Went out to start them and both just groaned and turned over maybe 1/4 Revolution.
These are relatively new cars with decent batteries. Well maintained.
It will warm up to maybe 15 below after midday but drop again to near 30 below tomorrow morning. Today I don’t have anyplace I need to go to but tomorrow ( at least at this point ) school is scheduled
What say you?
Can you reach them with a trickle charger?
Not sure what "them" is but modern automotive cars are cold start tested at -40C. One old trick I learned when I had a diesel in MI was to put the headlights on for a few minutes before starting - It loads and warms the batteries up. Counter intuitive but worked for me.
Much warmer here driving the Prius
Do what the Russians did in WWII to get their planes started in winter:
They pulled off the cowlings off and lit a fire under the engine! 
(They also dumped gas into the oil)
Minus 31 degrees? That's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!
Are we allowed to say that anymore?
Yeah, trickle charger, block heater. Oil that cold is hard to push through an engine.
67F here and we have the heater running!
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
I’m pretty sure I can get them running, but should I ?
Cranking over with molasses in the crankcase means start up will be bare metal for a bit.
Like one other poster said, modern cars are designed for this sort of thing. Send it!
-30F is still "just" -35C, which, even if it might feel like it, isn't extreme in the automotive world. The oil will most likely be just fine. A bit thick, but working as intended. Nothing the skiing tourists in northern Sweden hasn't seen a couple of times. ;-)
What you should look out for is (obviously) freezing. Traditional coolant at 50/50 blend is typically rated to -30C, or -22F. That doesn't mean that you are screwed as soon as it drops below that, since it takes a lot of energy to freeze the coolant - very cold for a long time.
Having said that: Don't start them unless you are actually going somewhere. It's just unnecessary wear.
Frenchy, Do you have the right weight of oil in them? You might find the weak link in the oil pump drive if not.
frenchyd said:In reply to mr2s2000elise :
I’m pretty sure I can get them running, but should I ?
Cranking over with molasses in the crankcase means start up will be bare metal for a bit.
Just because the oil is thick doesn't mean it isn't coating all the surfaces still. There is no "bare metal" contact going on.
When I was a kid we always heard about people in Alaska (might as well have been the moon) who just left their cars idling all winter because starting them was so hard.
I say hide out inside where it's warm with a warm cup of whatever the hell you drink. No man, woman, or child should be out in that weather!
-30 is berkeleying cold. The best starting car in the world with thin synthetic old will be right on the edge at that temperature. If it groaned and didn't fire, don't touch it again until you can get some heat into it- all you will do is flood it, and then it will be even worse. A charger on the battery will keep you warm through the effort of stringing the cord, but thats about it, really.
If you really need to get somewhere, find a tiger torch and some stovepipe, or construction heater to blow hot air under the front of the vehicle for an hour or two. Don't set it up so it melts the front bumper cover. Do you have a really big electric frying pan?
PS- I'm from Saskatchewan. Listen to my words...
Unless you need to go somewhere, or are worried you’ll need to go somewhere due to circumstances ( health issues, work, family), don’t bother starting them.
mr2s2000elise said:67F here and we have the heater running!
57F here (Southern California) but I was in Minnesota last week and I’m headed back next week.
Don’t know E36 M3 about the cold…had to spend ~5 min. scraping ice off my rental car (Hyundai Santa Fe) in a hotel parking lot…pretty sure I got a slight case of frost bite on my lips…again, don’t know E36 M3 about the cold.
Made it ~50 feet out of the hotel parking lot approaching a four-way intersection with the light against me…applied brakes (ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta) ABS kicking in and not slowing fast enough to stop short of banging into cross traffic. Nothing to lose so I went full hard on the brakes and the car started stopping quicker.
So, do new cars have some type of two-stage ABS where the peddle shudders to let you know you’re about to apply too much braking force?...again, don’t know E36 M3 about the cold and I’d like to get educated on stuff like modern ABS systems before heading back into it next week.
Any guidance?
RX Reven' said:mr2s2000elise said:67F here and we have the heater running!
57F here (Southern California) but I was in Minnesota last week and I’m headed back next week.
Don’t know E36 M3 about the cold…had to spend ~5 min. scraping ice off my rental car (Hyundai Santa Fe) in a hotel parking lot…pretty sure I got a slight case of frost bite on my lips…again, don’t know E36 M3 about the cold.
Made it ~50 feet out of the hotel parking lot approaching a four-way intersection with the light against me…applied brakes (ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta) ABS kicking in and not slowing fast enough to stop short of banging into cross traffic. Nothing to lose so I went full hard on the brakes and the car started stopping quicker.
So, do new cars have some type of two-stage ABS where the peddle shudders to let you know you’re about to apply too much braking force?...again, don’t know E36 M3 about the cold and I’d like to get educated on stuff like modern ABS systems before heading back into it next week.
Any guidance?
Find the abs fuse and pull it, or just use both feet on the pedal a nd trust to the programmers.
-26 F here this morning.
While the range is E36 M3, the electric car didn’t give me any trouble cranking over this morning. 
Heater/defroster was having a hard time keeping up though.
Battery output is also restricted until it warms up, but that’s not a problem if it’s connected to a charger, which I’m very glad they have at work!
Run_Away said:Go for it!
My cold start last night:
"Current temperature is...minus 31, inside the truck."
Frenchy implied that he needed to be somewhere tomorrow.
In my experience, a car that has been started and run awhile one day is easy to crank the next. On the other hand, a car that has been sitting a week or more can be quite hard to start.
I would suggest he try to get some heat to the block and go ahead and get it running. It certainly isn't going to be any easier to start tomorrow.
Pretty sure trying to start my RX8 at -30C is what finally did it in.
Streetwiseguy said:RX Reven' said:mr2s2000elise said:67F here and we have the heater running!
57F here (Southern California) but I was in Minnesota last week and I’m headed back next week.
Don’t know E36 M3 about the cold…had to spend ~5 min. scraping ice off my rental car (Hyundai Santa Fe) in a hotel parking lot…pretty sure I got a slight case of frost bite on my lips…again, don’t know E36 M3 about the cold.
Made it ~50 feet out of the hotel parking lot approaching a four-way intersection with the light against me…applied brakes (ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta) ABS kicking in and not slowing fast enough to stop short of banging into cross traffic. Nothing to lose so I went full hard on the brakes and the car started stopping quicker.
So, do new cars have some type of two-stage ABS where the peddle shudders to let you know you’re about to apply too much braking force?...again, don’t know E36 M3 about the cold and I’d like to get educated on stuff like modern ABS systems before heading back into it next week.
Any guidance?
Find the abs fuse and pull it, or just use both feet on the pedal a nd trust to the programmers.
Many newer cars use the ABS system as an active proportioning valve, so light braking can definitely cause weird behavior, especially when components start to stick.
Because of the active proportioning, I don’t know if I would want to pull the fuse without knowing how the brake bias would be affected.
Unfortunately I think you’ll need to have faith in the programmers.
lateapexer said:Pretty sure trying to start my RX8 at -30C is what finally did it in.
Even after adding a ton of fuel to the cold start map, I don't even bother trying to start my Haltech ECU'd RX-7 Turbo II unless the temp is above 55 deg. F. or so.
My cummins fired right up in -10 this morning and I couldn’t plug it in last night because my cord froze to the ground
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