Cold Weather and Cars: A Hate Affair

"mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/" (mxxxxxm24) 02/23/2015 at 11:19 • Filed to: Winter, Miata

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Winter... a long and treacherous road. At times the end can seem so far away—almost non-existent.

Honestly... The cold sucks. You know it. I know it. So let's just move past that. If you are a car, the cold is more than just an irritation. The cold seems to be a hateful destructive force that is intent on breaking you. Around freezing and below our batteries will be opperating at well below peak efficiency... Oil thickens... Everything wet freezes... Etc... etc.

Freezing temperatures can be a test for our cars and the state they are in. Weak battery? Alternator bad? Using summer blend oil? Water for coolant? Good luck getting your car running. But for most of us here on oppo, we tend to care enough to avoid most of these common issues.

Regardless though, winter is tough on any car and over the years, I've grown to hate what winter does to cars. I've broken things off of my cars, including a rear view windshield wiper off my late VW. I've watched in horror, as the rust slowly took a hold of my late Jeep. And so on. F you, Salt. Seriously. F you.

This winter was tough as any other... Maybe even more so. One of the worst in recent years and I for one am ready for spring to adorn us with rainbows, sunshine, and flowers... Oh, the flowers and their meadows! But despite my (NC) side of the Smokies's temperature getting into the 60s/70s earlier this very month; we were all reminded last week—winter is not yet over.

I know it can be worst in other parts of the country/world, but when the wind chill drops into the double digit negatives and the mountain roads are all covered with ice, I begin to wonder why I didn't move to a more tropical area instead.

Oh yeah. That's why. ^

On the coldest day of the year, I had to start my Miata up for work. It started, although reluctantly, but soon after driving my check engine light came on. I was very low on fuel and nothing seemed wrong, so I filled up and continued driving for a few days.

A few days later, I arrived home after a mandatory drift session to get up the mountain road leading to my house. It really was mandatory. The only way up the ice covered road is to apply speed, throttle control, steering precision, and maybe a little luck. After making it up, I finally decided to indulge my engine by checking it. I popped the hood and checked around a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary. I dropped my hood, which as any Miata owner should know is the ONLY way, as our aluminum hoods are easily bent out of shape by pushing them close. That aside, I turned off the engine, locked up and went inside, planning to have a shop clear the check engine light at some point.

Next day comes. I go to start my car. It starts right up, and the check engine light is no more! How's that for anticlimactic?!

The moral of the story? Check your engine, when it asks... Sometimes it just wants a little attention. Now, I do figure that it had much to do with the temperatures rising back to a more reasonable 30ish degrees, but even still.

Go forth and give your engines a little pat on their headers today. They deserve it. See! Look how happy my Miata is! Although, this picture was taken in the summer ;)

*All photos have been taken by me and their rights are my own. I hope you enjoyed, thank you!

whoarder is tellurium > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 18:55

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That reminds me... a low of -14 is predicted tonight.

Ffffffuuuuuuu.

Pleasing story and nice pictures, OP.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > whoarder is tellurium 02/22/2015 at 18:59

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Thank you for the kind words. Also... -14? I do not envy you on this night!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 19:44

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I sure hope I can open my doors in the morning. There was a lot of wet and now things are cooling back down which will mean ice everywhere. A couple weeks ago I had to pour hot water and washer fluid into my door sill until I could get it open eventually. As much as I love skiing in the winter, I much more look forward to the spring and summer for biking, hiking, camping, and of course driving endlessly! My miata is much happier now with 5w-30 oil instead of 10w-30 though. It will champ this winter other than salt induced rust on the doors.

Scary__goongala! > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 20:04

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Well I'm not sure how I should feel because as a Miata owner I didn't know I should only drop my hood. I didn't know of such problems due to the hood being aluminum.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Scary__goongala! 02/22/2015 at 20:37

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I learned this from my mechanic actually (he's a Miata guy too). It is because it is aluminum that you are supposed to drop it.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/22/2015 at 20:43

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Was there an issue before with the 10w 40 for you? Lifter knock?

MM54 > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 20:45

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The sounds my car made on Tuesday morning before work when it was -19F (windchill <-30) were crushing. I like this area of the country (NW PA) but I'm getting really tempted to take a job offer I have sitting here which would move me to NC. I don't know how much more snow/salt/cold/wind I, or my cars, can take.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 21:34

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Well I haven't had enough time to determine if there really is a difference yet, but I plan to figure that out. From what I researched, 5w-30 is going to flow better when cold instead of 10w-30. All this should affect is the ease of starting up the car when cold. Seeing as there have been multiple sub zero days so far this winter, I have had my share of rough morning startups. Sure the battery contributes more to the slow starts but I would like one less layer of resistance to starting. I figure the clean oil that is a bit thinner should put less wear during startups. Plus 5w-30 is in the owners manual anyways.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/22/2015 at 22:08

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Understood. It makes sense; thinner oil should ease things a bit. And yeah the battery makes for cold issues too. I could barely roll my windows down with the heat on this last week!

twochevrons > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 22:22

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Today reminded me that after four years of northern-climate living, I still have much to learn about dealing with winter.

It was around 0F today, and the 850R needed a fill up. Since it was absolutely filthy as well, and the local filling station does a discount on car washes with fuel, I took it for a wash as well.

It was so cold that not only had all the doors frozen shut, but in several places, the spray foam stuff had frozen on contact, leaving the car with weird lumpy white patches all over. To make matters even worse, because the cowl drains were all clogged with ice, water overflowed into the heater intake, so I ended up having to pull out the heater fan to make sure that it didn't end up getting frozen.

Ugh.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > twochevrons 02/22/2015 at 22:34

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damn! That's awful and a hard lesson learned lol. I need to wash my Miata so bad from all the road salt... Hate salt!

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > MM54 02/22/2015 at 22:39

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I live in NC (Asheville)! It still gets cold here as illustrated in my article, but yeah usually one of the best climates east of the Rockies.

MM54 > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 23:25

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In Erie we have about 6 months of winter, 3 months of cold/rain, and 3 months of 50/50 nice or rain - it gets old :)

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > MM54 02/22/2015 at 23:39

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Eire? Like Lake Erie? Also, I am sorry you have to endure such harsh times. :)

MM54 > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/22/2015 at 23:42

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Yep - the lake is about a 20 minute drive, but that's just from traffic. If I go to the top of the nearby hill, I can see it. Only a couple miles away, although this time of year most of it seems to float up, freeze, and fall on us.

Thanks for your condolences haha

Two Drink Minimum > whoarder is tellurium 02/23/2015 at 10:02

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-12 expected here tonight. Yesterday's 34 degrees and sun felt like a tropical heat wave. I actually saw liquid water on the ground! Now it's 2 below zero.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/23/2015 at 11:34

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Keep an eye on that light, you may have a sensor or something going soon that just so happens to be working today...and wasn't the other day. You should just grab a cheap scanner online, save you trips to the mechanic - I love having my own scanner.

Speaking of which....my airbag light has come on but hasn't stayed on...maybe I should check that before my car punches me in the face for no reason LOL.

It's been so cold here in Metro Detroit my car's suspension is creaking when i first start out in the morning.

(this is all about my DD 07 Mercury Milan fyi)

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/23/2015 at 11:52

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yeah you might be right about that... Everyday I keep dreading that it will come back on lol. How much are scanners?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/23/2015 at 12:02

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Mine was a gift from my dad, so I don't know what mine cost, it's a Snap On one but I'm sure he got it from the Snap On mobile dealer that comes to his shop once a week, then he sent it to me.

Looks like you can get some basic ones on Amazon for under 20 bucks:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss…

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/23/2015 at 12:09

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thanks! They are a lot cheaper than I thought they'd be, I might have to get one

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/23/2015 at 12:44

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Haha I know you must be talking about power windows but seeing "roll down" still makes me think of manual windows and the concept of the battery affecting the speed of that makes me laugh.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/23/2015 at 12:54

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lol yeah I'm not a robot and this is my first car with power windows btw. You know it's bad when you put hazards on and the car almost stalls.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/23/2015 at 14:49

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Yeah my Honda that I had for 6 years was roll down windows. I kinda miss it but at least the top is manual! If just putting the hazards on is really causing a strain on the electrical system, that sounds like a bigger issue. Easiest thing to check for would be corrosion anywhere between the alternator and battery (especially any ground points). Also, if the alternator belt is not tight enough, you would have similar issues (along with squeals probably). I know when I first bought my Miata, things charged slowly due to a loose belt. I have no trouble now with high beams, radio blasting, and the heat blowing at the same time.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/23/2015 at 15:04

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Well it was at or below 0 degrees... -15 or so windchill. I had the radio on... The heat and rear defroster on... I Figured that was just normal.

I don't have any squealing... The battery looks good... No corrosion that I have seen, but possible. I thought maybe the issue was the battery its self. Not usually an issue though.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 02/23/2015 at 15:24

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From what I found with the crazy audio install on my Honda is that batteries like to die a lot lol. The Miata battery seems to be pretty weak in the cold though. Probably due to its size.