"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
10/28/2020 at 18:31 • Filed to: None
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"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
10/28/2020 at 18:31 • Filed to: None | 7
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As The Trail of Broken Headgaskets posted yesterday, winter made an early appearance in New Mexico. Winter, generally, only makes occasional visits to the desert lowlands (sorta, at 4000ft in elevation) of Southern NM, and yesterday was the earliest recorded snowfall ever in Las Cruces. It was 85 degrees two days ago. We got about 3" in my area, and this made the head of household security very happy. She always likes snow, and she would not be denied playing in it. In fact, it was the first time she’s actually played since becoming an only doggo.
I only took pictures from later in the day once it started melting off, but I took full advantage of the icy and snow covered roads at 3AM that morning to play with the Pajero. As expected, it rocks in the snow. The weight distribution leaves it with plenty of traction even in 2WD, and the full time 4WD mode (4 Hi, center diff unlocked) fells like cheat mode. All the traction, and none of the crabbing going around corners via the viscous coupling mode of the transfer case . Donuts were done, and the lack of ABS was enjoyed.
The afternoon called for taking some pictures. I took the opportunity to run a bunch of errands with the Pajero yesterday. Things discovered included that the heating system on the truck freaking rocks. I’ve never had another vehicle that can output cabin heat like this thing can once the engine is at temperature and the front and rear heaters are set to blast furnace. Its almost like the truck was designed for use in cold climates.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
I let the Pajero sit outside in the driveway last night to see how it likes an actual cold start for the first time since I’ve owned it. It was 25 degrees this morning when I fired up the Pajero for a coffee and pastry run to the best local roaster around. I failed at remembering to shoot a cold-start video, but the overall startup was less grumpy than I expected. I sputtered roughly to life almost instantly, and just a bit of throttle feathered it up running smoothly. After about 20 seconds of a bit o’ throttle, it settled down to a smooth idle. This has confirmed that the glow plugs actually are functioning on the truck, and it cold starts better than expected. The previous old school, mechanically injected diesel I owned in the form of a 7.3 IDI in a 1992 F-350 was much more grumpy cold starting in freezing temperatures.
And hey, I only lost power three times yesterday. As predicted in the NWS briefings for the event, falling branches on powerlines was an issue in Southern NM. Some icing, a wet, heavy snow combined with trees that haven’t lost leaves yet meant linemen crews were busy yesterday.
CB
> ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
10/28/2020 at 18:53 |
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Heck yeah bud. Sounds like you need to do a Rockies road trip sometime, put that cold weather stuff to good use.
jminer
> ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
10/28/2020 at 18:56 |
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That’s almost like a modern diesel cold start! My TDI I turn on the key for 5 seconds then crank if its below freezing and it starts right away.
The old GM 6.2 I used to have though was a very different beast. Wanting a block heater for sub-40 and requiring a relay be installed for me to override the timer and keep glow plugs on longer.
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ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
> jminer
10/28/2020 at 19:25 |
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I was expecting a cold starting experience much more like that. I had curiously noticed the truck doesn’t have a block heater, and seems relatively few Japanese diesels do from that time period. My guess would be they must have felt they had robust enough glow plug systems powered by enough dual battery capacity to generally not need to be plugged in.
Nom De Plume
> ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
10/28/2020 at 19:41 |
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3 AM, you were either that excited to go play or must have had some excessively reason to be out at that hour.
Glad your dog is recovering from the loss of his best friend.
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ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
> Nom De Plume
10/28/2020 at 19:47 |
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I was excited to go play, so when I woke up for a quick peek out the window and found suitable conditions for playing, I did. Snow actually sticking to paved surfaces only usually happens once or twice a winter in Southern NM.
We’re still all getting used to being a one-dog family. It is still strangely quie t in the house with only one dog, especially because the German Shepard has an uncanny ability to move silently around the house when she wants to. She’s not as sad as she was in the beginning, but her new and continual interest in the neighbor’s dogs on either side suggests she is lonely for more fellow doggo interaction.
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jminer
> ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
10/28/2020 at 20:08 |
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That’s awesome
SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
10/28/2020 at 20:18 |
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Couldn’t believe how cold it was when I came through El Paso the other night. Cold all over the west, basically. And, SoCal is still on fire. Go figure.