any ideas on cold weather starting

[ottojd]

I didn't get to changing the 20-50 out of my 85 and now it is butt cold outside and the thing won't turn over. My Beetle is taking up my garage space on jack-stands and I have to do any work in the drive-way. I brought the battery in, warmed it up, and charged it. It still wouldn't crank enough to fire. My question is should I try to get as much of the thick oil out as I can and add 10-30? Will any oil even come out o the case? Any suggestions? I don't want to spend much time out in the biting cold!
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62 Beetle "Sue"
83 Mercedes 300 TD "Crescent"

[Terry Kay]

Here's an Old Old solution;

Do this---

Get an old short clay flower pot and 4 pieces of cardboard.

Fill the flower pot up with charcoal, and light it till the fire goes out, and they are glowing red.

Slide it under the sump, and take the cardboard and fit it a foot or so away from the pot , but enough to keep it warm under the sump.

Leave it there for an hour or so--and the engine will fire right up.

My Great grand dad did this, my grand dad did it,so did my dad and one time when it dropped to -40 below wind chill here one night--and I had straight 40 weight oil in my 67 428 Bonneville, I did the same--it works well.

Just keep an eye on it--and make sure you have no gas leaks anywhere.

if you have access to a 110 volt outlet--you can but a oil dipstck heater , and plug that in.
It'll take all day to get the oil wam enough to allow the engine to spin---but it'll eventually work.

Drop a quart of oil outa the oil drain and add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil.
I'll thin the 20-50 out enough that you can continue running the 20-50 for the rest of the winter---plus you'll be cleaning out the interior of your sludged up engine.
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T.K.

[retswerb]

I don't know how cold it is there in Michigan but we've been in Chicago the last two days in my '84 where the temps have been ridiculous. My van's a northwesterner with 20-50 in it (unwise, I know). I checked the oil before starting it though and it was actually still surprisingly fluid. Cranking was slow, but successful after about 20 seconds. I think the cold cracked my front heat exchanger control box though, I had coolant dripping from it overnight and for the first few minutes after starting the van.

All that to say, based on my own limited experience, if your van's not cranking I would suspect the battery over the oil... but a quick oil change for lighter weight couldn't hurt either. Make sure and check that your coolant is still liquid too...
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'84 Vanagon GL

Former:
'73 Super Beetle
'71 Beetle
'66 Campmobile
'84 Vanagon GL (different one)
'84 Adventurewagen

[Terry Kay]

Cold here in Chicago?

It's a heat wave---

What was it the night before last-- -16 with a -35 below wind chill factor?

No problem.

If you had some Marvel in your oil the engine would spin like a Merry Go round.

20-50 can get like molasis in January around here---

Michigan gets way colder than the Windy--

Might be a good idea to load test the battery in that Michigan Van to verify it's up to snuff.
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T.K.

[retswerb]

We were out in Elgin that night, weather.com had it listed as -20 prior to windchill. For a Northwesterner like myself that was about as close to hell as I've ever come. Thank goodness we had a friend's house to sleep in overnight.
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'84 Vanagon GL

Former:
'73 Super Beetle
'71 Beetle
'66 Campmobile
'84 Vanagon GL (different one)
'84 Adventurewagen

[ottojd]

thanks for the input. I think I'll try the mystery oil first. Yes, indeed. It is colder than a witches titty here in MI. The battery tests fine with a load. It takes many a cranks for me to drain it. It just can't turn that molasses in the case.
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62 Beetle "Sue"
83 Mercedes 300 TD "Crescent"

[CF]

you can buy a block heater ,that bolts to the case,you can also buy from terry kay the water heater

[Wildthings]

If you just pull the plug the oil will drain out eventually. The oil will drain fine by itself while you are back in the house keeping warm. Refill with 5W30 or 0W30. You don't have to get all the old oil out, just most of it.

[Volksbulli]

15-40 in my A/C Van cranked over fine albeit a bit slower than usual the other night about 0-3 degrees out.
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It's a Volkswagen Thing, Even I Don't Understand!(o\|/o)
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82' A/C Westfalia
67' Typ 1
96' Golf GL

[Terry Kay]

If your not in a big hurry--throw the dipstick heater in it and plug it in all day---

Lesser of many evil's and pretty simple---

I for sure wouldn't want to be playing a polar bear groaping under the Van in this Tundra cold to be draining & changing the oil--

Keep using the heated dipstick in the Van till it warms up a little.

Geogaphicly undesireable Elgin IL.
Yep--you were out west a little in the flats--

Some good bars out in the Elgin area.
Buy a watch or street sweeper while you were out there?
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T.K.

[GrindGarage]

5F here today.... running 20w50 and got a slow crank but luckliey she started. She does crank hard wfen its warm too so mayby ill add some ground work to the sunday list
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-cliff

91 Vanagon AUTO
97 Single Port EJ22 all smallcar.com

[Terry Kay]

<5F here today.... running 20w50 and got a slow crank but luckliey she started.>>

I think that if your dropped the oil just down to 15-50 it would make a big difference in the engines rotational starting speed.

Addding Marvel with an oil change sure is real simple and fast to eliminate this cold starting problem.
Besides the benifits of helping keep the engine healthy.

<<its warm too so mayby ill add some ground work to the sunday list>>

Planting a garden--cutting the grass would be a good idea as long as it's that warm.
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T.K.

[Hiramhaus]

Careful, I had 20/50 weight oil and blew my oil cooler seal - then it drains real fast. Like 5 quarts in 30 seconds. The rubber gets brittle from age, then cold, the extra pressure from the heavy oil and blammo. I say watch the ground under the engine and the oil light for SUPER cold starts. For me it was -11 degrees at 4AM on Christmas morning. Good luck.
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1969 Ghia
2016 Audi Q3

[klucz]

Mobil1 15W-50 synthetic has a pour point of -39. So does Castrol Syntec 5W-50. Regular Castrol GTX 20W-50 has a pour point of -27C. VW recommends that 15W-50 can be used down to about -15C (0F) in the wbx. Supposedly, your oil should have a pour point of at least 10-15 deg. below outdoor temp. I'm sure theres more to it than that but it gives you an idea of the different properties of the oils. In the past I've run 15W-50, 10W-40 and 5W-50 synthetic oils in my 1.9 wbx during winter and never had a problem with coldstarts.
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84 Westy 4spd sold

[RCB]

I really had no idea that gwobal warming would create such a problem for the starting of a vehicle.

[krimpoo]

Very very cheap and no worries about gas leaks.


Buy a heat gun and put it under the van..point it up.They get very hot/are very cheap/plug into any standard house outlet. Buy at any box outlet tool store like home depot.

[busfreak_71]

500W magnetic heater.
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'71 Tin Top Westfalia
'99.5 Bora TDI
'85 Jetta Coupe
'85 Mercedes 300SD

Resident Off-Grid hippie and diesel advocate.

[Terry Kay]

How much cheaper than a free old clay flowerpot, and a half pound of charcoal can you get?

Ok--you want cheap?

A $3.00 smudge pot, some kerosine and a match.
Much more inexpensive that the Home Depot heat gun.

The heat gun will fire up gas in a hearbeat.
Look into the heating element end of it once--it's red, it's hot, it'll ignite anything flamable close by.

It will light off contact cement--you think it won't light gas?
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T.K.

[morymob]

In a pinch just stick a 110V heat lamp up against the bottom of case, in a few minutes oil will be warmed. Dont put over center split of case but on one side,and check every 10min or so, those bulbs give off a lot o heat. Leave a bottle of the oil u have in motor sitting outside in van and try to pour some out next morning and u will see what u are trying to pump thru your engine.

[RicoS]