Thing is at those extreme temps the carb jets would freeze. The water trick would raise the temps enough to get 'em working again. I first learned a variation of that trick when I was at SU in the early seventies. Had a 71 Corona and with those vicious Syracuse winters it would refuse to start. Started by calling AAA and the dude could not jump the car. Just like the Le-Mans, only they gave up and hauled the car away.

I then learned to hang a 60W extension light under the carb at night and cover the engine w/ an old Army blanket. Worked like a dream - every time. The old Tayota love the cozy night light.

 

Thats good to know, but the light under a blanket would work but would not be political correct now. Maybe those heated power cords that you wrap around sump pump hoses which I cant find anymore either.

 

They make heated hoses for RV and mobile home pipes... I had a Pontiac Safari Wagon that came from Canada equipped with an engine block warmer.. I had to use it a for few days in the mid 80s after it wouldn't start one morning when there was a sheet of ice covering most of north Texas and it didn't start... I had to deliver newspapers that morning in a 73 VW Thing with a gasoline heater under the hood that didn't work and vinyl windows with tears in them.... We are supposed to be getting some snow day after tomorrow but I doubt that it will stick... It could get icy that night though.

 

I'm having difficulty with this... 'politically correct'???

Thing is it only works with carbureted engines. Fuel injection pumps the fuel directly, the air comes in on it's own.

Block heaters are the way to go it temps live in the sub-zero range.

T_C I love hearing Texan's talking about winter weather. Icy roads in your parts gotta throw everything off center. Least you guys got the corner on 'good in the winter' hot sauce.
I'm more remembering August red flag heat and humidity and 3mile runs a 4AM - before it got hot.

 

I was only sarcastic about being political correct. Its a miracle that we survive all these years.

I agree about his winter weather, I would take the 69 degree weather and call it summer, even though it does get hot and humid. I just filled up and I got 33 mpg. The cold starts really hurt mpg.

 

Ice storms mess things up but not as bad as afternoon tornadoes that cause news breaks on TV that supersede Judge Judy... Neither have ever bothered me as much as people that wear cowboy costumes, dip snuff and drive dually pickup trucks.

 

Amen on the winds. I've seen green skies twice in my life - never a twister. That scares me to no end.

Once in a while we get persistent 35mph winds and it drives me crazy. Then we'll catch a 45mph out of the east and because everything grows to resist the westerlies things start breaking off and falling.

Big wind sucks..... not interested in flying livestock or houses.

 

About 12 years ago I drove through a twister on a mission to get get home. The company I worked for is across the street from where I live and I heard about a tornado heading toward my house so my dispatch dispatched me back in and on the 2 mile road going to the terminal I drove through it. It was a F0 but a tornado just the same. I could not see any thing and then it got bright orange/and gray and when I pulled into the yard the owner was out there and asked if I saw it and I said I drove through it as we watched it go east. My oldest son was home alone and ended going to a neighbors house. We get alot of storms like that but not as bad as Texas. We have a few a year and the hail scares me more than the wind.

 

The first tornado that had ever been real close to was the first recorded in action by movie cameras in 1957 as it zig zagged across Dallas. I walked to and from school and it rained gravel down on me and some friends heading home and tore up my grandfather's neighborhood northwest of where we lived. I was on the front porch with my mother as bright flashes lit up the darkened sky in his direction and carried off his garage and brand new lawnmower... My mother called my father at his store just north of downtown and he had to get off the phone and seek shelter in the cooling vault because it was tearing up some marsh land between his store and what is now I-35... I have seen a few, driven through one in my 6200lb hearse, heard one pass over my house on Christmas Eve 2008 that tore up a lot of trees and houses a few miles down the road and had the roads blocked with debris in places and unmoved until 2 days after Christmas... The most recent was this past spring as I was driving to Dallas for a medical appointment. I had to slow to 20 MPH due to the intensity of the wind, rain and standing water on the highway that was causing me to hydroplane like crazy... I think that the tornado that blew numerous cars off of the road and destroyed a couple of homes damaging others about 8 or 10 miles further on had been very close to where I had been.... In 1957 when we ran police road blocks in my father's Studebaker to get to my grandfather's house I remember him responding to the question from my father as we were looking out the broken window he had been looking out of as debris from his neighbor's house and his garage disappeared... My father asked him "Papa weren't you afraid?" he responded " No, there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it, why should I have been afraid?"... That has been the attitude I adapted about situations that have threatened my well being that I have had no control over ever since.

 

Surprise of surprises is occurring this moment... It is snowing here but more than likely not for long.

 

Wooo - you gotta rig a front ski on that power bike you're planning. If I see things right NOAA is talking freezing rain in your parts as well. I've been looking at 12" of snow and a toasty hot wood stove.

Keep warm, take some photos - I ain't never seen snow in Texas!

 

It warmed up here 32 and the forecast was 26 for a high, global warming gotta love it until the 20 inches of snow happens and then the bitter cold.

 

I doesn't look like we are going to be blanketed like last year. Maybe it will snow some more but it looks like it might fall 100 or so miles to the north if it does at all. The temperature is still above freezing right now.

 

Yea, I heard the middle of the country is going to get nailed. We have no snow to speak of so we could use a little to hide the brown grass. I had relatives in town that left a day early to miss it.

 

Tonight's weather reports tell us that storm will be ending up in our area after it slams across through Atlanta shutting things down. 18F right now, luckily no wind to speak of. I've been by the wood stove most all day reading "The Hot Zone". A true story about all you never wanted to know about flesh melting viruses. Steven King says the first chapter is one of the most horrifying things he ever read... and it keeps getting worse.

Nothing like warm and cheery on a cold winter's day.

Time to put another chunk of wood in the stove.

 

Snows on the way here too, just to update my mpg its averaging 37 mpg so far this tank. It just turned 10,000 miles and the mpg went up. I notice the ecu is quicker to adjust. I am wondering if thats the break in we were discussion a while back? It was cold(10) on the way to work and Idled 5 minutes to clear the frost of the windows and still got 35 mpg. On the way home 31 degrees and got 39mpg on scan gauge. The scan gauge is off a little but its up 20 percent from a week ago.

 

I see the older gentlemen and Wily are active in this thread so will ask here.

How much does gas contract in cold weather? Why you ask?

Well first in long time I ran Taffy til she was thirsty last night. Warning was on for a few kms. Why? Because I wanted to get her washed this morning and let her sit over the weekend.

I must have been on fumes. Manual says she takes 40L. Well I have gas receipt here saying she took 40.4 and I really did not overfill a lot.

I suspect the tank holds the 40 and the .4 may have went just in filler neck? Any thoughts?

Anyways she did not like her bath in 10F. She was a shivering.

 

I don't have this scan gauge but I always use the "old school" method of checking my mileage and sometimes the OBC is spot on with the "old school" way of doing it and sometimes it not. For my money, I swear by the "old school" method because the numbers can't lie....can they

 

No the numbers can't lie, but the way they're generated can lead to different results.

All 'computed' MPG should be considered as relative. Calculated MPG is considered absolute.
They will differ.

In our Fit's, as far as I know, the OBC computes MPG by a factor of the MAF and Speed Sensors. It is calibrated to stock set-up and fairly accurate when compared to a calculated MPG.

External devices - such as ScanGauge and UltraGauge need to be calibrated to provide consistent accurate results. I'm not directly familiar with the SG but have just invested in an UltraGauge.

From what I'm learning the only true way to know your cars MPG is to follow the 'old school' method.

The 'old school' method can be off if it is only based on a single measure not using the 'same' fill point when topping off the tank.

As has been pointed out elsewhere it's best to fill the tank and set the mileage to zero, then run through three tank fulls, accumulating both the mileage and amount pumped in at each fill-up to calculate your vehicle's MPG under you're average driving conditions.

Given the fact that computed MPG relies on a collection of engine sensors, driving conditions and operating temps will effect the results.
Remember it's a relative number, but then again the calculated MPG is absolute but average number.. only Einstein knows for sure who's lying.

 

Hey Bill - testing the waters I see - something I need to pay more attention to as well...

Thought to your question is you ran 'er down to the bottom. The other side of the coin is Honda doesn't put a fill mark on the tank, only on the dash board. I was once thinking to have someone watch the fuel gauge while I pumped the gas and stop when it hit the mark, but with all the warnings and fears of exsplosions and the fact that it's most likely against some sort of 'keep 'em from hurting themselves' law I have decided against it.

Somewhere around here someone seemed to want to jack up the end of the car to see how much fuel they could get into a Fit... kids these days. gotta love 'em.

I took my FIT out for a hot shower the other day as well. With the freezing rain we got the rear end was covered in 3/4" of ice. Instead of pounding on it I figured a bit of hot water would do the trick.
You guys must have hot water, eh?

Get ready for tonight and tomorrow - how's -20F sound????????????