Date:         Mon, 20 Jan 1997 20:38:21 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Austin <austins@ix.netcom.com>
Subject:      Re: Really COLD starts

At 06:58 PM 1/20/97 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi all.
>
>I'm waiting for the weather to warm up so I can do some work on my van
>(install used engine).  It's been too cold to start working outside ( -41
>before wind chill (yes minus 41 degrees)).  I live in Northern Ontario
>Canada.  40 below is 40 below celcius, farenheit, same thing.  It was only
>a couple of days, but we usually get about a week of that stuff near the
>end of January.
>
>The first year I had my van (85 transporter), I was coming home from work
>at about 5 am, 40 below and my oil light came on.  I pulled over to find my
>oil all up my back door and in a puddle underneath.  Scared the heck out of
>me but it ended up it was only the oil filter gasket had blown out.  Quick
>change that afternoon and all was well.  I still had to walk home though (3
>miles).
>
>
There's a dealer maintenance bulletin ref oil filter gaskets blowing at low
temps - check the archives or the NTSB page.


>Anyone know what weight of oil is recommended when hell freezes over?
>
My experience only extends to -10f, but w/Mobil 1 synthetic in 5w-30
starting was no problem (I go to 15-50 in the summer);  also, Redline MTL
synthetic in the gear box really improves shifting at low temps.

Austin