Prepping Car for Cold Weather (Northern Ontario) - Comments/Suggestions

[dmccarty]

In winter I rig up an electric fan heater to the passenger front seat so that it directs hot air to the windshield. Run the cord out the bottom of the driver side door (so I don't forget it) and plug in the extension. At the house, I have a timer plugged into the outlet then the extension lead plugged into that. It comes on and runs for 2 hours, switching off right before I need to leave. This will defrost the windows, preheat all the glass (so it is not fogged up when you start driving) it also dries out any moisture that was on the floor mat from the last use.
...

Do you know what brand or where you bought the heater? This is a good idea I need to do.

Another thing I carry in the truck is a spray bottle with alcohol to help deice the windows. Sometimes it is cold enough that my windshield fluid freezes at the nozzles and of course the windshield nozzles does not get the side windows, side mirrors, or rear windows. The little spray bottle with a couple spritzes of alcohol can work wonders. I pretty much have to buy a new spray bottle every year because the UV light destroys the plastic but it is still cheaper than buying the expensive sprays the stores sell to melt the ice.

I REALLY want a garage. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[buickanddeere]

Alright, 3.17 gallons not 2.0

 

[3930dave]

Nitrogen fill has been one of the finest example of scam and the sorry state of the education system that the general public has no clue. The one and only advantage of nitrogen in the bottle is that it's dry. Shop air through a dryer is just as good.

Hard #'s will have to wait (I'm only finding the TEV of Air w/o CO2 at the moment), but Consumer's Reports did find a small but consistent improvement with Nitrogen.

Tires - Nitrogen air loss study

Not peer reviewed, but CR is usually worth a look for empirical data.

Would I personally pay $20/tire for a Nitrogen fill - No. If Costco had the deal I wanted on tires, would I consider the free Nitrogen fill (and top ups later) as a Nice To Have bonus - Yes.

Unless a commercial garage is operating a paint booth, I never count on the shop air being dry.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Do you know what brand or where you bought the heater? This is a good idea I need to do.

Another thing I carry in the truck is a spray bottle with alcohol to help deice the windows. Sometimes it is cold enough that my windshield fluid freezes at the nozzles and of course the windshield nozzles does not get the side windows, side mirrors, or rear windows. The little spray bottle with a couple spritzes of alcohol can work wonders. I pretty much have to buy a new spray bottle every year because the UV light destroys the plastic but it is still cheaper than buying the expensive sprays the stores sell to melt the ice.

I REALLY want a garage. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

Up here, the smallest 120vac heaters seem to have ceramic elements. I like the ones with 3 heat settings (typ. 500w, 1000w, and 1500w). Anything UL or equiv. approved should do the trick for you - down your way I'd be surprised if you need to run one higher than 500w for that application.

Rgds, D.

 

[westcliffe01]

something along these lines
Holmes HFH131-TG Personal Fan - Personal Care - for the home - Macy's

One has to space it away from the backrest so that it gets airflow and strap or bungee it in place so that it does not fall over.

 

[Bob77064]

Hard #'s will have to wait (I'm only finding the TEV of Air w/o CO2 at the moment), but Consumer's Reports did find a small but consistent improvement with Nitrogen.

Tires - Nitrogen air loss study

Not peer reviewed, but CR is usually worth a look for empirical data.

Would I personally pay $20/tire for a Nitrogen fill - No. If Costco had the deal I wanted on tires, would I consider the free Nitrogen fill (and top ups later) as a Nice To Have bonus - Yes.

Unless a commercial garage is operating a paint booth, I never count on the shop air being dry.

Rgds, D.

The atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen, so when you put air in your tires it is about 78% nitrogen.

 

[3930dave]

The atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen, so when you put air in your tires it is about 78% nitrogen.

Roger that.

Rgds, D.

 

[GYPSY]

is WI that much diff form ON, id pack some common sense!! or have fema or the mounties on alert...

 

[SPIKER]

On the Block heaters there are a few types, The ones I have used are on my tractor but would work for car just fine. KATZ is a brand that is less expensive and available at TSC here in Ohio just need to know your lower coolant hose size. cut the hose stick in the heater and it warms the coolant. DO NOT get the DIP STICK type heaters that heat the oil. they cook and burn the oil & shorten it's life. The type on the oil pan also is not good for same reason but are better than dipstick heaters.

kitty litter or sand with them you can spread for traction, (mentioned that few pages back)

parking your car so the front is out of the wind also helps, but where you can plug it in when it get real cold. For most part that thing should start below -20F without any of the precautions & should heat up pretty good. The block/coolant heaters do make it nicer to hop into a warmer than ambient car tho.

Back a few years ago I had big crown vic early 90's square version. I used a Hair Drier with handle wedged between front seat arm rests and pointing at window. Plugged it in the extension cord in the AM when I started making coffee (1bout 10 min later heading out door to warm de-iced car.) had less than a mile drive so usually took too long to scrape vs pre-heating. I would unplug the extension cord at the car and plug it back in when I came home and went in and unplugged the cord inside.
You can do same with the block heater, the KATZ I have takes maybe 15 min to warm up my 3 cyl diesel tractor heater hose to burn your fingers temp. should warm up the whole engine on the honda in same amount of time.

Mark

 

[Chef Pa]

For the block heater type I looked at a few before calling Honda, just to see about cost. Decided to go with the Honda OEM, about $160 installed - not cheap but it's a nice setup, goes in the engine block coolant drain hole. Looked up specs on wattage and couldn't really find anything, and nothing in the owners manual. Initial thought was 3-4 hrs for time on the block heater, but sounds like it shouldn't take near that long. If instructions aren't provided by Honda will play with it and see what works - maybe 15 min or so and see how it does.

Block heater screenshot below.