Cold Start for C60S

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

Well C60S Pat 13 cold start after sitting all night in below 0 F temperature, or -17 C in fact in the past 24 hours it has never gotten above -14C with 20MPH winds. I know that trucks don't feel wind chill but the people out working on them do with temperature -14C yesterday and today that means the Wind Chill for people was -25C that feels cold.

But let me back up yesterday as the storm rolled in I went out to do the first pass at plowing in my pickup. The plow was frozen into the ground and when I started to rock the truck I heard a loud bang followed by clunk clunk. Got out to look and as suspected the Universal joint on the front drive shaft had snapped. Next problem was it was snowing like mad and temperature was dropping only heated shop space to fix the plow truck was where Beauty sleeps away the winter in the shop. Had to drain the water system for the shower and hot water heater on the truck and remove the toilet so that Beauty could go out for the night.

Plow truck came in for the night to get warmed up and dried out from the snow that had already accumulated. In the morning went and got new universal joint. It took just under 2 hours to replace the universal.

Next came starting Beauty which now had sat out in the cold for 24 hours tried to start with 6V engine turned slowly but didn't catch. When I put the 261 cu.in engine in I was worried about starting so I installed switch to allow just the starter to get 12V from the radio/auxiliary battery. Flipped the switch and the engine turned a little faster but still didn't start. Went and got the battery charger to charge both the batteries for about an hour.

Hit the starter on the 12v and the engine spun to life. But the truck let me know that it thought it was cold steering, very stiff, transmission and transfer case hard to shift, even the brake booster was stiff. Gently move Beauty back into the heat shop and let it go back to sleep for the winter.

Of course all the oils and greases are summer weight so they are a bit stiff in these temperatures. But with a fresh charge on the battery the truck started I suspect that it would have started on the 6V if the battery had been warmed by charging for and hour before trying to start. Next time I'll know charge the battery for and hour before hitting the starter.

Cheers Phil

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Impressive! Both on the weather and how the Chev performs

H.

[lynx42]

Great photo Phil. Tee-shirt weather down here in sunny OZ. be about 25C today.

I couldn't live in that sort of cold. Hate that white stuff.

Good Luck to all in the USA and Canada who are experiencing such terrible weather at the moment.

Regards Rick.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Great photo Phil. Tee-shirt weather down here in sunny OZ. be about 25C today.

I couldn't live in that sort of cold. Hate that white stuff.

Good Luck to all in the USA and Canada who are experiencing such terrible weather at the moment.

Regards Rick.

Hi Rick,
High seas, gales and torrential rain in England. Flooding everywhere, the Hop Farm at Beltring was completely under water at Christmas, probably still is with what came down today.
At least we have not had any white stuff here this winter ....... so far.

[Bob Carriere]

3 or four days at -25C windchill at times near -38C

Hell the fuel lines in the 08 Ford gelled up and would not start.

Phil you got a good blast of cold air an snow.... I keep thinking of you as the storm lashed South of Ottawa headed for the coast and you neighbourhood

Apparently Spring is coming....

Stay warm.

Cheers

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by lynx42

I couldn't live in that sort of cold. Hate that white stuff.

I watched a doco recently on the Battle of the Bulge, and something I found quite telling was that many who fought there found they had to move States after the war, because they suffered terrible flashbacks at the sight of snow. Adding to the misery of that battle was the fact they had not been issued their winter clothing, and one guy being interviewed said he moved to Florida specifically to avoid feeling cold again for the rest of his life. It made me think perhaps I should complain a bit less about the winter here!

[hrpearce]

The long range forecast for this area was a warmer than usual summer. Currently it is 16.9c in the house and 9c on the back veranda wall.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

First the shop floor is once again dry.

But last night we had freezing rain followed by these temperatures today

6AM -1C
10Am 14C
3pm 1C
Projected for tonight -15C

We will be holding a skating party in the door yard tomorrow when the water that fell last night and this morning freezes.

Cheers Phil

PS Just started snowing

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

I suspect that it would have started on the 6V if the battery had been warmed

No doubt about it Phil, and as you discovered there's no advantage in using a 12V battery if it's equally cold. This is explained by physics - low temp does not effect battery voltage, which is purely a function of the anode/cathode material (lead/lead oxide, nickel/cadmium, copper/zinc, etc). It does however reduce current available, by slowing the rate of chemical reaction at the plates. Hence at very low temps, even a fully charged 12V battery will deliver no more cranking current than a 6V battery (assuming they're the same size). This effect can be noticed after charging a car battery overnight on a concrete floor, even in our mild Australian winter.

The solution of course is to warm the battery as you say, and it's interesting to see it only took an hour on the charger in your case. Of course, this may not always be convenient - many times on cold mornings I've had to pour boiling water over sick batteries to get to work on time!

Anyway great photo and story Phil, I take my hat off to you guys who put up with sub-zero climates. Personally I would have chucked in the towel when the uni-joint blew and retired to the house to hibernate until Spring. Hell I even hibernate in winter here!

[motto]

Looking forward to Corowa then Richard?

Dave

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by motto

Looking forward to Corowa then Richard?

Dave

Very much so, Dave The wet is getting me down. Ground saturated now and water running off everywhere.

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

Very much so, Dave The wet is getting me down. Ground saturated now and water running off everywhere.

Sounds like Corowa 2012, Richard.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Sounds like Corowa 2012, Richard.

Ha ha ........ I thought I was back home on that Friday!