It might hit 20 below zero tonight and I have to be on the road early tomorrow morning to go to school. I'm a little worried about my truck starting just because of the cold. Should I be concerned and what can I do to make sure that it'll start right up?

If I leave the tractor out of the barn after plowing the road today, then I could park the tacoma inside with a spaceheater under the engine. I'm sure that that would do the trick, but I'd like to find other solutions so I don't have to shuffle parking spots every time it gets cold.

I'm pretty sure my battery is strong because I haven't had any trouble starting in temperatures around +20, but it's a few years old and the cold will certainly exacerbate any weakness it has.

I've got Rain-X wiper fluid in the reservoir, which says it won't ice up above 0 degrees. Should I worry about it freezing, expanding, and busting stuff?

Should I look at buying an engine heater for the future? I don't think I can get one before tonight.

Thanks in advance for your sage advice.

 

add a bottle of alcohol to your wiper fluid

 

110 volt, magnetic heater placed on the engine oil pan works well.

Anything to add a little heat to the engine or battery helps considerably.

 

Where would I get a magnetic heater? Local hardware?

 

It's been that cold for the past few days in these parts. The battery didn't like it too much, but the truck fired up like a champ. Take the precautionary measures others have listed here, and also let it warm up to operation temperature before driving it. That will let the tranny oil warm up a little bit too. The engine isn't the only thing that gets cold, afterall...

 

Just be kind to your motor when you start it. It may take a few seconds to start, the starter may sound a little bogged down. Once it starts do not rev it up very high, your oil is very cold and not flowing well, so there may not be much oil in the top end. After a couple of minutes, the oil will be flowing well. The magnetic heater will help immensely for keeping the oil warm. Your heater will not blow as much warm air as it will at 20 above. If you want it to work better, you can put cardboard in front of most of your radiator. Personally I would not worry about that, just keep the cabin air on outside, not recirculating (keeps the windows frost free). I grew up in Alaska, and there you need to winterize the vehicle. When I am staying over night in Winter Park, I am not to concerned about it.

 

Search for block heater, there is a guy here on the board selling one, I was looking at it yesterday.

 

Link

Something like this will help too, as has been mentioned here. Like you said though, you don't have all that much time though. This does require draining your coolant... I've been putting off getting one for my 4runner...

 

let us know how it started up

 

Hey green,
Here is the thread of the guy selling the block heater, for future use, since you've already had your -20 morning...anyway, thought I would link for you.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f180/fs-3-4l-block-heater-92761/

 

I've had my Yota since '91, here it Summit County.

The steps that I have always used on both my truck and my car is to use an Optima battery (they aren't as affected by cold as a standard style), Mobil 1 0W-20 oil in the winter (doesn't turn to molasses in the cold), and Peak or Prestone de-icing wiper fluid.

I've never had any kind of heater on them, and they live outside, since I don't have a garage. The combination above has never left me stranded - they always start right up. And, yes, I do see -20* and lower pretty frequently over the course of a winter up here.

 

How did it start this morning?

 

Truck is not quite ready to start, yet - I'm finishing my 3.4 conversion (hopefully, next week)

Car started just fine, although it had to warm up a bit for the amplifier to make the radio work! It hit about -25*F or so last night.