love_my_Fc

so my rx7 has been sitting since sunday night. and for the last two days it has been negative 6 degrees during the day. less at night. i'm getting scared for my engine. what should i do. leave it and not turn it on till its warm again. or turn it on to warm it up? i do have another car that i'm driving.

lim_fc3c

iTrader: (4)

Only thing you can do is maybe some stabil in the tank and lighter weight oil. Bring the battery inside also. Maybe some atf in the spark plug holes if you gonna let it hibernate in that condition. ALSO! check, triple check your coolant/water ratio, might have to switch to 75/25 antifreeze/water. Is your temp F or C? lol -6C isnt that bad then...

abtosway

iTrader: (2)

If its -6c i wouldnt worry.50/50 coolant won't begin to freeze until -37c (assuming its not degraded 10yr old stuff xD). Some gasline antifreeze can't hurt, and if its going to be a cold for more than a few weeks you can switch to a lower weight oil (eg. 10w30 to 5w30). Make sure you have washer fluid is rated for low temps as well, it can freeze and expand wrecking the pump. Last but not least, anytime we see temps below zero its a good idea to start the vehicle once every couple days even if your not driving it. This will keep everything well lubricated and the alternator charging the battery warms it (along with the engines proximity) and keeps it from freezing.

I'm sure you probably knew all this already, but dont want to see any rotary powered popsicles on the side of the road, so cant hurt to reiterate winter 101!

MadScience_7

Nope, its °F, as in ****** COLD. I just did an experiment outside, poured some water on the sidewalk and it was frozen solid in about 15 seconds.

My car is my DD and it's been running OK. The oil pressure was lower than usual going home last night about 1AM, but I was going easy on it so hopefully no damage. Looked fine this morning. The battery is probably the most likely thing to have problems as long as the coolant ratio is good.

love_my_Fc

its F lol so yeah its cold. and well i'm going to take out the battery right now. i recently did change oil to thinner oil. so i'll just add some atf in the plugs.

i'm worried for the seals. like i feel if i start the engine everything will just crack. and if i don't moisture will build up when it warms up.

MadScience_7

I don't think we really have to worry about moisture up here.

lim_fc3c

iTrader: (4)

Thought about using a car cover? to protect the rest of it if you going to let it sit outside.

abtosway

iTrader: (2)

Ahhh good ole farenheit! Well if it makes you feel any better it was around -25 f here this morning xD.

Atf sounds like a plan, although it wouldnt be too concerned, thats not too cold, especially if you switched to a thinner oil .

Best of luck!

love_my_Fc

with the engine cold and then me starting the heat could cause condensation inside the block. shouldn't it?

i don't have a car cover. but i do go outside and clean of the snow even if i don't plan on driving it.

love_my_Fc

damn -25 is harsh, and yeah just last week i switched over to 10-30 oil so that makes me feel better. tomorrow i'm going to turn it on and drive around the block. my honda starts pretty well. so maybe nothing bad will happen.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

If your car was properly maintained before the cold snap, you'll be fine.

iani1.1

iTrader: (13)

i know damn well my fb hasnt really been that taken care of with 200k i think on the original engine. started up fine while it was garaged all night but coming home, cold start on a carb is such a pain in the ***.

youll be fine, it wont really damage anything unless you have alot more water than antifreeze. then i would start to worry a little...

Nick86

iTrader: (1)

No! DON'T START IT! This is one of the worst things you can do to your engine and will almost certainly shorten its life. After a couple days, there is hardly any lubrication on all the seals and you're doing a hard start in cold weather which is SO hard on the engine. Add to that the fact that if it doesn't get to full operating temperature, you end up with condensation in and around the engine which promotes corrosion.

As long as your antifreeze is up to the job, you'll be fine - just leave it alone until the spring.


Also, don't use ATF - use Fogging Oil. It's an aerosol oil made for storing engines - you can usually find it at motorcycle shops. Spray some in the plug holes and you are set.

MadScience_7

Wow. In -10°F I have almost no oil pressure at idle. It was low last night too, but fine during the day. I would have thought it would be opposite.

On a better note, Optima batteries rock. 2 years old and it still started the car just fine in the cold. One of my coworkers needed a jump.

2Fierce

iTrader: (7)

Guys, I love my car too much to put it through winter. You guys are mean, abusing your cars and all.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

It's a car, it's supposed to be able to handle cold/wet/heat.

Current temp here is -9° and my car hasn't been driven in three days (cause I had no place I had to go).
Fired right up this morning, no problem.
Took the tranny a mile or two to warm up but other than that she was completely normal.

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

I was cold today too. I woke up and it was 50 degrees F outside! Brrrr I layered up today since its only supposed to get up to 64 degrees F.

Los Angeles!!!

Alex_n/a

iTrader: (1)

lol 50f is warm for me. damn this below 0 weather.

the other day it rained and then temp droved to the negatives making a thick layer of ice. it was like 1/16 thick or the thickness of a pencil

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

1/16 of an inch lol I had 1 inch of ice on my windows here in Ohio.

Bwek

iTrader: (4)

lol you guys are funny i drove my 6-port turbo all last year through the winter here in canada it always started on the coldest days outside never had an issue

it is a car that was designed to be driven all year round it would be stupid on mazda's part to build a car that can't with stand cold or run in it

PvillKnight7

iTrader: (16)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnagT6wKfmY

wankelgrandfather

iTrader: (2)

Wow if a VW can start, I guess everything can with Mobil one! Héhéhé!

Sorry, I don't really like VW, but on the other hard, they should have try it with a 200 000 miles crappy old car to convince me. I think it is also more a matter of battery charging more than oil lubrication, if your cold weather car starts or not...

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

oh yea, i would totally trust an advertisement to be 100% accurate and truthful!

PvillKnight7

iTrader: (16)

people lie to sell products?