Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 11:24:38 -0500
Reply-To: Martin Jagersand <jag@CS.YALE.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Martin Jagersand <jag@CS.YALE.EDU>
Subject: Re: Remote control Engine starter and cycling device
In-Reply-To: <918033477.25333@onelist.com> (Audi-VW-Diesels@onelist.com)
Using a "run it every 2h for 15min" in cold weather really wears
on the engine. I'd never do that! Every start is almost a cold start,
and if it's really cold the engine will hardly warm up enough in
just 15 min. Sure, it will keep it startable, but at a very high
price in terms of wear.
For those who often find themselves extreme cold weather situations
without chance to plug in the block heater I'd recommend the "thermos
bottle" solution David P. posted about.
For the occasional need a $20-50 backpackers stove will heat
the engine in 15-30 min. Just put it under the pan. (And make
sure your engine hasn't leaked oil all over the pan that
can flame up). This works great on Diesels. (I wouldn't try it
on a gas leaking gasoline engine though...)
For most people having below -20F is rare, and with a little
care a VW Diesel will start fine without special aids.
When I lived in Sweden we used to thaw trucks with heavy duty
blowtorches in the morning. After a cold night often everything
would be stuck, so the routine involved heating engine, tranny,
brakes etc before getting going. BTW: Sweden just had a
record cold snap, -63F!!! Hey Peter L. are you listening? Did you
get your VW started? (Peter Larsson lives in Kiruna, northern
Sweden and has a turbo Diesel VW T4 synchro double cab transporter,
(droool..))
/Martin
--
Westy 1.9l Turbo Diesel
Quantum 1.6l Turbo Diesel
Martin Jagersand email: jag@cs.yale.edu
Computer Science Department jag@cs.rochester.edu
Yale University
Slow down and visit the VW diesel Westy page:
WWW: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/vw
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Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 22:04:36 -0600
From: Blue Eyes <lvlearn@MCI2000.com>
Subject: Remote control Engine starter and cycling device
At this URL: http://auctions.yahoo.com/auction/2498922 is a curious
device. I've seen remote engine starters, but this one is
especially cool. It can even be programed to automatically start
an engine every 2 hours for short period, then repeat for 24 hours!
If I lived where the weather gets WAY down into the super cold
conditions, and sometimes had to park where no electricity for a
plug-in engine heater could be used, this is the second device that
I know of that would make life easy. Check it out.
I have no affiliation with this listing.
The other device is the liquid fueled class of engine heaters. I
have one of those for sale if someone wants a gasoline fueled water
heater that has a 12 volt electronics package and draws a trivial
amount of current. Should someone want it, it's for sale and was
described in an earlier posting on the Vanagon List. I'll forward
specifics to any interested parties.
John
