You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
My Forester lives outside (garage full of bikes + related stuff). We live up in the Pennines, and it gets jolly cold sometimes. Mrs SD gets right miffsome that the doors will often be frozen shut, and the screen/windows covered in ice. Not an ideal way to start the school run.
A perfect solution would be some kind of heater (car specific), which plugs into the mains, that runs on a timer, which will kick in at a preset time and warm the cars interior before the school run. Therefore helping to get frost/ice melted off, hopefully freeing up the doors that little bit too.
Any ideas?
The only things I can find are gizmos that plug into the 12v socket as an additional heater.
I know that we could pop out 10mins early and leave the car running, but Mrs Seadog hates doing that even more, and I work away, so can't MTFU and do it for her.
Pour a kettle of boiling water over the windscreen and door locks. Worked for my Dad in all the years we were growing up.
Buy a range rover, press the button from the lounge window! Never ever boil the kettle, just Luke warm from the tap or you'll be paying for new glass!!
Can't you just get one of those covers that goes over the top of the car, so that will ice up, rather than the windows, locks etc. It won't warm the car, but just leave your jacket on.
You can either sling the cover in the boot or garage until the next evening.
Pour a kettle of boiling water over the windscreen and door locks. Worked for my Dad in all the years we were growing up.
Warm, not boiling. Works just as well and considerably less likely to destroy your windscreen.
I've used an ordinary fan heater, on the back shelf or back seat. Long extension lead from the house, in thro' the hatchback (or a window). Put it in before I eat breakfast, car is warm and defrosted by the time I need it. Until you know, check that you can get it far enough from the seat backs not to overheat anything.
My Dad's Rover 75 has a diesel fuel burning heater in the engine bay. Can be wired up to a remote starter or even a timer to warm up the coolant and turn on the climate control to defrost everything.
I just use a 2 litre coke bottle with luke warm warer.
I'd do as Greybeard suggests. Try it first, figure out the best place to put the heater - where it won't damage anything.
Then run an extension cable into the garage and plug it into a timer. That way she won't have to sit in a cold car or nip outside first thing in the cold to switch on the heater.
We lived at altitude - water boiled at a lower temperature.
😉
Fit an alarm with a remote start feature.
Start the car (while still locked) from inside the house.
Kenlowe do land rover retrofit pre heaters .
You could probably fit a small greenhouse heater (tubular thing) - either a long one on the parcel shelf or a short one discretely below the glove box. You'd need to find a nice way to get power out and plug it in each night - but (1) they are available with a "frost stat / frost protection circuit" built in (so they come on when cold and off when warm) (2) if you turned it on when you got up in the morning (from within the house) then it would probably warm the car reasonably by the time she is ready to leave.
In terms of frozen locks - I've not found a perfect solution but (1) regular WD40 did seem to reduce the issue on a car I had which suffered a lot (2) a car of wd40 in the house (and therefore "warm" usually solved it when it was needed. On another car I got completely frozen out for about an hour one morning and nothing worked (-15 deg C). I then squeezed as much vaseline in the lock as I could and never had another problem but it was never that cold again.
Frozen door seals - wiping with vaseline helps but you only want the smallest amount or it gets on clothes etc - essentially apply liberally (to the rubber) and then wipe off as much as you can with a dry cloth. Oil and rubber generally isn't good in the long term though...
silicone lube on seals - that's a better way to stop them perishing and freezing than petroleum-based lube.
You have a couple of options... No idea if they are available in the UK but I live in Canada where it gets fairly cold....
My recommendation is for a remote starter; they work well and get the car warm before you leave the house.
A block heater is also great; keeps the engine from getting cold over night so it warms faster in the morning.
For the wind screen some sort of cover would help.
nealglover - Member
Fit an alarm with a remote start feature.Start the car (while still locked) from inside the house.
Best option yet.
most of the above sounds like a right PITA! Something similar the guy over the way who spent several hours one winter using a leaf vac to hoover the snow out of the way of his car would do, but that's another story.
Only option: Engine on 10minutes before, with heater on/jug of hot water...she'll get used to it.
Get a cover for it?
As above, some WD40 keeps locks free of moisture.
tbh
Walk outside, start car.
Walk back inside and get the kids all sorted.
Get a jug of warmish water, walk outside, lock up and pour water over anywhere that still has ice on it.
Any other option either requires a garage, cover or some kinda remote turn on - and its still running.
Walk outside, start car.
Walk back inside and get the kids all sorted.
Get a jug of warmish water, walk outside,
Look at the space where the car used to be and wonder how you'll explain it to the insurance company. 😐
Starting the car (without special "remote tools") doesn't really help when its too frozen to get into. 😡
Are remote start / warmup features only possible on an automatic? (otherwise what happens if left in gear 😮
Don't leave it in gear....
TBH, your Mrs sounds like a right whiney PITA - tell her to suck it up and defrost the car like the rest of us. Start pandering to her with solutions and it's the start of a slippery slope.
HTH
Too frozen to get into
Where do you live ? Been to minus 28 at my house and still i got in with minimal fuss
Mtfu
clearly its not how cold it gets thats the problem - anything thats cold enough to freeze can be a pain if its moist enough... it gets to around -35 here and never have a problem but thats because its pretty dry.
I'd go with the warm water and wtfu
Something like [url= http://www.wolverineheater.com/category-s/1814.htm ]this[/url]? Block heaters seem pretty common in Canada.
Car won't be warm but the engine will be so the car will warm up quickly (assuming you can get in!)
[i]TBH, your Mrs sounds like a right whiney PITA - tell her to suck it up and defrost the car like the rest of us. Start pandering to her with solutions and it's the start of a slippery slope.[/i]
🙄 slippery slope to what exactly? Caring for your partner and making their life a bit easier if you can. There's some right arseholes on here that think the answer to everything is to mtfu.
I would suggest fan heater on a timer plugged into extension lead.
Fan heater sitting on back shelf with extension lead to house.
I did this in 2010, I managed to put the extension cable through the hole where the gas pipe comes into my house, switched it on at the foot of the stairs in the morning and I could roll the extension up and pop it in the white gas meter box outside and go to work. Worked a treat on the windows, but obviously the engine and car heater was still baltic! 😀
Get some earplugs. That way you won't be able to hear your wife complaining about it.
Also, tell her to warm your car up when she's doing hers.
SHE doesn't need to MTFU, more like TTFU. Threads like this remind me how lucky I am to have the wife that I have. She scrapes the ice off all of the windows herself, scrapes the lights, checks that the aintfreeze hasnt frozen and makes sure that the car is safe to drive before she drives off.
An Eberspacher or Webasto heater is what you need, used in campervans for heating and and can be set to turn on with a timer. Not cheap though !
[b]slippery slope to what exactly?[/b] Caring for your partner and making their life a bit easier if you can. There's some right arseholes on here that think the answer to everything is to mtfu
Slippery slope to pandering to every whiney need.
Although my original comment was a bit tongue in cheek, it did have a tinge of seriousness. Really, does Mrs seadog not have time to sort her car before the school run without getting 'miffsome'?
I might start kicking Mrs STR out of bed at 3am on frosty Monday mornings to defrost my motor before I drive 150 miles to work.
1st world problems and all that!
Well, TBH vociferously expressing opinions about something as simple as this seems a bit harsh. Just trying to make life a bit easier for when I'm away from home for weeks at a time. Mrs SD has suffered from a nasty arthritis type condition since her early 20's and winter is a horrible time for her.
Anyway, moving swiftly along... It doesn't get that cold where we are, but the doors do get stuck shut easily, locks work and handles move, just won't open! Silicon lube on the seals is the way forward I guess.
As for leaving it running, found out elsewhere that it's illegal, not only insurance scuppering.
Block heater is a good idea but not needed, it starts fine (once you are inside it!) Also found out that all Subbies are fitted for, but not with block heaters.
I reckon it's the fan heater on the back shelf option. We have an outside cubby hole (coal bunker of old) which has a power point in it, right next to the car, that'll do the trick with a timer onto it.
Perhaps explaining in your OP that Mrs seadog had nasty arthritis and you were away for weeks at a time, rather than telling us she gets a bit miffsome in a morning would have helped.
In any case, my apologies for my obnoxiousness 😉
Illegal to leave it running? Really? Not relevant but over here people leave cars running all the time. At -20C once it's on it's staying on even when the owner is in the nearest Tim Hortons...
As for leaving it running, found out elsewhere that it's illegal,[b] not only insurance scuppering.[/b]
Not with a remote start alarm it's not.
The vehicle is still locked and alarmed but the engine is running.
Any attempt to move it before the alarm is deactivated and it stalls.
(If left in gear it won't start obviously)
I had mine fitted for £135.
Start the van from inside the house 10 mins before I need to leave, and its defrosted and lovely and warm when I get in.
Far better for the engine too as its not doing any work until its properly warmed up.
[i]Where do you live ? Been to minus 28 at my house[/i]
Um, really? Where do you live?
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/extremes/
Far better for the engine too as its not doing any work until its properly warmed up.
Far WORSE for the engine you mean.
You want to get in and drive it.
+1
Running it straight away and going through the gears is far better for it. It gets everything circulating and up to temperature quicker (apparently)
Running it straight away and going through the gears is far better for it. It gets everything circulating and up to temperature quicker (apparently)
It's better for an engine to be warmed up before it does any real "work"
Driving it will get it up to temp quicker obviously.
But if you can't see where you are going, that's not much use is it.
Cruising a diesel car with around 1200-1500 revs for the first 10 mins of its morning drive before getting on the open road has done my one no harm over the past 12 years.I scrape the ice off and get in the car and head off. I used to pour water over the car,did it for years but it ends up putting more water along door seals,window seals etc where you don't need extra ice holding the doors closed solid. It also seeps into the locks on older cars so it's a pain for my car.
Some days the temps would be -5c where I live dropping to -15c at the work place for weeks on end so keeping windscreen wash and kettles of water away made it easier. Some days it was so cold and dry you never even had to use screen wash.
A chamois works wonders inside the car too for instant de-misting.
Where do you live ? Been to minus 28 at my house
Calgary, Canada. So lows in the minus 20 range are not unusual in winter.
It depends on whole cold it is about driving it straight away... I can say that in winter my clutch sticks unless I let it warm up before driving it away. Different degrees of cold and all that.
I live in Calgary too, I have a block heater and a remote start, i like to use the block heater where possible as it causes a lot less engine wear etc, as far as getting in the car lube the locks with wd40 or some silicon grease
Although there are a few instances where records have been broken by non-standard stations, these are not accepted as official records for this reason.
I lived outside a village called auchenblae - it was on the (bbc world) news a couple of years back for being the coldest village/town in scotland it didnt have an official weather station though.
Also worked in ukraine last year in minus 28 . Their solution was jump in truck start it turn heating on get out scrape window and go , like a bat out of hell.
When I was in Bosnia in winter we had to put Kero heaters under the landrovers on a morning before we could get them going
I got a new alarm on my motorbike and it had a remote start option but I didn't bother as I leave it in gear tho there are a few funny youtube vids of people fitting then forgetting in cafe carparks 😉
*smug mode on*
Buy a VW Passat with winter pack - heated seats, windscreen, mirrors and washer nozzles.
*smug off*
Modern diesels still take ages to warm up though - they are so efficient that they don't produce much waste heat.
As for leaving it running, found out elsewhere that it's illegal,
Obviously fine on private property in the UK but on the street it's illegal, it's not something that would bother me too much but there's an offence under the Road Traffic Act called 'quitting' that covers it
Modern diesels still take ages to warm up though - they are so efficient that they don't produce much waste heat.
I have a C5 HDI and it heats up a lot quicker than my 3 previous diesels, I thought it was the air con.
*smug mode on*Buy a VW Passat with winter pack - heated seats, windscreen, mirrors and washer nozzles.
*smug off*
Yeah, annoyingly when I bought the Forry I tested a different one which had a winter pack just like that. But it was the nutter 2.5 turbo vesion that came with the option of instantly losing ones licence..... 🙄
For what was effectively a chunky family car it was bonkers fast.
I have a C5 HDI and it heats up a lot quicker than my 3 previous diesels, I thought it was the air con.
Might have a small fuel burning heating in it somewhere tucked away under the bonnet. Alot of smaller frugal Diesels do . They burn so little fuel , at a lower temp than petrol engines they take miles to warm up .
Some of the newest cars close off the air flow to the rad to aid in faster ramp up to operating temperature.
Almost all cars have the capability to fit a block heater, and the part will be available, because they are the same cars and engines sold in proper cold countries. Block heaters are common in Finland - a touch of luxury in the south but the norm up north afaik. My office (in Helsinki) had electrical outlets on most of the outside parking spaces with a timer inside for this purpose.
An Eberspacher or Webasto heater is what you need, used in campervans for heating and and can be set to turn on with a timer. Not cheap though !
+1
Sort out all the garage clutter and store the bikes sensibly. Then shove the car in there.
[northern mode]
My dad used to go to meetings at the cat & fiddle when he lived nearby (early 80's?) and was once the only one to get out the car park once when it was snowed in much tot he dismay of the more senior people there in their new escorts, capris etc.
He had a morris traveler with a hand crank!
[/northern mode]
My Forester lives outside (garage full of bikes + related stuff).
Sort out all the garage clutter and store the bikes sensibly. Then shove the car in there.
+1
Also worked in ukraine last year in minus 28 . Their solution was jump in truck start it turn heating on get out scrape window and go , like a bat out of hell.
Where does the heat come from if the engine is cold?
Probably the 5 of us sat in there we were all sitting in down jackets and frozen jeans freezing
A heater in the car won't make the engine or door seals or locks very warm - unless you leave it on for a very long time indeed. Even then, the engine will take ages to get the car heating up to temperature, negating the warmth put in to it.
Sort the garage, build a shed, whatever. The only real way to stop a car freezing is to get it out of freezing temperatures. This is more of an issue when it is damp cold (UK) rather than dry cold (continental). The bikes won't argue, complain or suffer if you move them.
[...]Might have a small fuel burning heating in it somewhere tucked away under the bonnet. Alot of smaller frugal Diesels do . They burn so little fuel , at a lower temp than petrol engines they take miles to warm up .[...]
As do some larger ones; the 2.7TDV6 in my Discovery has a Webasto FBH. Added a timer and it's a boon for regular winter trips. Smoke from the wheel arch of an unattended, non-running vehicle can alarm attentive passers-by, though.
Our door seals and locks on our Golf used to freeze shut every time there was a heavy frost (quite often in Derbyshire). An excessive quantity of silicon spray all over the seals and in the locks sorted them out, so no more pouring hot water over them. VW door seals on our car are made of some slightly fuzzy rubber, perfectly designed to trap a tiny bit of water at the top. Doh.
Just car-cover the car. Sheesh why go to all that hassle?
matt_outandabout - MemberGet a cover for it?
hora - MemberJust car-cover the car. Sheesh why go to all that hassle?