The problems seem to have taken a nose dive in the forums. Is this a reoccurring cycle? Do the Swedes build them with nordic climates in mind or does everyone ignore their car problems for the holidays?

 

I think in the purely Swede days maybe, but Ford Volvos don't seem to be built with any driving climate in mind [8D]

Seriously though, I'm guessing it's because we are all trying to pay for the holidays that we don't take time to notice what should be fixed during the winter... And in my wife and I's case, over the summer, we repaired pretty much everything that was wrong, so we shouldn't have any problems this winter.

 

Well, the cold weather is nice for our turbos.....

 

The R loves the cold weather!!!

 

Well cold air is not as dense as warm air so I guess you slide through the air easier so you end up running better. Man if I knew what I was talking about that would really be deep.

 

i notice that the car drives a lot better/smoother in the colder start up and drive off mode... lol it feels like it drives better :O

 

In cold weather, the oxygen molecules in the atmosphere are more dense, means they are compacted together and blah blah blah[8D].

Here's what I'd check for the winter months:

- Coolant concentration & condition. If older than 3 years, I would replace it unless it is a long-life version. For most North American climate, 50:50 would suffice but certain parts of Canada may require a bit thicker concentration.

- Thermostat condition. If the heater seems weak, the t-stat may need replacing.

- Battery condition. If older than 4 years, I would be very wary. If older than 5 years, I'm on my way to the nearest Interstate Battery dealer.

- Tyre condition. Make sure you have enough treads.

- Suspension, especially the dampers (shocks & struts). At a sharp turn, if the dampers are worn out, the car is more prone to spin on black ice (been there & done that).

- Engine oil. If your driving mostly consists of short trips, I may switch to 5W-20 or 5W-30 during the winter months only.

- Wiper blades. In winter months when I park the car at night, I bend the wiper arm to the upright position so that the wiper blades wouldn't stick onto the windshield/screen.

- And dump a bottle of dry-gas/fuel system antifreeze.1-2 bottles/month should suffice.

- Visual inspection of all fluids.

If I forgot an item or two, please add them.

Drive safe in snow & ice.


JPN, Ph.D. in Black Ice Analysis ([8D])

 

^^^^^^^Agreed

 

I remember having to solve some calculations in college to prove that cars (engines) are more efficient in colder weather... I don't remember the details but I think JPN was starting to talk about it before starting to nod off (just like my wife usually does if I start talking about work things).

 

OK, I didn't want to bore people with theories but if requested, I can supply it even though I'm in the middle of drawing some 40 hand-drawn Xmas cards.

In general, the colder the air, the denser it is (sorry jks2). Denser air contains more oxygen molecules, which means the engine is supplied with more O2 to burn in a given period of time. The air is also the most denseat the ground level (14.69 PSI); the higher you climb into the atmosphere, the thinner (less dense) the air gets, this is why aircraft reciprocating engines are equipped with turbocharger, to supply more air to produce the same amount of power as it does on the ground (they are also called "altitude engines" as opposed to "Sea-Level engines"). Jet engines are sort of like turbochargers themselves so they do not require additional supercharging device.

However, the denser the air, the higher the aerodynamic drag. This is why jet airplanes fly at very high altitudes where the air is very thin. They cannot fly at the same speed at low altitudes as they do at higher altitudes, because the air is too dense at low altitudes and the aerodynamic drag (Cd: Coefficient of Drag) would be enormous. However, the ambient temp drops IAW the altitude; the higher at the altitude, the lower the ambient temp (the air temp drops about 42.8F/3,333ftor 6C/1,000m). This somewhat compensates the air with less density but not enough to make it dense enough for reciprocating engines to perform as they would on the ground.

The inside of airplanes (generally jet-powered airplanes) are pressurised at higher altitudes, and it is simulated to the altitude of approx 8,000 ft (the number varies depending on the flying altitude) even when you're flying at 36,000 ft. This is to maintain sufficient air pressure foryour lungs to intake oxygen molecules into the bloodstream. The oxygen masks appear inside the airplane when there is a loss of pressure, say, if there was a golf-ball size hole opened on the skin. The appearance of those masks does not mean you're going down (the airplane actually will descend to safe altitude) or the engines, wings or something important fell off; it only means that the airplane has to descend to a safe altitude so people can breathe without the help of pressurisation. So, next time when you're flying and see the oxygen masks suddenly appearing and people screaming, panicking and getting into "Oh-my-God-we're-gonna-die" mode, not to worry, sit back, relax and enjoy your emergency descent.

BTW, "experts" say that thereare no particularly safer seats in an airplane, but I always sit in the back end. The tail of an airplanehas more chance ofkeeping its original shape evenduring some seriousaccidents, as the forward of the fuselage (body/cabin/pax/pilots[8D]) acts like, well, a crumple zone (sorry for the first & business-class pax[8D]). Also, flight recorders & voice recorders are generally located at thetail of the airplane. This is my own theory and has not been proven in an engineering manner so you can still sit in the upper-class seats with no concerns and enjoy more leg room & upgraded meals. Ah, the joy of going to the lavatory without pushing aside the person sitting next to you.

99VV70:
This is why I decided to nod off in my previous post[8D]. This is only about half of what I should discuss, but who'd want to read more cr@p than this?


JPN

 

Well I told you I didn't know what I was talking about.

 

Yes you did, we all suck once a while but not as often as babies do.


JPN

 

Touche JPN. By the way, I lived in Carbondale for three summers after my parents moved there (I was attending school at Western Kentucky University). Unfortunately that was so long ago, 79,80,81 that most of the places I went probably don't exist anymore. We used to sneak into the lake on campus and go swimming at night.

 

I thought we had the JPN filter on for this question? This man needs some sleep. I think he has been eating to much raw Lionfish.

In the future, Don't anyone mention 'cord' or 'camber' unless your talking about a 1931 Auburn or front end alignment, words like 'down draft' 'leading and trailing edge' 'Born of jets' and 'I was flying' must be avoided. Leave 'aerodynamics' out of your vocabulary! Try to stay away from 'altitude' related emission control problems. Please resist the urge to talk about our aluminum hoods. If talking about going 'airborne' on one of your wilder rides, the tires won't be know as 'landing gear'.

We are drivers, NOT pilots. MPH is differant than wind speed. In a car, crosswinds won't effect your 'vector' (much). It's a rest area not a way point!Be advised to call your aspiration duct, just that, and not an 'airport'. 'Traffic control' either wears a blue uniform or has a red,yellow and green light. Kerosene not 'Jet fuel'. Steering wheel, not 'Yoke'. Passenger compartment, not 'Cockpit' (unless your talking about that hotty you were with last night.)(Can I say that?) Parking break, not 'Ejection lever'.

I could go on.......Maybe some of you can come up with more words to avoid and other ways to help JPN.

Scroll slowly to the bottom,for more instructions.




"OK, I didn't want to bore people with theories but if requested, I can supply it even though I'm in the middle of drawing some 40 hand-drawn Xmas cards.

In general, the colder the air, the denser it is (sorry jks2). Denser air contains more oxygen molecules, which means the engine is supplied with more O2 to burn in a given period of time. The air is also the most denseat the ground level (14.69 PSI); the higher you climb into the atmosphere, the thinner (less dense) the air gets, this is why aircraft reciprocating engines are equipped with turbocharger, to supply more air to produce the same amount of power as it does on the ground (they are also called "altitude engines" as opposed to "Sea-Level engines"). Jet engines are sort of like turbochargers themselves so they do not require additional supercharging device.

However, the denser the air, the higher the aerodynamic drag. This is why jet airplanes fly at very high altitudes where the air is very thin. They cannot fly at the same speed at low altitudes as they do at higher altitudes, because the air is too dense at low altitudes and the aerodynamic drag (Cd: Coefficient of Drag) would be enormous. However, the ambient temp drops IAW the altitude; the higher at the altitude, the lower the ambient temp (the air temp drops about 42.8F/3,333ftor 6C/1,000m). This somewhat compensates the air with less density but not enough to make it dense enough for reciprocating engines to perform as they would on the ground.

The inside of airplanes (generally jet-powered airplanes) are pressurised at higher altitudes, and it is simulated to the altitude of approx 8,000 ft (the number varies depending on the flying altitude) even when you're flying at 36,000 ft. This is to maintain sufficient air pressure foryour lungs to intake oxygen molecules into the bloodstream. The oxygen masks appear inside the airplane when there is a loss of pressure, say, if there was a golf-ball size hole opened on the skin. The appearance of those masks does not mean you're going down (the airplane actually will descend to safe altitude) or the engines, wings or something important fell off; it only means that the airplane has to descend to a safe altitude so people can breathe without the help of pressurisation. So, next time when you're flying and see the oxygen masks suddenly appearing and people screaming, panicking and getting into "Oh-my-God-we're-gonna-die" mode, not to worry, sit back, relax and enjoy your emergency descent.

BTW, "experts" say that thereare no particularly safer seats in an airplane, but I always sit in the back end. The tail of an airplanehas more chance ofkeeping its original shape evenduring some seriousaccidents, as the forward of the fuselage (body/cabin/pax/pilots[8D]) acts like, well, a crumple zone (sorry for the first & business-class pax[8D]). Also, flight recorders & voice recorders are generally located at thetail of the airplane. This is my own theory and has not been proven in an engineering manner so you can still sit in the upper-class seats with no concerns and enjoy more leg room & upgraded meals. Ah, the joy of going to the lavatory without pushing aside the person sitting next to you.

99VV70:
This is why I decided to nod off in my previous post[8D]. This is only about half of what I should discuss, but who'd want to read more cr@p than this?


JPN "

Hi Keith,

This is my personal opinion and others would know some things I don't so please note that.

I warm up the engine somewhere between 3 minutes and 5 minutes before driving away. I used to idle longer but decided it was excessive. But this is for 850 turbo only, as the cold-start fast idle on 850 seems to have very short duration, not even 1 minute. On Japanese NA cars it seems to take as much as 10 minutes for the engine to come down to 800 plus minus RPM (normal idle speed) in freezing weather.

The pros of warm upare that it is easy on the engine in freezing cold weather, as it is running with no load, and the oil is rather viscous and may not provide sufficient lubrication if driven hard. The cons are that the oil may get diluted a bit (even though this is probably negligiblefor modern oil), as cold-start idle runs on rich mixture commanded by the ECU. It also uses unnecessary fuel.

So, after 3-5 minutes of warm up, I start driving easy to warm up other parts such as the tranny, steering, tyres, brakes, suspension, etc... I do this for about 10-15 minutes and then drive normally. Many owners manuals seem to state that one minute of warm up is sufficient and then you can start driving easy.However I noticed tha

 

Agreed[8D]. Now, speaking of the high-pressure stage turbines and triple spool axial-flow gas-turbine, as well as the FADEC-related troubles,zzz........[sm=icon_blah.gif]

You're absorutry right.

I need your help, all of you!!!


JPN

 

BTW, the lake on campus was trashed by the time I got there; it was also known as a mosquito-producer.


JPN

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/AB6D2CBE8A764B95A0937D1D65E6697F.jpg[/IMG]

 

Thanks for this thread - you are all too interesting and amusing... I would love to be a pilot, but because of financial restrictions I'm stuck on the ground driving cars. I went and got an Aerospace degree but ended up more in the space realm, so my "aero" side is slipping. It's great that JPN can refresh some of those concepts with practical knowledge.

 

Psst, Please don't encourage him.



"BTW, the lake on campus was trashed by the time I got there; it was also known as a mosquito-producer. " He does need sleep !

 

I didn't know empty beer cans attracted mosquitos.

 

Yes they do. And as to the flight theory of mosquitos, they fly by the same basic aerodynamic theory as do airplanes, thanks to Bernoulli. Now, due to the camber of the upper surface of the wings, the air has to flow faster to meet the air flow at the lower surface and ...[sm=icon_quiet.gif]


JPN