I've never heard that. Why would there be any force if the motor and transmission were basically disconnected ? doesn't make sense to me.
I've never really tried starting the rabbit in anything less than about 25F. The mitsubishi will start down to about 15F or 20F, but lower than that, it wants the block heater plugged in at least an hour or two before trying. If I plug the block heater in overnight, it'll start right up at -5F with a very short glowplug cycle (like a hot summer day). I run full synthetic in all my vehicles. I have a 1000CCA battery in the rabbit, and two 1000CCA batteries in the mitsubishi.I also usually start them with the clutch depressed if it's cold (mine are all old ones that will start in gear if you want...). It's quite noticeable the drag the cold oil in the transmission puts on there otherwise... my gas pickup truck will actually lurch forward, in nuetral, when I let the clutch out after starting it, when I start it in 0F temps -- the gears are behaving like a torque converter, even in neutral, I guess. I need to switch the transmission fluid to synthetic too...I remember back in the 70's this one place I worked at we had a old early 60's era International semi tractor that we used in the yard to move the flatbeds and vans around with and had a 5 speed manual trans with a 2 speed rearend. One morning it was just about 0 and after we finaly did get it started {which as a gas engine by the way] we couldn't let the clutch out in neutral for at least 5 minuets without stalling the engine even giving it some gas. God kows what kind of gear oil it must have had in it :lol: Z
A nice synthetic oil will go a long ways to reducing wear as well. I tested some 5w-50 synthetic vs conventional 15w-40 in my deep freeze. After sitting overnight the synthetic still sloshed around about the same as it did at room temperature. The conventional oil took about 2 seconds before it even started pouring out of the jug. :shock: I think the concern about starting with the clutch pushed in has nothing to do with the bearings in the transmission. It apparently will wear the thrust bearings much quicker. You have the full axial force acting on them with no lubricating oil. I'm not sure how much difference this is going to make though. :?
Quote from: "Jasonsmack"It is above freezing here right now but that is very uncommon for January. I often run the old Jetta 30 to 40 below zero with no problems. The fuel is all #1 here this time of year, for the most part you do not have a choice on the fuel grade you can buy in the winter. If it is going to be very cold for a few weeks I will add power service fuel conditioner. I have never had any fuel gelling problems.The car starts easily down to about 15f. Most of the time I use the block heater if the temperature gets much below freezing. It always starts easily with the block heater even in the most extreme temperatures. I use the same 15/40 oil all year round in the current engine, but it has alot of miles on it. The new engine will probably get a full synthetic engine oil which is far less susceptible to thickening in the very cold weather. The last trick is a large battery in good condition. I have a 1000CCA battery.I also have a diesel pickup which reacts a little worse to the cold weather. The best remedy for it so far has been the combined use of the block heater and an aftermarket oil pan heater.If I wasn't so damn lazy I would go out now and see if the Rabbit would start just out of curiosity, it's right around 0, I'll try him in the morning though
It is above freezing here right now but that is very uncommon for January. I often run the old Jetta 30 to 40 below zero with no problems. The fuel is all #1 here this time of year, for the most part you do not have a choice on the fuel grade you can buy in the winter. If it is going to be very cold for a few weeks I will add power service fuel conditioner. I have never had any fuel gelling problems.The car starts easily down to about 15f. Most of the time I use the block heater if the temperature gets much below freezing. It always starts easily with the block heater even in the most extreme temperatures. I use the same 15/40 oil all year round in the current engine, but it has alot of miles on it. The new engine will probably get a full synthetic engine oil which is far less susceptible to thickening in the very cold weather. The last trick is a large battery in good condition. I have a 1000CCA battery.I also have a diesel pickup which reacts a little worse to the cold weather. The best remedy for it so far has been the combined use of the block heater and an aftermarket oil pan heater.
check here for the thrust bearing issue (scroll down a bit... unfortunately no pics). i suppose its worse with the one piece bearing, but still... loading it at a time when there is no oil pressure can't be good.
