Stupid cold weather

My Z3 does not like the cold. When I started her this morning, the traction control warning light was on, my EML warning light was on, and my Check Engine light was on. That dashboard was lit up like a Christmas tree! Plus, the engine was running like crap - studdering, trying to find its idle, and it sounded miserable. A quick restart fixed the issues (except for the stupid CEL - thank God for Advance Auto Parts).

Does anyone else have a car that gets quirky in extreme weather? What do you do to remedy the situation?

My Mercedes won't start at anything below 15-20F even with the block heater plugged in and 3 new glowplugs(yea I know I should change all 5). The remedy is to switch the snow tires to my Miata and leave the Merc alone.

it is snowing agin today/tonight. I ride the bus to work, nothing seems to stop it.

I work in the service department of a nissan dealership. I've seen -25 deg F on my outdoor temp display on my truck, which doesn't factor in wind.

We see a ton of frozen locks, latches.

People are always coming in for poor heat.

Vent control valves are always getting moisture in them and setting off SES lights.

Suspensions are making squeaking noises all the time.

berkeleying TPMS sensors are setting off the dash lights because the air in the tires contracts a ton with the temperature ranges we see.

Today I had a guy complaining his CVT-equipped Versa was shifting into second harshly when he starts driving in the morning.

Batteries are always frozen. We have an old rotted out pathfinder I start up every morning and it idles from 7:30 AM till noon or later that we use to boost cars around the lot with. I have 6 batteries in the hatch that I'm going to wire all together in parallel once the parts dept. gets me some welding cable.

Windsheild washer fluid is always frozen in the lines, even with the fluid that's good for -35

And the windsheilds of every car you pull into the shop goes from clear to solid white with frost about 10 seconds after you clear the overhead door. So you get good at driving with your head hanging out. This happens with the rest of the interior too, and it gets everywhere. My CD player refuses to work for at least a day after I bring it into the shop, sometimes the whole stereo won't work after being inside.

Everything plastic (hood prop retaining clips especially) is very brittle and snaps if you look at it funny.

And worst of all, the cars drop massive slush bombs on you when up in the air and have started to warm up a bit.

Phew, okay I'm done.

When it gets to around 45deg or so, my motorcycle just will not come out of the garage.

It's a sweaty 110 F here in Melbourne today

My Alfa gets cranky sitting still in hot weather, so I try to avoid traffic

While I sit here watching the news and the weathermen freaking out about potentially a tenth up to a FULL QUARTER of inch of ice on some roads in the morning. It won't be melted until close to 9:00 a.m. Maybe I should make a trip to the grocery store and buy at least 10 gallons of water "just in case"

Looks like the whole area will be showing up late in the morning.....

-Rob

I was going to rub in how tomorrow's high is 77 degrees in north central Florida, but decided that it would be mean. I'll be thinking of you all when I'm wearing my t-shirt.

< riding his bike to school (it's suppose to turn into freezing rain during my commute).

MitchellC wrote: I was going to rub in how tomorrow's high is 77 degrees in north central Florida, but decided that it would be mean. I'll be thinking of you all when I'm wearing my t-shirt.

Mitch, I say this with love: berkeley You.

I found out what solid engine mounts would feel like in my VW, when it was -13f the other day. Didn't feel too good.

Someone also secretly switched the gear oil in my (manual) steering rack with modeling clay. Needed two arms to steer, even on the highway.

Ever since it got that cold, my ISV is all upgefarked. It has the wonderful wandering idle/random 2000rpm hang-up that Digifant likes to do, even when it's warm out. (Thanks for the aggressive timing curve, you German bastids)

My cars always break down or need something when the weather dips below 15 degrees! I always try and hold off until spring. My old Saab 9000 hated the cold weather and I was glad to see it go a few years ago. I can't stand a car that you can't start and let idle to warm up somewhat in the morning.

mtn wrote:

MitchellC wrote: I was going to rub in how tomorrow's high is 77 degrees in north central Florida, but decided that it would be mean. I'll be thinking of you all when I'm wearing my t-shirt.

Mitch, I say this with love: berkeley You.

Don't worry, I got mine today. We had a 30 minute rain storm. It conveniently started five minutes into my 20-minute bike ride home.

My Celica has a bad voltage drop and the cold makes it worse. I have to make sure i don't have anything else powered, on, when i go to start the car.

My tranny fluid gets really slushy, and it's hard to shift. The brakes squeak, and my rear suspension in particular feels like it's made out of granite. The rear tires WILL lift off the ground on expansion joints, and the whole thing rattles and shudders around.

The steep hill I live on was a 1/4 inch thick ice rink today. My snow and ice tires were useless. I slid down it partially, decided I didn't want to go to work, and brought out our medium-sized four wheel drive tractor with front end loader to dig it out.