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Morning sickness - in NEW vehicles

cantunamunch

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OK this is a bit unexpected - the new xuv is more sluggish when first started than the 10 year old coupe. Sluggish all over - the engine feels stuffed up like both the oil and the fuel are Jell-O - the steering took almost a full hour.
 

WheatKing

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How new is new?

New engines require a break-in time.. and depending on how cold it is where you are.. you may need to run different oil in it due to the really tight tolerances in modern engines.

Letting it warm up before driving.. always a good thing.. good 10 minutes idling can often do wonders..

I've had some cars that work great in the cold.. others not so much.. on those I've always used a block heater..

I used to own a car (eagle talon) back in the day when it got to really damn could outside, it was outside of the parameters of the engine computer.. it'd think too much air was entering the engine and cut all the fuel in order to protect itself.. always did it while accelerating.. and you'd nearly slam into the steering wheel it'd decelerate so damn quick when it happened.. take sluggish over that anyway.. LOL..
 

scott43

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The Chevy Vega effect...can't make enough power to overcome the viscosity of the various fluid connectors... :D
 

crgildart

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Had a similar issue with my Forester that happened on cold days at start up.. Turned out to be a belt slipping even though it wasn't making that typical screeching belt slip noise every other car I've owned made when that was a problem..
 

Tom K.

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Full synthetic oil is your best friend in ultra-cold weather.

More details, please!
 

scott43

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Letting it warm up before driving.. always a good thing.. good 10 minutes idling can often do wonders..
..
I sometimes get sick of the media saying you don't need to let the car warm up... It certainly does help with initial drivability... 10 minutes is maybe a lot..but 3 or 4 does help too.
 

Monique

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So far my 2018 Outback has been no problem in maybe 10*F temps. No negative temps yet.
 

scott43

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So far my 2018 Outback has been no problem in maybe 10*F temps. No negative temps yet.
The starter motor starts to stick after engagement when it gets down below 0F..kinda sounds a bit worrisome but it does disengage shortly afterward. We had the Outback up in Sudbury and tried to start it in -35C (-31F) weather..it turned over but died shortly afterward before starting. Jumped it and it was good to go. I'd say that weather deserves a block heater...
 

Tom K.

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The starter motor starts to stick after engagement when it gets down below 0F..kinda sounds a bit worrisome but it does disengage shortly afterward. We had the Outback up in Sudbury and tried to start it in -35C (-31F) weather..it turned over but died shortly afterward before starting. Jumped it and it was good to go. I'd say that weather deserves a block heater...

+1 on the block heater at minus 35. I grew up in that kind of weather. Yuck.

FWIW we just had our 2012 Sienna outside at minus 12 in Butte MT and it turned over like summertime with full synthetic.
 

Monique

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The starter motor starts to stick after engagement when it gets down below 0F..kinda sounds a bit worrisome but it does disengage shortly afterward. We had the Outback up in Sudbury and tried to start it in -35C (-31F) weather..it turned over but died shortly afterward before starting. Jumped it and it was good to go. I'd say that weather deserves a block heater...

Yeah, I would think everyone would have a block heater at those temps.
 

scott43

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+1 on the block heater at minus 35. I grew up in that kind of weather. Yuck.

FWIW we just had our 2012 Sienna outside at minus 12 in Butte MT and it turned over like summertime with full synthetic.
Yeah full synthetic is a good thing. Double your change interval and better thermal properties. I buy it on sale for about $35 for 5 litres and don't look back.
 

WheatKing

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I sometimes get sick of the media saying you don't need to let the car warm up... It certainly does help with initial drivability... 10 minutes is maybe a lot..but 3 or 4 does help too.

Do you have to.. no.. should you.. hell ya.. length depends on the engine.. I usually let my truck warm up more than a car.. little 4 cylinder engines warm up relatively quick.. bigger lazier v8's... not so much..

I even remote start my electric car.. gets the battery pre-heater working, not to mention warms the cabin before i get in..

I should have got a block heater in my tractor.. it's hating these temps.. might need to build a fire under it to get it goin.. LOL (you might think i'm kidding.. it wouldn't be the first time i've done it!!)

skiing in Quebec sometimes i've experienced close to -40F.with no block heater... my old 4cyl car hated me in those temps.. took a good 20 minutes for it to start idling right. This was 20 years ago however.. oils have improved significantly since then..
 

scott43

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I still warm mine up for about a minute or two when I'm not in a hurry but...


The biggest winter energy myth: That you need to idle your car before driving
Exactly those articles..try driving a car after 30 seconds of warm-up in -20C weather..you get..ohh..about 40% of the normal horsepower..so you have to beat it to keep up to traffic..and beating on a cold engine isn't great for longevity. So I understand their simplified message to try and stop people needlessly idling their cars...I'll continue to wait a few minutes!! :D And it kinda makes me laugh about the emissions part when you can't move 20 miles in LA in an hour because of traffic....
 

Ogg

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New cars are designed with emissions in mind first and foremost so the computer may drastically reduce performance while cold. My wife's Crosstrek drives like complete crap if you don't wait until the blue light on the dash goes away.
 

Bill Talbot

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Do you have to.. no.. should you.. hell ya.. length depends on the engine.. I usually let my truck warm up more than a car.. little 4 cylinder engines warm up relatively quick.. bigger lazier v8's... not so much..

I even remote start my electric car.. gets the battery pre-heater working, not to mention warms the cabin before i get in..

I should have got a block heater in my tractor.. it's hating these temps.. might need to build a fire under it to get it goin.. LOL (you might think i'm kidding.. it wouldn't be the first time i've done it!!)

skiing in Quebec sometimes i've experienced close to -40F.with no block heater... my old 4cyl car hated me in those temps.. took a good 20 minutes for it to start idling right. This was 20 years ago however.. oils have improved significantly since then..

I'll pass on skiing @ -40F, or -30F and still -20F!!! A sunny, wind free day @ -10F is about as far as I'll take it, reluctantly.

How common are places that have parking with receptacles to plug in a block heater in Ontario or Quebec?
 

scott43

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New cars are designed with emissions in mind first and foremost so the computer may drastically reduce performance while cold. My wife's Crosstrek drives like complete crap if you don't wait until the blue light on the dash goes away.
Yeah that's my suspicion. I was curious what vehicle we're looking at because of this. Some are very slow to get the catalyst up to temperature and therefore kill performance for emissions reasons. Newer cars are generally better..I know newer Hondas actually have the catalyst very close to the exhaust ports.
 

crgildart

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Exactly those articles..try driving a car after 30 seconds of warm-up in -20C weather..you get..ohh..about 40% of the normal horsepower..so you have to beat it to keep up to traffic..and beating on a cold engine isn't great for longevity. So I understand their simplified message to try and stop people needlessly idling their cars...I'll continue to wait a few minutes!! :D And it kinda makes me laugh about the emissions part when you can't move 20 miles in LA in an hour because of traffic....

Right, said I still let it run for a a little bit before pulling out... Driving a car notorious for blowing head gaskets. Better safe than sorry..
 

scott43

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I'll pass on skiing @ -40F, or -30F and still -20F!!! A sunny, wind free day @ -10F is about as far as I'll take it, reluctantly.

How common are places that have parking with receptacles to plug in a block heater in Ontario or Quebec?
Depends where you are. Anything south of Sudbury, technically southern Ontario, not likely. We refer to southern Ontario as the Banana Belt. :D Sudbury north, praries, parts of Quebec, pretty common. The other thing to keep in mind is that southern Ontario has 90% of the population and 15% of the area.
 

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