Mega Ultra Cold Engine Stuff Questions
 

In extra, extra cold weather, SHould your engine oil start to cool down while still on and hot at idle?

Scenario: I drive to work in the morning... Engine gets to about 80% OP-TEMP, I park, have a smoke and leave the car on cuz... it's cold af. Should my Oil temp stay, keep climbing to perfect operating temp or start to dip slowly which is what mine does.

Hope my thermostat is not broken but that's the first thing that comes to mind unless it's normal in extra cold weather.

Thanks,

With the weather that we have been getting up here recently, I won't be surprised if the oil temps doesn't keep climbing to optimum temps during idling.

I have noticed that once I start the car in the morning these days, no matter how long I wait, the oil temp won't get the perfect temp until I start driving it. Same goes for the coolant temps.

OK cool that's what I thought. Yeah the morning startups are pretty rough these days. Always works but she struggles a little bit at first. Thanks!

Idling means no load. No load means, engine doesn't churn out much horsepower which means not as much heat generated.

With the extreme temps we are getting, that could very well mean no load situations might not replenish the heat that's being dissipated to atmosphere which could mean temp could actually never hit optimum in an idle situation.

This.

The best way to warm up the car is to drive it. Idling I find is next to useless beyond just getting the fluids running in the car for correct and smooth operation.

These aren't considered extreme temps though unfortunately, well, if you are close to the large cities, toronto, markham, scarborough, pickering, etc. Up north in muskoka, the temp dropped to -37. The toilet bowl was ice cold and the water inside it was literally frozen, inside a heated/insulated cottage.... -20 is weak compared to that shit up north lol.

It actually dropped to -35 in Scarborough. Or at least my intake sensor read that.

Really? I can't imagine the difference in temp being that great from scarborough to pickering? Do you know what day this was, I'm interested to see if it was actually that low

Coldest it's been in Scarborough in the past month is -24 according to The Weather Network. Though, measured at Buttonville, so not exactly super accurate.

Found similar results on another website. "timeanddate.com"

Lowest temp was -22 in Toronto area, couldn't search Scarborough precisely.

Lowest temp in muskoka lol, -36. Never again do I want to be out in that crap, snow squalls were horrific driving conditions if you got stuck in it.

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/...h=12&year=2017

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/...h=12&year=2017

Yep, the lowest recorded temp for Muskoka so far this winter is -36.4 so I presume you rounded down.

The lowest recorded temp for Scarborough this winter is -22 so your intake sensor must have been adding windchill somehow.


Although windchill does not impact inanimate objects (it is the temperature that the human body feels as to what it actually is) it would indeed remove the heat from a car block while you are moving marginally faster than if sitting still.

A semi-guesstimate of actual temps, I just went off what I kept seeing in my car and not holding it to 100% accuracy, thus spawning -37, Mr. Tcoat. -,..,-

The coldest I ever experienced was doing a two week leave coverage for a guy at the Canadian base in Alert. Went down to -55 (-70 with windchill) a couple of days. At that point vehicles just barely operate. I don't know how some of them stayed there for months at a time.

Well you did well since you were damned close.

I believe this was on the Dec 31st night. My car was outdoors for pretty much half a day before I cranked her up to drive home after midnight. I also realized this was NOT Scarborough but rather Stoney Creek. I drove BACK to Scarborough that night.

Keep in mind this was an old Lexus LS and not the BRZ. Maybe sensor is off.

Edit: Using the same website you used, it shows -21 C. Bad readout I guess? Not sure how the 2nd gen LS picked up outdoor air temps.

Understood, so this is normal. Thank you.

Holy wtf. So far that was my coldest and I hope to never have to experience anymore upwards(edit: I should probably say downwards) of it. I'd rather not have to wear a full ski outfit just to go to the corner store and not die from temps.

Never wait.
Start car and drive. Use a lower gear than you would for a given speed at operating temp, but be gentle. I tend to stay below 4,000 rpm.
Idling is the most wear and tear an engine sees after cold start, so idling cold is a huge no no. Then engine needs to rev to make pressure.

Temp at Gale Crater on Mars is currently only -19C... We are on the wrong rock it seems.

This guy explains it quite well:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKALgXDwou4"]Should You Warm Up Your Car Before Driving? - YouTube[/ame]

Engineering explained is the man.

Unless you have an aftermarket oil cooler, there's no thermostat affecting your OIL temps. The thermostat is in the coolant system, and you'd more likely see the effects of a bad thermostat stuck open while driving at highway speeds where there's a lot of airflow through the rad.

Yes, you are correct, I usually wait few seconds to a minute before driving off.

But sometimes I start the car and move it to the side on the road to shuffle my other cars in the driveway. It may sit there for few minutes idling.

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A coolant thermostat stuck open will most definitely affect oil temp, at idle.

You think a rad with no airflow is going to drop coolant temp enough to drop oil temperatures?

Certainly will, if the thermostat is stuck open.