I hate winter

[GasSavers_w9awx]

Winter around here sucks as well. Gas mileage drops, takes forever to warm the vehicle up. Ended up replacing my vehicle because of it. Now I have a car that gets twice the mileage my truck ever did. takes about a mile to warm up on a day like last night where I woke up to +6F. Better for me to warm up the car a few extra minutes or drive the car a those few minutes after scraping the windows?

[theholycow]

For fuel economy, it's best to just start it and drive away without idling first (except you should idle a few seconds to let oil circulate). That's also the manufacturer's recommendation written in most manuals.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I wait until the oil has fully circulated through the engine before I take the truck out of Park. Doesn't take long with synthetic 0W30 in it. I start the truck and listen for the valve lifters. When the lifters pump up (I don't hear them anymore - most often this is under 5 seconds, but in really cold weather it can take 10-15 seconds) I then shift into Reverse. I also always wait for the transmission to engauge before taking my foot off the brake and move.

-Jay

[Jetta90GL]

I remember back when I used to let the truck warm up for 20 minutes to defrost the windshield. Back in the single digit mpg days lol. Lately I've been trying an electric space heater set on the dash. When I wake up I plug it in and its clear by the time I leave for work.
I have to remember to put a block heater in the engine when I replace my exhaust manifolds.

[Ford Man]

This cold weather is effecting my FE too, the last tank was under 42 MPG with a full grill block.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Jetta90GL

Lately I've been trying an electric space heater set on the dash. When I wake up I plug it in and its clear by the time I leave for work.

Tell me more. I have a space heater that I intended to use to pre-heat my interior but I'm very afraid to use it. How big, how many watts, where exactly do you place it and in what orientation, etc...

[almightybmw]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Tell me more. I have a space heater that I intended to use to pre-heat my interior but I'm very afraid to use it. How big, how many watts, where exactly do you place it and in what orientation, etc...

When I lived in Alaska I used a 1500W ceramic space heater with tipover cutoff. I put it in the passenger foot well and typically plugged the car in 25min before I started it. Block heater, oil pan heater, space heater, and battery warmer, and cardboard blocked radiator (90% of it) all made -45 seem like 25 above to the car. Crazy thing, one time when driving to school the temp gauge showed 195 at -40 outside temp. That's what it ran in the summer at 85! I was happy and toasty warm.

[VetteOwner]

haha truck almost overheated with a full grille block. had the lower opening blocked off then the snow from the hood slid down over the top causing all blocked off...

[jeep45238]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Most, but not all. My VW doesn't, and that's one of the features I really like. It's great for melting ice off the windshield, or just providing diffused air rather than blowing air at face/feet -- though the VW also has a diffused vent that can be routed instead of the dash vents.

I wonder how hard it is to prevent the A/C from coming on with the defroster on most cars? I'd love to do that in my GMC.

Very easy. Look at your A/C compressor. You'll notice an electrical plug on it, usually at the tail away from the pulley. Remove it from the compressor, and secure it so it doesn't fall onto something hot and melt, and tape the end shut with electrical tape.

[Snax]

The problem I keep running into is the temperature cutout for the A/C. I'll be using the defroster with A/C assist one day, then the next day if it is below the cutoff threshold and I don't get the assist, I end up with a defroster that keeps blowing tons of humid air even after the motor warms up. I'm thinking that is probably due to a clogged drain in the system, so the humidity the AC takes out is dumped right back into the air whenever it's not assisting.