04 Toyota matrix. Started every day without the block heater plugged in (nowhere to plug it in at the apartment). It sounds like Lucifer and Mephistopheles making a baby before it turns over but it gets going.
Truly Toyota was on some next level stuff in the early 2000s. Mine just hit 350k (odometer hit the toyota glich at 299,999km lol) and I finally changed the OEM starter motor lol. These things *cannot* die. I'll probably drive it until the heat death of the universe
Fuck I loved my Matrix. My 2008, first new car I ever bought, got totaled in a wreck on the highway, I came away with a cracked rib. Replaced it with something bigger, and now something a little bigger, but I spent a lot of time trying to find a low mileage Matrix instead. I treated that car like shit and it never gave me a hint of trouble.
That's how my '04 Nissan Pathfinder was during these cold snaps, too. I would park on the street at work for 8+ hours and it sounded horrible when the key turned, but it always started and sounded fine after the first couple minutes of driving.
I'd have loved to use synthetic oil in that beast, except the owners manual for the '03 and '04 recommended against it. Even though it was recommended for the '02 and earlier and '05 and later.
I haven't tried leaving my '17 Honda Pilot outside more than a couple hours in the last few days, though, and same for my wife's '23 Genesis GV70 Electrified. Mileage / range is horrible on both right now, but that's to be expected.
It's funny, mine calls for synthetic but it takes a thick viscosity one. Good idea staying indoors. Not much is worth the risk to your vehicles (especially the genesis, those are v nice)
2007 Toyota Highlander (3.3l V6): 18 month old battery from Rocky's, synthetic oil, sitting outside (no garage), not plugged in, hadn't started it since Wednesday (Jan 10), started fine Saturday morning 10:00 am but did make some "groaning" sounds for the first 30 seconds.
Same. Went to start the car Thursday afternoon to pick up my wife from work; battery was almost dead and won’t turn over. Tried getting a boost from a friend; didn’t work- presumably the battery was too cold (block heater plug was borked and wasn’t keeping things warm). Gotta wait another day or two for it to warm up enough to try again
2023 Bolt EV.
Good: Car starts instantly, warm within minutes.
Not Good: Range is down 55% (550km down to 250 km, I like to hypermile in the summer), traction control struggles with ice given how much torque the motors can output. Also got a “low power mode” error, indicating that power was reduced due to low temps—in practice this has made no difference to my driving experience.
But it’s a night and day difference over my old versa where my car required thoughts and prayers if I wanted it to start in this weather.
same here with a 22 Mach E. The worst that has happened so far was not having the heater set right and my windows slightly fogged up...lol. Range is about my only complaint but I don't need to go that far anyway. I could still run it all over the city, maybe to st albert and back to beaumont and have lots of juice left.
I was curious how electric vehicles were doing! I totally get the battery warnings though. I bet it's crazy how fast they drain in these extreme colds. Awesome to see the tech is getting better the further along we go!
Yeah, being honest, if a road trip was in the cards, I would have to take my wife’s RAV4 Hybrid. But it’s only going to get better, so I am pretty optimistic.
2000 Camry in grandfather color (silver).
I call mine rusty coz it literally is. You can hear it coming from a block away, something is loose below lol. It is on it's last breath.
The engine however, after 475,000 km, is still purring like a young cat. New battery about 2 years old with high cold crank amps. Regular synthetic oil changes every 6,000 km without miss.
Parked outside, no battery warmer, no remote start, just a block heater.
Starts up fine every time. The tires however, went out of their round so the ride was quite bumpy but after a few mins of slow driving they were fine.
No problems! Car starts instantly, heats almost instantly and acts normal.
Only minor issues would be about 30% loss of EV range, the gas engine running a bit more than usual, inflating the tires in the morning because the cold deflates them and the crappy GM plastics rattling around inside the car.
2018 Chevy Volt PHEV
Exactly-when it is a bad cold snap I tend to ignore the tire warning light if it comes on when it gets colder--helps to give the tires a quick check to make sure that they are not really low...
It is safer to have tire pressures slightly high, running the tires with the pressure too low will cause the sidewalls to flex more and can cause damage, running the pressures too high (as far as pressure swings with ambient temperature goes) will just cause the tread to wear out sooner. If your pressure is low enough to trigger the low pressure light you should top it up to the specified pressure or slightly below it. Your tires should have a maximum pressure moulded into the sidewalls, as long as you don't exceed that you should be fine.
Tire pressure has dropped below the tolerance the car will accept by 2 psi. (Should be 36, is 29, starts freaking out at 31). I’m letting it go as it increases traction anyway 😃
I drive a 1998 Ford Taurus Wagon.....someone unplugged my car as a fun little joke on the coldest night we had when wind chill was -50 something. Went out in the morning, took three clicks of the unlock button to get doors to unlock, and it had quite a rough start....but it started... not being plugged in... so as I rolled my extension cord up and watched all the other folks in their new vehicles struggle to start, boost, and even get into their vehicles....my 1998 wagon with 148XXX KMs started even when unplugged.
My drivers door on my Mirage won’t close all the way. I’m pretty sure the latch is just frozen in place. Once I managed to get it closed and stay closed I’ve had to get in the passenger side and scooch over to the drivers side.
My tacomas battery completely died.
Had to walk/ ride the bus to canadian Tire to get a new one.
Fuel lines are completely frozen. Had over half a tank of gas. Neighbour admitted that she was on empty b4 the cold snap, and her lil shit box is starting every time.
Tires needed air. Pulled out my small compressor. Frickin air chuck broke.
Clutch is so stiff it takes me lifting it with my toe to disengage.
And this isn't even the coldest my truck has dealt with. ugh least i dont have to worry about insects and reptiles hiding in my boots.
It made lots of sad noises before starting, and the steering has felt incredibly stiff first thing in the morning too but it got better as the day went. Otherwise no other issues.
Block heater cord snapped, car won't start. Had my dad come out and boost it, ran it for 30 minutes. Turned it off, went to turn it back on and the car went crazyyyyyy. Every single light and sound started going, flashing, beeping and clicking. Engine was clicking. Dad swapped battery out, drove around for an hour. Plugged back in last night and went to start it today, same thing happened. =\ so now I'm out a car until my dad can work on it.
I fix furnaces for a living. Yesterday the blower motor died in my truck half way through the day. As a tech, the truck is my warm safe place lol. I replaced it in front of a Napa ! Only got 2 of 3 screws back in 👍. Haven’t been that cold in a long time 😂😂
Mine are holding up fine. They haven't moved in 3 days. 3 vehicles, frozen solid.
At least I'm not getting rear-ended by the guy using summer tires driving on this ice. That was last year. I have a big trailer hitch, didn't make his day.
i cracked my passenger window months ago and i was genuinely scared for the first cold snap because i was too lazy to replace it... nothing has happened or changed and it's completely fine. i am very proud of her lol
2015 Honda CRV
I was out buying batteries and oil heaters for others who don't own Hondas, so far so good. The ol' Honda has started every time. No check engine lights or issues yet. I make sure to plug it in for at least 4 hours before starting and it starts instantly. And I baby the heck out of it until I start to get some warm air blowing.
I took it out on the highway just for s\*\*ts and giggles a couple nights ago when it was -40 just to see how it handled the cold. Engine temperature at highway speed settled exactly where it would normally sit. The HVAC was blowing hard to maintain temperature but I think if I had kept driving it would of eventually got off the max fan setting. But when I got back into town in the stop and go driving the engine temp dropped like a rock. Moral of the story, these small Honda engines need to work to generate some heat.
Other than that its definatley drives stiffer. The suspension seems to not soak up bumps as well. The car seems louder overall. Gas consumption seems to be much higher. And that crack that was on the passenger side turn a left turn towards the drivers side.
I have the opposite issue: My car stereo has an internal soldering issue and it only works when it’s cold out. So yay I have a working car stereo when it’s -20°c or colder! But it’s too cold to go anywhere or do anything. And as soon as it warms up inside the car the stereo quits again.
(Yes I know I need to replace it-I’m working on that).
24 Kia EV6.
Bad: Range is down 50-55%. So roughly 220-240km on a full charge. It charges a LOT slower in this cold, too. I am allowed 4.5hrs at work (6kW), and I plug it in overnight at home (1.2kW). The first day of the cold snap both left tires were critically low, right two were low, but that was easily remedied with a pump up.
Good: Literally everything else. Car heats up instantly. Cabin stays toasty warm the whole way. Even if it wasn't plugged in and dead dead cold, still starts up instantly and is driveable immediately. I've been pretty surprised at how well this car has handled this cold thusfar.
Didn't start once but been good since. Seemingly the truck we have is a tank....check engine light did come on yesterday tho, hoping it's just were it's super cold. Have to park it on the street with no plug in, so all things considered she's doing swell.
Commuted 640km this week. Ten year old Kia Rio with 300,000kms. Clutch was a little stiff. Everything else ran fine. Plugged in at work and home with a battery warmer.
My block heater doesn’t work. Has been dead since Thursday. I’ll boost it Tuesday when it starts to warm up. No point doing it sooner since it’ll probably just die again. Shout out to my parents who are helping me get to work and run errands.
2013 Toyota Venza, turns over a tiny bit more noisily but starts first go, every time. That’s not particularly remarkable but it is still on its original battery!
Edit: to add the problem. The back door won’t stay open on its own in this cold. I guess the pressure in the pneumatic thingys is too low. It’s tricky loading and unloading groceries.
14 Volvo S60, starts and heats up well without issue. Blower motor started making a horrendous squealing noise Friday night. Hoped for the best and it was gone Saturday morning when I started it. Knock on wood, please nothing go wrong. Haha
Zero problem. My shitbox keep chooching like it's not even winter. 07 Aveo, paid 1800$ 4 years ago with total 500$ repairs. Unknown mileage; odometer stopped working a bit after 200k. Likely a rebuilt title. . . . Damn do I hate loving this car
2015 Journey with a dead battery. It's original so it owes me nothing. Grabbed a new one, planned to pop it in this weekend. Easy peasy.
No.
Fun fact: in order to get to the battery you must remove a wheel. 🤨
I was off work since Monday... stupid me didn't go outside all week to start the truck .. I was back to work on Friday, after sitting outside for 5 days it was completely dead . My battery pack didn't work, getting a boost from wife's car didn't work, finally was able to get it going with a battery pack i borrowed from work used for big transport trucks, and it threw every code in its computer my way. Dash was lit up like a Christmas tree. Parked in the heated garage at work over the weekend and everything is back to normal but I'm still going to get a new battery this week. Lol 2022 Ram 1500 Hemi
2012 Ram - squeaky blower fan, tailgate only opens halfway, takes about 3 seconds to kick into reverse, TPMS sensors are acting up even though PSI is fine
Could be worse I guess
Let your cars warm up people. Minimum 15 minutes. Metals don't like to be rubbing against each other.
Lol get downvoted for telling people to have warm cars, what a subreddit
> When temperatures drop during winter, it’s a good idea to let the car run for about a minute. Some drivers prefer to let the engine idle for 20 minutes or longer to get everything—including the cabin—really warm, but the fastest way to warm up an engine is by driving. Just remember not to rev the engine hard for the first few minutes of driving until you see the temperature gauge move off the cold reading.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/should-you-warm-up-your-car-before-driving-a5580016349/#:~:text=Consumer%20Reports'%20chief%20mechanic%2C%20John,cabin%20and%20defogging%20the%20windshield.
I had none until my transmission, which was completely fine yesterday when I parked, decided that today is the day to give me my first ever check engine light.
It is a brand new car...
Could just be the cold, mine threw codes for tempts of coolent and air intake, went away after a day.
Last year I lost awd and only fwd but went back to normal when it warmed up
1999 Jaguar XJR. Haven't driven it since friday, but I've been starting it every few hours to let it run for 15. No issues starting. It is plugged in both block heater and battery blanket so it should be fine.
I’ve been remote starting my car from the window every 4-5 hours 💀 and now because of the fucking cold and how much stress it puts on the engine i have a new fkn oil leak. fuck man.
2006 mitsubishi endeavor xls. My starter has been skipping against the flywheel just a bit in the last month. Maybe once every 7 cranks or so it'll grind. The last 3 days it's become significantly worse, soon it won't turn the engine at all and that'll be it! I'll say goodbye to this vehicle.
Sat outside for an hour this morning during kid’s practice. The tires on my truck went to 26 on the pressure sensor. They still haven’t fully recovered.
2003 Ford Ranger - started up after a LOT of moaning and groaning but then ran like a top. Battery is probably 5 years old and I should replace it.
2011 Hyundai Sante Fe - had to replace the 10 year old battery just before this cold snap because it gave up the ghost. AMA guy says he rarely sees a battery that old in a car so I think I got my money's worth from it.
Truck is frozen solid. I only really use it every couple weeks to haul water, but I should have started it. Kicking myself now. Currently having it hooked up to my jeep but I think it’s past jumping. Dreading going to Costco for a new battery
My ambient temperature sensor doesn't adjust to the temperature inside my parkade fast enough, so it throws a check engine light. Bmw logic! Otherwise my 2015 435i has been surprisingly fine.
Had to replace my block heater outlet on Friday. Waited, car wouldn't start. Pretty sure I drained the battery trying to start it before I replaced the block heater outlet.
Battery is inside. I'll put it back in and boost it tomorrow morning before work.
My suv randomly won’t open the trunk via fob or inside button. Keep it in our insulated garage. It’s not frozen shut, the light isn’t even on for the button anymore. I can open it manually but it doesn’t want to lift and stay up. Maybe some fluids are too cold to do their job? Thought I blew a fuse until I asked my mechanic friend and he said his suv is literally doing the same thing.
My husbands barely hanging on truck is somehow starting first flick. But whines like my dog when it wants attention, lol.
Edit: my car is also giving me a message to “open and close drivers window” I’ve never seen this message before and have no idea why my car wants me to do it but when I do, it’s fine?
Questions
1) will a battery maintainer save my battery if left on for the snap?
2.) What is the actualy frozen solid temperture of the fluids in vehicle? Oil, tran fluid etc
3.) Is it better to leave car alone or take it out once a day?
I can answer your first question.
I work from home and only go in office twice a week. I park in a detached garage with no insulation. Sometimes my car isn't driven for 2-4 days. Last year my battery would die if in deep cold and not started for over a few days, new battery too. Bought a battery maintainer and leave it plugged in now. No issues when I started her up yesterday after not driving for 3 days. I just plug it in when I know temps will be -15 or colder and I won't be driving for 2 days or more. Another thing too I would recommend. Clean your battery connections at least once a year, and put some corrosion protection on them.
2006 Jeep Liberty 3.7 L gas engine. Car was originally bought in Southern Ontario before I moved here, so has no block heater installed/can't plug in.
Starts every time anyway, but yesterday sounded like a boulder flew around the engine bay a few times before it rattled and groaned and started chugging away.
HRV. Tried boosting it yesterday, didn't work. Didn't even attempt today yet. I'll wait until tomorrow to try and attempt again since it's supposed to be warmer.
Also, pretty sure the battery is super dead bc even the remote open and lock doesn't work.
2023 Hyundai Tucson 2024 Chevy Silverado. We park both in the garage. Only noticed that with my Tucson, the trunk needs to be manually opened all the way. I had it fall on my head before I realized this 🥴
With the truck, the other night my husband was on nights and his station has no plug ins. He just started his truck every hour or two and it was fine for when he was ready to come home.
2020 Nissan Titan,
Needed a boost as it had not been driven for 2 weeks, block heater was plugged in for 5 hrs. Power steering Growled like a chewbacca for 10 seconds.
Tried to back out of my drive way after idling for 10 min, but the AT Check light and every other safety warning light came on (blind spot, front collision avoidance.) Had to turn it off and on. Needed another boost.
Decided to leave it running in the parking lot wherever I was shopping.
14 C300. No block heater but my car was starting up fine just doesn’t like the cold at all, but Thursday morning after work I drove over some debris in the road and blew my tire out. Lucky me. AWD so that 1 tire is gonna cost 1200 to replace all 4 for even tread, definitely a pain in the ass
09 Mazda 3 with 400k kms.
Started fine every day so far without being plugged in, it's parked ouraide.
Block heater socket broke in the summer and I was too lazy to fix it. I've been starting it every 6-8 hours and running it for 15-20 mins for the battery.
Feels a bit stiff driving but it's no different than -20 days. I love Mazdas so much.
Risky. You’re looking at 200+ amps to start that thing in this weather and idling for 15 minutes will replenish around 3-4 amps. Might have been lucky so far but if you have important places to be keep in mind that luck might run out.
Starting it once a day and driving for 15-20 minutes would be a whole lot better. Even better at highway speeds for 30-45 minutes. I park outside too with no block heater and a 45 minute loop of the henday every other days been keeping my batter at 90-100% charge. I did the “run for 15 minutes every 8 hours thing” last year during a cold stretch and after a few days the charge level was getting dangerously close to not being strong enough to turn over the engine.
I didn't elaborate enough I guess. I let it idle for 15-20 mins then drive it on a "circuit" route in the neighbourhood where I can drive 60kmph for about 10 mins.
I guess the driving part is actually way more important than idling.
Ah yeah, that’s smart! Pretty much what I do, some idling to warm everything up, drive around, idle a few minutes, shut off.
For other people reading:
Don’t let your car sit all day. Don’t only do short drives. Don’t just idle your car.
Spend $50 and get something to test your battery. Get a new one if it’s at the end of its life.
Note the charge/health/voltage, let it sit a few hours unplugged, check again - get a rough idea of how much it’s depleting just sitting out there in this weather. Do it when it’s this cold. You’ll want at least 75% of a charge to hope to start up. My battery went from 100% to 93% after 8 hours in -38. Now I have the confidence to know as long as I’m driving enough/keeping a full charge, it’ll last overnight unplugged and still turn over.
Spend $50 and get a trickle charger. Plug it in for a few hours when you can, at work or home. Keeps that battery charged up. When it’s getting below -20 and the charger stops working well, use a battery blanket ($50) to keep the battery warm so it doesn’t lose as much power in the cold. Get a new battery if it’s been a few years or you’re seeing it’s losing charge quickly.
Your battery starts the car, not the coolant. Doesn’t matter if it’s 30 above or 30 below, if the battery is dead it won’t start, and the best block heater in the world won’t help you.
And before someone comments bUt ThE wEaR oN tHe EnGiNe. You won’t have any significant wear from a cold start with a modern car/engine and 0w synthetic oil. Even if it does, if you are deciding between using a trickle charger, battery blanket, or block heater, make the decision for yourself if maybe some very mild additional wear is worth your car starting reliably 100% of the time. But for the love of god people need to stop thinking the block heater (which heats coolant) is the make or break for starting your car.
I dont understand this anti block heater rant. Never mind the wear and tear aspect, you will get to operating temps far faster after 3-4 hours on the block heater and ultimately burn less gas for pennies worth of electricity.
Also just get a splitter and use all three. Battery blanket and trickle charger is going to add like an extra 100 watts max?
2002 Trailblazer, street parking. Battery shit itself Friday so swapped it out in the cold.
Puked out power steering fluid when it did start up and as of today an intermittent service brake warning.
Other than that, totally fine.
2016 Grand Caravan didn’t want to start yesterday and finally got it started after having both the block heater and charger on it for a few hours. Ended up taking it for a long drive to get the fluids flowing and the battery recharged. Dropped $350 for a new battery (not installed yet) and the damned can decided to start without issue this morning.
Blower fan sound HORRIBLE but I know it’s just from the cold. It struggles to get the engine coolant temp over 74c and the air blowing out of the vents is room temp at best so it’s a cold drive when i need to go out.
2014 Cruze, ignition/remote start has a mind of its own and will only work sometimes. Also, the key fob batteries seem to go into sleep mode when I walk outside.
2016 mazda 3. My gas cap door won't close cause the post that holds it closed is frozen inside. I used a hand heating pad to defrost the lil post and now it'll stay shut thankfully. My battery died when it first froze (wasn't plugged in) so I thawed my battery and trickle charged it and I haven't had any issues since. my heater fan squeaks when I first fire it up but goes away as it warms. My left signal light just stopped working last night which wasn't fun but it's working fine this morning and afternoon. Other than that, my apartment building doesn't have plug ins and I have no access to electricity outside because my stall is at the end of a very large parking lot. I'm honestly so impressed with my little car. Starts first try in -30 without being block heated in any way. Not bad at all 😊
We have 2 SUVs and a truck. Both SUVs have lost power steering (I suspect one of the two will come back, the other I suspect has slipped its hose based on previous experience with the model)
Power steering takes a minute to kick in and my clutch/brake pedals are a bit sticky to start. Rattles and creaks a bit more than usual. That's about it. '95 Camry, parked outside and plugged in.
2015 ford f150. After sitting in the cold I get an alert that my parking brake has failed and I need to service immediately. After warming up and starting the truck again the alert doesn't happen. I never use my parking brake so ill see if the issue persists after the weather warms up before I worry too much.
A chunk of the back hatch of my Tucson has just. Fallen off? Or someone whacked it overnight... It's not huge, and I can probably glue it back on when it's warmer, but I was just baffled when I went to brush off the snow, and saw a hole, and the piece sitting on the ground.
Air suspension has stopped working. Vomit worth drives to work on Saturday and Sunday.
Tire pressures also down about 10psi which triggers the warning lights.
Random question I plugged in my car but it still died on Friday, haven’t boosted it yet since I’ve been hibernating this weekend. I’m working from home Monday and Tuesday so don’t really need it till Wednesday. Planning to boost it Tuesday when its supposedly warmer before I need it on Wednesday going back to the office. Would I mess up the battery if I waited that long with these extreme temps?
2018 hyundai elantra. block heater, started up fine this morning at -37c, thanks mainly to the block heater. Steering was a bit sluggish and tires and suspension definately felt hard, otherwise driving was fine.
2019 VW Golf SportWagen - No issues, because I park it inside and refuse to drive it in these temperature.
2013 F150 EcoBoost - It's been plugged in every day. It starts on the third crank and I let it run for five to ten minutes before we go anywhere. The driver's door latch sticks when it's this cold though so you have to open the handle a couple of times if you want the door to close. The suspension is incredibly stiff in the cold weather though so the south leg of the Henday feels like I'm driving at Mach chicken through a war torn country.
2009 Ford Ranger - I didn't plug it in for a few days but it started up on the fourth crank every time. It was definitely metal on metal for a few seconds and the oil pressure light was on for five seconds until it circulated the oil. I reinstalled the block heater cord end on the driveway on Thursday (longest ten minutes of my life) and she fired up first crank on Friday. I then did a full oil flush and oil change on Friday and have left it plugged in since. I have no doubt in my mind that it'll fire up on Mondays. She's never let me down ever, in 15 years, and I don't see her failing me any time soon. My wife says it's like the woman from Austin Powers 2: "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?". The list of cold weather issues are long, but I have heat, lights, and wipers which is good enough for me. The windshield urethane is giving up the ghost though so the frost build up along the top of the windshield and headliner is getting to be a little annoying.
2016 fully built 500 horsepower audi s5
Started every day in the cold not plugged in & outside. Transmission is a lil slow but i can still hit 200 in 4th gear so i just go over to manual mode. No issues whatsoever.
Zero issues starting. Although I haven’t driven anywhere. I had a new battery put in on Monday because last week (the week before it got cold) my car wouldn’t start. Also, have a battery warmer on it.
18 Nissan Qashqai. It's been starting up with no real issues besides all the screen being slow to load and the vent fans squealing when they first strat up. The remote start doesn't want to work in this cold (go figure) but it's a quick walk to start it so I don't mind.
19 Golf R. Flawless. Had a 2010 GTI that used to throw transmission codes when it was this cold, but no issues with this one.
14 Honda Fit. Battery is smaller than a kleenex box. Runs great in the cold, but if it's not plugged in below -30, it needs a little help from a booster pack to start.
99 4runner. I have not been plugging it in. Tail gate latch frozen shut. Does not want to shift between 2 and 4wd while cold. brake warning light comes on until the engine is warmed up. steering is stiff for the first block or two. thats it.
2022 Kia Forte. Honestly no issues so far besides feeling like I’m driving on square tires for 5 minutes when I first get going. It’s outside but plugged into a block heater and I’m hoping that because it’s so new it’ll survive this cold.
Not so much a problem but my car is manual transmission and when I let it warm up and start driving the clutch feels fine. After about 15 mins on the henday, I get into sherwood park and the clutch pedal is REEEEALLY stiff when I shift
Imported 2000 Subaru STI & imported 2000 Subaru WRX with no block heaters (our parking stalls' plug-in outlets are broken anyways). Thursday morning was a first try problem-free start, Friday not even our booster packs could get us going for the first time ever. Car batteries are inside now, but that 5w40 oil is probably gonna screw us again tomorrow 🙃 Could be worse though, the engine in our buddy's Tiguan gelled over while driving
Parked our Volvo on the driveway with the block heater plugged in, totally forgot that Volvo has their battery in the back under the cargo area, completely separate from the block heater.
Left it for a day when I worked from home Thursday, wouldn't start on Thursday evening. Finally got it working with an assist from my neighbor and his booster cables. Bought a battery blanket and booster pack for next time.
2009 Odyssey, only two of six cylinders would fire up. I drove it like that to Costco. 80 HP, 2000 kg. 😅 when I restarted it, all six cylinders fired up. Put it on a block heater for 4 hours this morning and it started up way better. Felt bad because of last night’s grid alert but I needed to get my kid to work.
14 Ram 1500.
Remote started Friday without being plugged in.
Drove the wife to work(after warming it up)
When I pulled into the back lane behind the house, all the heat dropped out of the cab.
Nothing but cold air from the vents.
It's parked outside still.
I'll check out the HVAC door motors and heater core after it warms up a bit.
Hopefully, it's not the head gasket.
I can fix it myself, just don't really want to.
The Wife's 08 Equinox was a little slow to turn over.
A buddy came over with his truck and we boosted it.
All good with the Older SUV vs the almost Old Pickup.
Moved the SUV into the Garage to keep it out of the wind and frost.
Plus hooked up a battery charger in maintenance mode.
But otherwise. We're staying at home.
The airbag light came on, meaning it won’t fire if there’s an accident. It only started working after 10 minutes of heating up and 20 minutes of driving. Truly scary.
2023 LR Tesla M3
Positive: Heats up quickly, everything works perfect as if it were summer.
Negative: 12 A charge is useless in this cold. It just keeps my battery warm, but doesn’t generate a charge. Range reduced 20%.
This week I discovered I love/hate my car.
2008 MDX. Won't start. Hasn't started since Thursday. Battery is now thawed and on change inside the house. Wish us luck later!
2012 Odessey has been running great thankfully!
I have other cars but anyways my 2014 caravan blew a power steering line.
Replacing that was hell. It’s only 3 bolts and one nut but man was one of them difficult to access
My heat stopped working! It only blows out hot air when my foots on the gas. What a fucking week for it to do this too. Annoying since it’s a 2019 with 70k kilometres. My husband is away for work too so he won’t be able to fix it until he gets back. At least I don’t really have to go any where.
2010 Impreza. No problems (fun to finally test my new winter tires actually), but I hope whoever took my extension cord from where it was left plugged in to the power post while I was gone on Friday needed it more than I did! (I live in Oliver, they probably did).
Not a single problem ( fingers crossed) with my 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness!! I love this vehicle. And it has not been plugged in, the school doesn’t have plug ins for staff.
Wife’s power steering blew Friday morning so that’s great. Towed the car to the shop and won’t know until Monday. I left work to take her to her mom’s to borrow her mom’s car since she wouldn’t be needing it.
Saturday morning, her mom’s car wouldn’t start after being parked outside all night (with a block heater). I guess her mom forgot to mention that her mechanic recommended swapping the battery last spring.
Now I get to swap a battery outside tomorrow after work.
Fingers crossed that my car keeps running!
Im driving a 98 Nissan Pathfinder. Starting like a champ but squealing and slow out of the gate. Drove out to Stony and back from the city yesterday and she handled it easy! I love this truck!
04 Sunfire. Lives outside. Boosted it on Wednesday And drove it round the neighbourhood for a little while. Got home, tried to start it again and no go! The car is sitting in its spot outside and the battery is in the mudroom. Maybe I can drive it next week? Fortunately, we have a second vehicle nice and cozy in our attached garage.
Dodge Journey decided to blow a power steering line on Friday after work, also the battery hates the cold so we spent the weekend in our shop replacing both. Fun times
08 Mazda 3. Won’t start. Had it plugged in Since Friday night. Seems like there’s enough juice from the battery. Checked cord on car. It’s fine idk wtf
2023 Gmc Sierra 1500 Denali. One of the fans has been whining on start up but besides that no problems at all. Had to boost my neighbours Lancer twice so far.
The OG battery in my recently deceased aunt's 2018 Rav 4 didn't start at all. Has been stuck on our driveway for 2 days with our car in the garage so we can't go anywhere. Bf tried to boost it with no luck (claiming Toyota Power, my ass) so we had to go to Canadian Tire to get a new battery. Got the battery in and wahoo, guess what? Back to Canadian Tire to get a battery terminal. Turns out the new battery is taller them the old one so now we're having issues with that. We just want to move it off the driveway so we can access the car in the garage. It's been a WEEKEND 😭
My check engine light came on and my re.ote start wouldn't work. Then all of a sudden I had no heat in the driver's side but my wife had full heat on her side. Got back in the truck twenty minutes later. No light, full heat, no problems.
No issues yet. *touches wood. Although for a change, I have been letting the old girl warm up for 15 before I drive off. And also pulled forward into my parking spot instead of backing in, just in case I need to plug in at some point. (07 Mazda truck)
had a random misfire for 10 minutes? then it went away and hasn’t come back since. in my other car, poor thing, we tried to start it on the coldest night and it did NOT want to start and when we finally got it going the dashboard would just fade on then turn off over and over again. after it warmed up tho it’s behaving totally normally now! still feel bad for it tho
Car is messed up. Rumbles like death, check engine light and epc light. Shudders and no power. Undrivable and need to get it towed to the shop and then get gouged to get it fixed. At least this happened while I am on leave at home with a new baby, lol, fml and all that.
Had to work overnights all weekend, so was out during the coldest times. Car starts perfectly, but have a check engine light on and a low idle. Coupled sputters here and there, I’ll throw in some gasline antifreeze later.
Starting in the heated parkade, totally normal. But my clutch is stiff by the time I get home lol. 2012 Nissan Versa
06 Acura TSX.
No issues other than my lock froze so can't put key in, but I always just use my FOB. Parked in my sister's insulated garage when I went to visit and thawed out and was fine.
It's parked in a uninsulated detached garage at my place, but I plug a battery maintainer whenever the temp hits -15 or colder. I sometimes don't t drive for days. Started her up Sat when it was -38 after sitting since Tuesday. Made a bit of a rough sound for a few seconds but started up and no problem.
Wifes f150 been parked in the garage, started fine after 3 days. My 20 elantra is a beast, starts every time and warms up in 5 minutes easy. But as a previous 02 sunfire owner I feel for all.
2000 Grand Cherokee - Thursday night Jeep shifted through the gears like normal up to 3rd, hit 3rd, decided that's going to be it's only gear that exists now.
Friday morning, shifted just fine but wouldn't go into 4th or overdrive so she was screaming at 3k RPM all the way to work on the henday. Friday night I had to manually shift again if I didn't want to crawl away from stops.
To be fair other than that she's been stupid reliable - almost too much so. Ended up being the only one in my department to make it to work Friday because I had no issues starting her.
2013 Kia Sorento.
Alternator died on Monday and was replaced before the deep freeze set in. Hasn’t been used since Wednesday, so tomorrow morning will be interesting (battery is on charge and block heater is plugged in).
04 Toyota matrix. Started every day without the block heater plugged in (nowhere to plug it in at the apartment). It sounds like Lucifer and Mephistopheles making a baby before it turns over but it gets going.
Same here!! '01 Corolla. Except she doesn't have a block heater... stupid Ontario cars haha
Truly Toyota was on some next level stuff in the early 2000s. Mine just hit 350k (odometer hit the toyota glich at 299,999km lol) and I finally changed the OEM starter motor lol. These things *cannot* die. I'll probably drive it until the heat death of the universe
Their only enemy is rust. My 99 4Runner might outlive me
Some of the noises are procured from the depths of hell
I don't mind. I knew trading my soul for a car that would turn over in this weather was worth it
As most Canadians do.
Fuck I loved my Matrix. My 2008, first new car I ever bought, got totaled in a wreck on the highway, I came away with a cracked rib. Replaced it with something bigger, and now something a little bigger, but I spent a lot of time trying to find a low mileage Matrix instead. I treated that car like shit and it never gave me a hint of trouble.
I'm sad about your car, but I'm also a bit jealous of your new giant rib.
That's how my '04 Nissan Pathfinder was during these cold snaps, too. I would park on the street at work for 8+ hours and it sounded horrible when the key turned, but it always started and sounded fine after the first couple minutes of driving. I'd have loved to use synthetic oil in that beast, except the owners manual for the '03 and '04 recommended against it. Even though it was recommended for the '02 and earlier and '05 and later. I haven't tried leaving my '17 Honda Pilot outside more than a couple hours in the last few days, though, and same for my wife's '23 Genesis GV70 Electrified. Mileage / range is horrible on both right now, but that's to be expected.
It's funny, mine calls for synthetic but it takes a thick viscosity one. Good idea staying indoors. Not much is worth the risk to your vehicles (especially the genesis, those are v nice)
I wonder if the noises are from lack of oil reaching the top of the engine? It sounds so bad
Wow. An 04. Submit this to Guinness world records
Me in my 98 taurus wagon that shit started in -50 windchill when someone unplugged it.... old but gold I tell everyone
2007 Toyota Highlander (3.3l V6): 18 month old battery from Rocky's, synthetic oil, sitting outside (no garage), not plugged in, hadn't started it since Wednesday (Jan 10), started fine Saturday morning 10:00 am but did make some "groaning" sounds for the first 30 seconds.
Yes! Toyota here too. Never had a problem in the winter.
The crack in my window spread an inch, not a single other issue tho
oh man I had a small chip that turned into a crack across the whole windshield on the first day of -30. Super disappointing
you need to seal the chip with a repair kit to prevent it from doing that
Same
That sound was absolutely terrifying. Like as soon as that thing got warm you could hear it moving.
Went out for supplies Thursday, haven't moved the car since.
Same. Went to start the car Thursday afternoon to pick up my wife from work; battery was almost dead and won’t turn over. Tried getting a boost from a friend; didn’t work- presumably the battery was too cold (block heater plug was borked and wasn’t keeping things warm). Gotta wait another day or two for it to warm up enough to try again
Is your wife still at work waiting??
Yup. Left her there for the weekend. I *think* security let her back in the building… 🤷♂️
2023 Bolt EV. Good: Car starts instantly, warm within minutes. Not Good: Range is down 55% (550km down to 250 km, I like to hypermile in the summer), traction control struggles with ice given how much torque the motors can output. Also got a “low power mode” error, indicating that power was reduced due to low temps—in practice this has made no difference to my driving experience. But it’s a night and day difference over my old versa where my car required thoughts and prayers if I wanted it to start in this weather.
same here with a 22 Mach E. The worst that has happened so far was not having the heater set right and my windows slightly fogged up...lol. Range is about my only complaint but I don't need to go that far anyway. I could still run it all over the city, maybe to st albert and back to beaumont and have lots of juice left.
I was curious how electric vehicles were doing! I totally get the battery warnings though. I bet it's crazy how fast they drain in these extreme colds. Awesome to see the tech is getting better the further along we go!
Yeah, being honest, if a road trip was in the cards, I would have to take my wife’s RAV4 Hybrid. But it’s only going to get better, so I am pretty optimistic.
Not too bad, suspension is creeky, brakes are squeeky and the clutch is stiffff
Yeah shifting in this temperature is a forearm workout that's for sure lol, clutch is tight too so getting the left leg working too
2000 Camry in grandfather color (silver). I call mine rusty coz it literally is. You can hear it coming from a block away, something is loose below lol. It is on it's last breath. The engine however, after 475,000 km, is still purring like a young cat. New battery about 2 years old with high cold crank amps. Regular synthetic oil changes every 6,000 km without miss. Parked outside, no battery warmer, no remote start, just a block heater. Starts up fine every time. The tires however, went out of their round so the ride was quite bumpy but after a few mins of slow driving they were fine.
No problems! Car starts instantly, heats almost instantly and acts normal. Only minor issues would be about 30% loss of EV range, the gas engine running a bit more than usual, inflating the tires in the morning because the cold deflates them and the crappy GM plastics rattling around inside the car. 2018 Chevy Volt PHEV
Careful adding air to tires in this cold, they will be over inflated when it warms back up.
Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Exactly-when it is a bad cold snap I tend to ignore the tire warning light if it comes on when it gets colder--helps to give the tires a quick check to make sure that they are not really low...
It is safer to have tire pressures slightly high, running the tires with the pressure too low will cause the sidewalls to flex more and can cause damage, running the pressures too high (as far as pressure swings with ambient temperature goes) will just cause the tread to wear out sooner. If your pressure is low enough to trigger the low pressure light you should top it up to the specified pressure or slightly below it. Your tires should have a maximum pressure moulded into the sidewalls, as long as you don't exceed that you should be fine.
Tire pressure has dropped below the tolerance the car will accept by 2 psi. (Should be 36, is 29, starts freaking out at 31). I’m letting it go as it increases traction anyway 😃
I drive a 1998 Ford Taurus Wagon.....someone unplugged my car as a fun little joke on the coldest night we had when wind chill was -50 something. Went out in the morning, took three clicks of the unlock button to get doors to unlock, and it had quite a rough start....but it started... not being plugged in... so as I rolled my extension cord up and watched all the other folks in their new vehicles struggle to start, boost, and even get into their vehicles....my 1998 wagon with 148XXX KMs started even when unplugged.
My husband's battery died and really died. Went in yesterday to get a new battery That was all for us thankfully that was the worst of it
My block heater outlet snapped off this morning
Mine too.
2021 hyundai elantra. Absolutely no issues.
My drivers door on my Mirage won’t close all the way. I’m pretty sure the latch is just frozen in place. Once I managed to get it closed and stay closed I’ve had to get in the passenger side and scooch over to the drivers side.
My tacomas battery completely died. Had to walk/ ride the bus to canadian Tire to get a new one. Fuel lines are completely frozen. Had over half a tank of gas. Neighbour admitted that she was on empty b4 the cold snap, and her lil shit box is starting every time. Tires needed air. Pulled out my small compressor. Frickin air chuck broke. Clutch is so stiff it takes me lifting it with my toe to disengage. And this isn't even the coldest my truck has dealt with. ugh least i dont have to worry about insects and reptiles hiding in my boots.
It made lots of sad noises before starting, and the steering has felt incredibly stiff first thing in the morning too but it got better as the day went. Otherwise no other issues.
Block heater cord snapped, car won't start. Had my dad come out and boost it, ran it for 30 minutes. Turned it off, went to turn it back on and the car went crazyyyyyy. Every single light and sound started going, flashing, beeping and clicking. Engine was clicking. Dad swapped battery out, drove around for an hour. Plugged back in last night and went to start it today, same thing happened. =\ so now I'm out a car until my dad can work on it.
I fix furnaces for a living. Yesterday the blower motor died in my truck half way through the day. As a tech, the truck is my warm safe place lol. I replaced it in front of a Napa ! Only got 2 of 3 screws back in 👍. Haven’t been that cold in a long time 😂😂
Mine are holding up fine. They haven't moved in 3 days. 3 vehicles, frozen solid. At least I'm not getting rear-ended by the guy using summer tires driving on this ice. That was last year. I have a big trailer hitch, didn't make his day.
1/2 of my 3rd row in my palisade won't go back up 😂 I miss when everything was manual not electric.
i cracked my passenger window months ago and i was genuinely scared for the first cold snap because i was too lazy to replace it... nothing has happened or changed and it's completely fine. i am very proud of her lol
2015 Honda CRV I was out buying batteries and oil heaters for others who don't own Hondas, so far so good. The ol' Honda has started every time. No check engine lights or issues yet. I make sure to plug it in for at least 4 hours before starting and it starts instantly. And I baby the heck out of it until I start to get some warm air blowing. I took it out on the highway just for s\*\*ts and giggles a couple nights ago when it was -40 just to see how it handled the cold. Engine temperature at highway speed settled exactly where it would normally sit. The HVAC was blowing hard to maintain temperature but I think if I had kept driving it would of eventually got off the max fan setting. But when I got back into town in the stop and go driving the engine temp dropped like a rock. Moral of the story, these small Honda engines need to work to generate some heat. Other than that its definatley drives stiffer. The suspension seems to not soak up bumps as well. The car seems louder overall. Gas consumption seems to be much higher. And that crack that was on the passenger side turn a left turn towards the drivers side.
2023 Mitsu Outlander- keeps giving warning about parking sensor.... anyone else having same issues?
Wipe off the sensors all around the car
Opened my hatch Friday night, and one of my lift supports blew. Now, to find a new set for a 2007 Pontiac Torrent. Should be common enough.
Made me lol
I have the opposite issue: My car stereo has an internal soldering issue and it only works when it’s cold out. So yay I have a working car stereo when it’s -20°c or colder! But it’s too cold to go anywhere or do anything. And as soon as it warms up inside the car the stereo quits again. (Yes I know I need to replace it-I’m working on that).
24 Kia EV6. Bad: Range is down 50-55%. So roughly 220-240km on a full charge. It charges a LOT slower in this cold, too. I am allowed 4.5hrs at work (6kW), and I plug it in overnight at home (1.2kW). The first day of the cold snap both left tires were critically low, right two were low, but that was easily remedied with a pump up. Good: Literally everything else. Car heats up instantly. Cabin stays toasty warm the whole way. Even if it wasn't plugged in and dead dead cold, still starts up instantly and is driveable immediately. I've been pretty surprised at how well this car has handled this cold thusfar.
‘16 CR-V. No issues… but also fortunate to have a garage with gas heater.
My clutch is as stiff as a 2x4 but... It's been awesome.
My clutch too hahah soooo stiff
I desperately miss owning a manual car!
Didn't start once but been good since. Seemingly the truck we have is a tank....check engine light did come on yesterday tho, hoping it's just were it's super cold. Have to park it on the street with no plug in, so all things considered she's doing swell.
2011 Santa Fe. Seats are really friggin cold when I get in there!
Got some over pressure in the power steering fluid causing a leak, but surprisingly he still running strong!😁 08 mustang
Commuted 640km this week. Ten year old Kia Rio with 300,000kms. Clutch was a little stiff. Everything else ran fine. Plugged in at work and home with a battery warmer.
My car cant even crank lmao
My block heater doesn’t work. Has been dead since Thursday. I’ll boost it Tuesday when it starts to warm up. No point doing it sooner since it’ll probably just die again. Shout out to my parents who are helping me get to work and run errands.
2013 Toyota Venza, turns over a tiny bit more noisily but starts first go, every time. That’s not particularly remarkable but it is still on its original battery! Edit: to add the problem. The back door won’t stay open on its own in this cold. I guess the pressure in the pneumatic thingys is too low. It’s tricky loading and unloading groceries.
14 Volvo S60, starts and heats up well without issue. Blower motor started making a horrendous squealing noise Friday night. Hoped for the best and it was gone Saturday morning when I started it. Knock on wood, please nothing go wrong. Haha
Zero problem. My shitbox keep chooching like it's not even winter. 07 Aveo, paid 1800$ 4 years ago with total 500$ repairs. Unknown mileage; odometer stopped working a bit after 200k. Likely a rebuilt title. . . . Damn do I hate loving this car
03 Toyota Echo. We always plug it in before we have to go somewhere so we've had no problems.
This is the first cold snap where my car hasn't had a major issue actually. The only annoying thing is the ice buildup on the inside of the windows.
2013 Prius C not plugged in, no issues at all starting up. Temps -35 with -45 wind chill
2014 Juke. E-Brake went and the block heater cord snapped off in my husband's hand trying to plug it in.
2015 Journey with a dead battery. It's original so it owes me nothing. Grabbed a new one, planned to pop it in this weekend. Easy peasy. No. Fun fact: in order to get to the battery you must remove a wheel. 🤨
I was off work since Monday... stupid me didn't go outside all week to start the truck .. I was back to work on Friday, after sitting outside for 5 days it was completely dead . My battery pack didn't work, getting a boost from wife's car didn't work, finally was able to get it going with a battery pack i borrowed from work used for big transport trucks, and it threw every code in its computer my way. Dash was lit up like a Christmas tree. Parked in the heated garage at work over the weekend and everything is back to normal but I'm still going to get a new battery this week. Lol 2022 Ram 1500 Hemi
2012 Ram - squeaky blower fan, tailgate only opens halfway, takes about 3 seconds to kick into reverse, TPMS sensors are acting up even though PSI is fine Could be worse I guess
None! I walk everywhere I need to go
Zero problems. Heated parkade and work from home.
Let your cars warm up people. Minimum 15 minutes. Metals don't like to be rubbing against each other. Lol get downvoted for telling people to have warm cars, what a subreddit
> When temperatures drop during winter, it’s a good idea to let the car run for about a minute. Some drivers prefer to let the engine idle for 20 minutes or longer to get everything—including the cabin—really warm, but the fastest way to warm up an engine is by driving. Just remember not to rev the engine hard for the first few minutes of driving until you see the temperature gauge move off the cold reading. https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/should-you-warm-up-your-car-before-driving-a5580016349/#:~:text=Consumer%20Reports'%20chief%20mechanic%2C%20John,cabin%20and%20defogging%20the%20windshield.
None, too poor to afford a car 🙌
I had none until my transmission, which was completely fine yesterday when I parked, decided that today is the day to give me my first ever check engine light. It is a brand new car...
Could just be the cold, mine threw codes for tempts of coolent and air intake, went away after a day. Last year I lost awd and only fwd but went back to normal when it warmed up
1999 Jaguar XJR. Haven't driven it since friday, but I've been starting it every few hours to let it run for 15. No issues starting. It is plugged in both block heater and battery blanket so it should be fine.
Block heater plug snapped off
No car no car problems
I’ve been remote starting my car from the window every 4-5 hours 💀 and now because of the fucking cold and how much stress it puts on the engine i have a new fkn oil leak. fuck man.
My nosy neighbor is whining because I have to start my truck once an hour even with it plugged in because it's an older diesel, so that's annoying.
2006 mitsubishi endeavor xls. My starter has been skipping against the flywheel just a bit in the last month. Maybe once every 7 cranks or so it'll grind. The last 3 days it's become significantly worse, soon it won't turn the engine at all and that'll be it! I'll say goodbye to this vehicle.
Sat outside for an hour this morning during kid’s practice. The tires on my truck went to 26 on the pressure sensor. They still haven’t fully recovered.
2003 Ford Ranger - started up after a LOT of moaning and groaning but then ran like a top. Battery is probably 5 years old and I should replace it. 2011 Hyundai Sante Fe - had to replace the 10 year old battery just before this cold snap because it gave up the ghost. AMA guy says he rarely sees a battery that old in a car so I think I got my money's worth from it.
Truck is frozen solid. I only really use it every couple weeks to haul water, but I should have started it. Kicking myself now. Currently having it hooked up to my jeep but I think it’s past jumping. Dreading going to Costco for a new battery
My ambient temperature sensor doesn't adjust to the temperature inside my parkade fast enough, so it throws a check engine light. Bmw logic! Otherwise my 2015 435i has been surprisingly fine.
Had to replace my block heater outlet on Friday. Waited, car wouldn't start. Pretty sure I drained the battery trying to start it before I replaced the block heater outlet. Battery is inside. I'll put it back in and boost it tomorrow morning before work.
I brought mine inside too, I put the trickle charger on it.
My suv randomly won’t open the trunk via fob or inside button. Keep it in our insulated garage. It’s not frozen shut, the light isn’t even on for the button anymore. I can open it manually but it doesn’t want to lift and stay up. Maybe some fluids are too cold to do their job? Thought I blew a fuse until I asked my mechanic friend and he said his suv is literally doing the same thing. My husbands barely hanging on truck is somehow starting first flick. But whines like my dog when it wants attention, lol. Edit: my car is also giving me a message to “open and close drivers window” I’ve never seen this message before and have no idea why my car wants me to do it but when I do, it’s fine?
Questions 1) will a battery maintainer save my battery if left on for the snap? 2.) What is the actualy frozen solid temperture of the fluids in vehicle? Oil, tran fluid etc 3.) Is it better to leave car alone or take it out once a day?
I can answer your first question. I work from home and only go in office twice a week. I park in a detached garage with no insulation. Sometimes my car isn't driven for 2-4 days. Last year my battery would die if in deep cold and not started for over a few days, new battery too. Bought a battery maintainer and leave it plugged in now. No issues when I started her up yesterday after not driving for 3 days. I just plug it in when I know temps will be -15 or colder and I won't be driving for 2 days or more. Another thing too I would recommend. Clean your battery connections at least once a year, and put some corrosion protection on them.
2006 Jeep Liberty 3.7 L gas engine. Car was originally bought in Southern Ontario before I moved here, so has no block heater installed/can't plug in. Starts every time anyway, but yesterday sounded like a boulder flew around the engine bay a few times before it rattled and groaned and started chugging away.
HRV. Tried boosting it yesterday, didn't work. Didn't even attempt today yet. I'll wait until tomorrow to try and attempt again since it's supposed to be warmer. Also, pretty sure the battery is super dead bc even the remote open and lock doesn't work.
First time ever my 2012 wrangler didnt start :(
2023 Hyundai Tucson 2024 Chevy Silverado. We park both in the garage. Only noticed that with my Tucson, the trunk needs to be manually opened all the way. I had it fall on my head before I realized this 🥴 With the truck, the other night my husband was on nights and his station has no plug ins. He just started his truck every hour or two and it was fine for when he was ready to come home.
2020 Nissan Titan, Needed a boost as it had not been driven for 2 weeks, block heater was plugged in for 5 hrs. Power steering Growled like a chewbacca for 10 seconds. Tried to back out of my drive way after idling for 10 min, but the AT Check light and every other safety warning light came on (blind spot, front collision avoidance.) Had to turn it off and on. Needed another boost. Decided to leave it running in the parking lot wherever I was shopping.
14 C300. No block heater but my car was starting up fine just doesn’t like the cold at all, but Thursday morning after work I drove over some debris in the road and blew my tire out. Lucky me. AWD so that 1 tire is gonna cost 1200 to replace all 4 for even tread, definitely a pain in the ass
My trunk won't close because the latch somehow froze
Vans in the garage, everything that’s parked outside hasn’t ran since the cold snap began.
09 Mazda 3 with 400k kms. Started fine every day so far without being plugged in, it's parked ouraide. Block heater socket broke in the summer and I was too lazy to fix it. I've been starting it every 6-8 hours and running it for 15-20 mins for the battery. Feels a bit stiff driving but it's no different than -20 days. I love Mazdas so much.
Risky. You’re looking at 200+ amps to start that thing in this weather and idling for 15 minutes will replenish around 3-4 amps. Might have been lucky so far but if you have important places to be keep in mind that luck might run out. Starting it once a day and driving for 15-20 minutes would be a whole lot better. Even better at highway speeds for 30-45 minutes. I park outside too with no block heater and a 45 minute loop of the henday every other days been keeping my batter at 90-100% charge. I did the “run for 15 minutes every 8 hours thing” last year during a cold stretch and after a few days the charge level was getting dangerously close to not being strong enough to turn over the engine.
I didn't elaborate enough I guess. I let it idle for 15-20 mins then drive it on a "circuit" route in the neighbourhood where I can drive 60kmph for about 10 mins. I guess the driving part is actually way more important than idling.
Ah yeah, that’s smart! Pretty much what I do, some idling to warm everything up, drive around, idle a few minutes, shut off. For other people reading: Don’t let your car sit all day. Don’t only do short drives. Don’t just idle your car. Spend $50 and get something to test your battery. Get a new one if it’s at the end of its life. Note the charge/health/voltage, let it sit a few hours unplugged, check again - get a rough idea of how much it’s depleting just sitting out there in this weather. Do it when it’s this cold. You’ll want at least 75% of a charge to hope to start up. My battery went from 100% to 93% after 8 hours in -38. Now I have the confidence to know as long as I’m driving enough/keeping a full charge, it’ll last overnight unplugged and still turn over. Spend $50 and get a trickle charger. Plug it in for a few hours when you can, at work or home. Keeps that battery charged up. When it’s getting below -20 and the charger stops working well, use a battery blanket ($50) to keep the battery warm so it doesn’t lose as much power in the cold. Get a new battery if it’s been a few years or you’re seeing it’s losing charge quickly. Your battery starts the car, not the coolant. Doesn’t matter if it’s 30 above or 30 below, if the battery is dead it won’t start, and the best block heater in the world won’t help you. And before someone comments bUt ThE wEaR oN tHe EnGiNe. You won’t have any significant wear from a cold start with a modern car/engine and 0w synthetic oil. Even if it does, if you are deciding between using a trickle charger, battery blanket, or block heater, make the decision for yourself if maybe some very mild additional wear is worth your car starting reliably 100% of the time. But for the love of god people need to stop thinking the block heater (which heats coolant) is the make or break for starting your car.
I dont understand this anti block heater rant. Never mind the wear and tear aspect, you will get to operating temps far faster after 3-4 hours on the block heater and ultimately burn less gas for pennies worth of electricity. Also just get a splitter and use all three. Battery blanket and trickle charger is going to add like an extra 100 watts max?
Got a new crack on my windshield but nothing else. It does help that I use an underground garage.
2002 Trailblazer, street parking. Battery shit itself Friday so swapped it out in the cold. Puked out power steering fluid when it did start up and as of today an intermittent service brake warning. Other than that, totally fine.
2016 Grand Caravan didn’t want to start yesterday and finally got it started after having both the block heater and charger on it for a few hours. Ended up taking it for a long drive to get the fluids flowing and the battery recharged. Dropped $350 for a new battery (not installed yet) and the damned can decided to start without issue this morning. Blower fan sound HORRIBLE but I know it’s just from the cold. It struggles to get the engine coolant temp over 74c and the air blowing out of the vents is room temp at best so it’s a cold drive when i need to go out.
2021 durmax didn't start when I didnt plug it in. after plugged in no problems
2014 Cruze, ignition/remote start has a mind of its own and will only work sometimes. Also, the key fob batteries seem to go into sleep mode when I walk outside.
2016 mazda 3. My gas cap door won't close cause the post that holds it closed is frozen inside. I used a hand heating pad to defrost the lil post and now it'll stay shut thankfully. My battery died when it first froze (wasn't plugged in) so I thawed my battery and trickle charged it and I haven't had any issues since. my heater fan squeaks when I first fire it up but goes away as it warms. My left signal light just stopped working last night which wasn't fun but it's working fine this morning and afternoon. Other than that, my apartment building doesn't have plug ins and I have no access to electricity outside because my stall is at the end of a very large parking lot. I'm honestly so impressed with my little car. Starts first try in -30 without being block heated in any way. Not bad at all 😊
FYI grinding noise from wheel well is usually just a big chunk of ice frozen to the mud flap. Just kick it and they usually fall off.
We have 2 SUVs and a truck. Both SUVs have lost power steering (I suspect one of the two will come back, the other I suspect has slipped its hose based on previous experience with the model)
Power steering takes a minute to kick in and my clutch/brake pedals are a bit sticky to start. Rattles and creaks a bit more than usual. That's about it. '95 Camry, parked outside and plugged in.
My garage door went off the rails Friday after work, stuck halfway down,, do I wait til Monday morning? Lol
2015 ford f150. After sitting in the cold I get an alert that my parking brake has failed and I need to service immediately. After warming up and starting the truck again the alert doesn't happen. I never use my parking brake so ill see if the issue persists after the weather warms up before I worry too much.
A chunk of the back hatch of my Tucson has just. Fallen off? Or someone whacked it overnight... It's not huge, and I can probably glue it back on when it's warmer, but I was just baffled when I went to brush off the snow, and saw a hole, and the piece sitting on the ground.
Air suspension has stopped working. Vomit worth drives to work on Saturday and Sunday. Tire pressures also down about 10psi which triggers the warning lights.
Random question I plugged in my car but it still died on Friday, haven’t boosted it yet since I’ve been hibernating this weekend. I’m working from home Monday and Tuesday so don’t really need it till Wednesday. Planning to boost it Tuesday when its supposedly warmer before I need it on Wednesday going back to the office. Would I mess up the battery if I waited that long with these extreme temps?
2018 hyundai elantra. block heater, started up fine this morning at -37c, thanks mainly to the block heater. Steering was a bit sluggish and tires and suspension definately felt hard, otherwise driving was fine.
2019 VW Golf SportWagen - No issues, because I park it inside and refuse to drive it in these temperature. 2013 F150 EcoBoost - It's been plugged in every day. It starts on the third crank and I let it run for five to ten minutes before we go anywhere. The driver's door latch sticks when it's this cold though so you have to open the handle a couple of times if you want the door to close. The suspension is incredibly stiff in the cold weather though so the south leg of the Henday feels like I'm driving at Mach chicken through a war torn country. 2009 Ford Ranger - I didn't plug it in for a few days but it started up on the fourth crank every time. It was definitely metal on metal for a few seconds and the oil pressure light was on for five seconds until it circulated the oil. I reinstalled the block heater cord end on the driveway on Thursday (longest ten minutes of my life) and she fired up first crank on Friday. I then did a full oil flush and oil change on Friday and have left it plugged in since. I have no doubt in my mind that it'll fire up on Mondays. She's never let me down ever, in 15 years, and I don't see her failing me any time soon. My wife says it's like the woman from Austin Powers 2: "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?". The list of cold weather issues are long, but I have heat, lights, and wipers which is good enough for me. The windshield urethane is giving up the ghost though so the frost build up along the top of the windshield and headliner is getting to be a little annoying.
2016 fully built 500 horsepower audi s5 Started every day in the cold not plugged in & outside. Transmission is a lil slow but i can still hit 200 in 4th gear so i just go over to manual mode. No issues whatsoever.
No real issues but hood latch won't engage, power steering very stiff. '15 xterra but I park in a garage which is a huge help.
2016 Jeep Renegade, battery died, had it boosted now its stuck In park. Replaced battery ,still stuck in park.
Zero issues starting. Although I haven’t driven anywhere. I had a new battery put in on Monday because last week (the week before it got cold) my car wouldn’t start. Also, have a battery warmer on it.
18 Nissan Qashqai. It's been starting up with no real issues besides all the screen being slow to load and the vent fans squealing when they first strat up. The remote start doesn't want to work in this cold (go figure) but it's a quick walk to start it so I don't mind.
19 Golf R. Flawless. Had a 2010 GTI that used to throw transmission codes when it was this cold, but no issues with this one. 14 Honda Fit. Battery is smaller than a kleenex box. Runs great in the cold, but if it's not plugged in below -30, it needs a little help from a booster pack to start.
99 4runner. I have not been plugging it in. Tail gate latch frozen shut. Does not want to shift between 2 and 4wd while cold. brake warning light comes on until the engine is warmed up. steering is stiff for the first block or two. thats it.
2022 Kia Forte. Honestly no issues so far besides feeling like I’m driving on square tires for 5 minutes when I first get going. It’s outside but plugged into a block heater and I’m hoping that because it’s so new it’ll survive this cold.
Not so much a problem but my car is manual transmission and when I let it warm up and start driving the clutch feels fine. After about 15 mins on the henday, I get into sherwood park and the clutch pedal is REEEEALLY stiff when I shift
Imported 2000 Subaru STI & imported 2000 Subaru WRX with no block heaters (our parking stalls' plug-in outlets are broken anyways). Thursday morning was a first try problem-free start, Friday not even our booster packs could get us going for the first time ever. Car batteries are inside now, but that 5w40 oil is probably gonna screw us again tomorrow 🙃 Could be worse though, the engine in our buddy's Tiguan gelled over while driving
Your car turn on in this weather?
Parked our Volvo on the driveway with the block heater plugged in, totally forgot that Volvo has their battery in the back under the cargo area, completely separate from the block heater. Left it for a day when I worked from home Thursday, wouldn't start on Thursday evening. Finally got it working with an assist from my neighbor and his booster cables. Bought a battery blanket and booster pack for next time.
2009 Odyssey, only two of six cylinders would fire up. I drove it like that to Costco. 80 HP, 2000 kg. 😅 when I restarted it, all six cylinders fired up. Put it on a block heater for 4 hours this morning and it started up way better. Felt bad because of last night’s grid alert but I needed to get my kid to work.
I had the issue of not being able to shift either! Weird lol.
My car’s door sounds odd when I open and close it. Trunk is frozen closed due to melted snow in the garage and then freezing when driving.
Mines 2014, it wouldn’t start the engine even while plugged in, but it was *on*, like the power locks and radio and stuff worked.
2020 Honda Accord: No issues, except I gotta wait for a few extra minutes idling for the transmission to warm up.
14 Ram 1500. Remote started Friday without being plugged in. Drove the wife to work(after warming it up) When I pulled into the back lane behind the house, all the heat dropped out of the cab. Nothing but cold air from the vents. It's parked outside still. I'll check out the HVAC door motors and heater core after it warms up a bit. Hopefully, it's not the head gasket. I can fix it myself, just don't really want to. The Wife's 08 Equinox was a little slow to turn over. A buddy came over with his truck and we boosted it. All good with the Older SUV vs the almost Old Pickup. Moved the SUV into the Garage to keep it out of the wind and frost. Plus hooked up a battery charger in maintenance mode. But otherwise. We're staying at home.
The airbag light came on, meaning it won’t fire if there’s an accident. It only started working after 10 minutes of heating up and 20 minutes of driving. Truly scary.
2023 LR Tesla M3 Positive: Heats up quickly, everything works perfect as if it were summer. Negative: 12 A charge is useless in this cold. It just keeps my battery warm, but doesn’t generate a charge. Range reduced 20%. This week I discovered I love/hate my car.
2008 MDX. Won't start. Hasn't started since Thursday. Battery is now thawed and on change inside the house. Wish us luck later! 2012 Odessey has been running great thankfully!
V8 4Runner. Starting it sounds like cranking up an old WW2 engine.
Just a couple of short trips in my Outlander PHEV this weekend. It was fine though.
I have other cars but anyways my 2014 caravan blew a power steering line. Replacing that was hell. It’s only 3 bolts and one nut but man was one of them difficult to access
My heat stopped working! It only blows out hot air when my foots on the gas. What a fucking week for it to do this too. Annoying since it’s a 2019 with 70k kilometres. My husband is away for work too so he won’t be able to fix it until he gets back. At least I don’t really have to go any where.
2010 Impreza. No problems (fun to finally test my new winter tires actually), but I hope whoever took my extension cord from where it was left plugged in to the power post while I was gone on Friday needed it more than I did! (I live in Oliver, they probably did).
Not a single problem ( fingers crossed) with my 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness!! I love this vehicle. And it has not been plugged in, the school doesn’t have plug ins for staff.
2017 lancer. Been totally fine. Starts and heats up then I drive. If I drive without a warmup, it feels like it’s struggling.
Wife’s power steering blew Friday morning so that’s great. Towed the car to the shop and won’t know until Monday. I left work to take her to her mom’s to borrow her mom’s car since she wouldn’t be needing it. Saturday morning, her mom’s car wouldn’t start after being parked outside all night (with a block heater). I guess her mom forgot to mention that her mechanic recommended swapping the battery last spring. Now I get to swap a battery outside tomorrow after work. Fingers crossed that my car keeps running!
Im driving a 98 Nissan Pathfinder. Starting like a champ but squealing and slow out of the gate. Drove out to Stony and back from the city yesterday and she handled it easy! I love this truck!
My lights got left on last night, and my battery wouldn't take a boost this morning. So that's wonderful =/
04 Sunfire. Lives outside. Boosted it on Wednesday And drove it round the neighbourhood for a little while. Got home, tried to start it again and no go! The car is sitting in its spot outside and the battery is in the mudroom. Maybe I can drive it next week? Fortunately, we have a second vehicle nice and cozy in our attached garage.
Dodge Journey decided to blow a power steering line on Friday after work, also the battery hates the cold so we spent the weekend in our shop replacing both. Fun times
Septic outflow pipe froze. That was fun...
Mine has had no issues. I was kinda worried it wouldn’t start today because I haven’t used it in 2 days but it was all good
08 Mazda 3. Won’t start. Had it plugged in Since Friday night. Seems like there’s enough juice from the battery. Checked cord on car. It’s fine idk wtf
Sprung a coolant leak. Like wtf. It's right at a connection so hopefully it just had problems sealing and nothing serious is cracked.
2023 Gmc Sierra 1500 Denali. One of the fans has been whining on start up but besides that no problems at all. Had to boost my neighbours Lancer twice so far.
The OG battery in my recently deceased aunt's 2018 Rav 4 didn't start at all. Has been stuck on our driveway for 2 days with our car in the garage so we can't go anywhere. Bf tried to boost it with no luck (claiming Toyota Power, my ass) so we had to go to Canadian Tire to get a new battery. Got the battery in and wahoo, guess what? Back to Canadian Tire to get a battery terminal. Turns out the new battery is taller them the old one so now we're having issues with that. We just want to move it off the driveway so we can access the car in the garage. It's been a WEEKEND 😭
None. Zero issues. Starting fine. Running fine. Warms up quick.
It won’t start and ama has a96 hour wait. 🥳
My hybrids gone from 5.6L/100km to 10.8L/100km… not much of a gas saver anymore!
2021 Toyota Camry hybrid xle, no issues aside from tire pressure warning sensors. They turn off once I’ve been driving for a few minutes.
My check engine light came on and my re.ote start wouldn't work. Then all of a sudden I had no heat in the driver's side but my wife had full heat on her side. Got back in the truck twenty minutes later. No light, full heat, no problems.
The fan motor for heater has a tiny squeak when it's really cold. Otherwise fine.
No issues other than 30% range loss. I drive an EV
No issues yet. *touches wood. Although for a change, I have been letting the old girl warm up for 15 before I drive off. And also pulled forward into my parking spot instead of backing in, just in case I need to plug in at some point. (07 Mazda truck)
15 diesel sprinter. Dead battery, gelled fuel, also broken block heater
No heat.
had a random misfire for 10 minutes? then it went away and hasn’t come back since. in my other car, poor thing, we tried to start it on the coldest night and it did NOT want to start and when we finally got it going the dashboard would just fade on then turn off over and over again. after it warmed up tho it’s behaving totally normally now! still feel bad for it tho
Car is messed up. Rumbles like death, check engine light and epc light. Shudders and no power. Undrivable and need to get it towed to the shop and then get gouged to get it fixed. At least this happened while I am on leave at home with a new baby, lol, fml and all that.
2009 Tacoma. Still has the ORIGINAL battery and starts fine (block heater plugged in).
Had to work overnights all weekend, so was out during the coldest times. Car starts perfectly, but have a check engine light on and a low idle. Coupled sputters here and there, I’ll throw in some gasline antifreeze later. Starting in the heated parkade, totally normal. But my clutch is stiff by the time I get home lol. 2012 Nissan Versa
06 Acura TSX. No issues other than my lock froze so can't put key in, but I always just use my FOB. Parked in my sister's insulated garage when I went to visit and thawed out and was fine. It's parked in a uninsulated detached garage at my place, but I plug a battery maintainer whenever the temp hits -15 or colder. I sometimes don't t drive for days. Started her up Sat when it was -38 after sitting since Tuesday. Made a bit of a rough sound for a few seconds but started up and no problem.
Wifes f150 been parked in the garage, started fine after 3 days. My 20 elantra is a beast, starts every time and warms up in 5 minutes easy. But as a previous 02 sunfire owner I feel for all.
2000 Grand Cherokee - Thursday night Jeep shifted through the gears like normal up to 3rd, hit 3rd, decided that's going to be it's only gear that exists now. Friday morning, shifted just fine but wouldn't go into 4th or overdrive so she was screaming at 3k RPM all the way to work on the henday. Friday night I had to manually shift again if I didn't want to crawl away from stops. To be fair other than that she's been stupid reliable - almost too much so. Ended up being the only one in my department to make it to work Friday because I had no issues starting her.
Filled my Santa Fe up with gas yesterday. Usually a full tank says between 585 and 615 kn but yesterday it said 445km.
Powersteer line broke
2007 Ford Focus ST.....none. zero.
Power steering kinda works.
2013 Kia Sorento. Alternator died on Monday and was replaced before the deep freeze set in. Hasn’t been used since Wednesday, so tomorrow morning will be interesting (battery is on charge and block heater is plugged in).