Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:36:13 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Cold weather, short trips
In-Reply-To: <51002CD8.2060303@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
I wouldn't try high rpm as any strategy ..
I'd just drive normally ..
Just try to be easy on the poor ole thing.
There was a woman here in Ashland with a 86Vanagon , during the winter
....It was smoking and running poorly.
After I got into it and got it running right ..
I didn't find anything that was really 'that wrong' ..
then I said to her ...
I bet youdrive this 3 blocks from where you live to the Ashalnd
FoodCo-op. Park it, then later drive it 3 blocks back.
She said she does that allright.
I said, you can't do that with a waterboxer vanagon.
the really like to be driven until really pretty fully warmed up ..
at least 20 minutes ...with some load on it ,
like 20 minutes downhill won't do it ..
you also have that cooler thermostat ..
You would be far better off to drive outta town a bit and then come back
into town to do your errands.
another important trick ..
start driving with the temp lever for the front heater no more than half
on ...
and don't blow air through the rear heater ..
by having heaters off or mostly off the thermostat can get the engine up
to temp better.
if you start out with front heater temp lever to full warm ..
inreally cold conditions and low load, the engine might never get up to
full temp .
so heater/s mostly off for the first say 10 minutes.
I am also very against letting the poor thing sit idling 'to warm up' ..
since there's no load ....it barely will get up to temp that way.
Start it gently ..
drive within a short time...a minute ..and drive gently at first.
the whole idea is to be easy on it, and get it up to full operating temp
without being too rough on it ..
then ....once she's warmed up ..
then drive however you want. With heaters even .
I don't think it will help ..
but there is the old extreme cold weather trick of cardboard in front of
the radiator.
If it's super cold, sometimes vehicles like that.
there is also the block heater or heater circuit heater ..plug it into
your house..
it keeps the temp up a little.
I have not bothered yet ..
but I am saving 3 TDIglow plugs and a flange they fit into ..
to install inline in my heater circuit on my good van .....that should
help get the engine and heaters up to temp more quickly.
anyway ..stay cozy !
it finally warmed up and is rainy and windyhere ..( Rogue Valley So.
Oregon )...it had been freezing strongly ever night for weeks. So nice
things are warmed up some .
scott
turbovans
On 1/23/2013 10:32 AM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
> I've read here many times that short drives which don't allow the engine
> to come up to full temp are tough on it. Unfortunately, this little town
> isn't large enough for most trips to get the temp gauge up to normal,
> and these days we're hovering around freezing.
>
> So then what's better for these short trips: low rpms or high rpms? I
> have an auto but even then I can choose between 2nd and 3rd for the
> surface streets.
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
