you live there year round? How warm is it there right now? I'll start using my block heater soon because the nights are getting into the upper 40f range at times already.

[grampymoose]

jwxr7 -

Yes, I live here year round ... it's low 30s at night and high 50s during the days right now.

I understand the reason for using a block heater in the 40s BUT we have an additional wrench in the works here. If I plug the 500W heater in overnight (8 hrs), it will cost $14 per month! Power is $0.12 / kwh here. I can buy a 10L of fuel with that (1/3 tank). Running open loop for a few more minutes each day will not use that much. Timer needed but for how long each day?

I am going to sort out the temp gain/loss of my engine at various air temps and figure out how long the heater needs to be active for a useful rise in temp (shorter time to closed loop). OH ... I need to get the grill block on NOW!

I'll get back to you on the temps vs heater issue ...

GM

[grampymoose]

Forgot something ...

The issue with AC power here is that it's diesel generated during the winter ... yet more hydrocarbons into the atmosphere! So which is better ... my open loop driving (a few minutes each day) or the extra load on the diesel plant (8 hours each day)?

Hmmm ...

GM

[jwxr7]

I usually have a timer set a couple hours before I leave in the morning, all night seems overkill for my area of the globe + mine pulls just under 300 watts. I might add an hour if the temps are running below zero F too.

[MetroMPG]

I'd go with 2 hours tops down to about -20C with a 500w unit. Maybe more as it gets colder, but you'll figure it out.