extreme cold and driving

callaway · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:23 pm

this is the first winter that its been really cold (see here ) and its supposed to be single digits highs for most of the week - i just want to make sure i dont kill the liberty by driving the wrong way.

aside from giving it plenty of time to warm up before driving, is there anything else i should do or anything that should be checked to make sure all is well ?

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:32 pm

As long as the coolant is up to snuff - there is nothing to worry about. If you live in Canada or in the really cold parts of the USA, you can think about the engine block heater but for most of us the cold isn't really all that bad.

You'll come to appreciate how fast the Liberty warms up on these colder mornings for sure.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:34 pm

Actually any vehicle warms up faster driving it than just sitting ideling, so let it start, warm up 2 / 3 minutes and drive away

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:29 pm

I dont live in cold but I do know that in the book it says to run a thiner oil
5w20 I think

renegadekj · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:38 pm

jason iam from northern alberta canada and some days here hit -45 with the wind chill. The kj doesnt mind the cold too much. i have a block heater and usually plug it in which makes a big difference on cold mornings(-20-- -45) alot smoother starting. If where u are gets any colder than -25 get a block heater, it will make cold starting alot easier on your bearings ex.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:36 pm

renegadekj wrote:

jason iam from northern alberta canada and some days here hit -45 with the wind chill. The kj doesnt mind the cold too much. i have a block heater and usually plug it in which makes a big difference on cold mornings(-20-- -45) alot smoother starting. If where u are gets any colder than -25 get a block heater, it will make cold starting alot easier on your bearings ex.

HA HA cold where I am
dude it is ~50* here
I am painting in one of my bedrooms with the window open and just a few weeks ago I had the A/C on
I just put the hard top on the TJ for the first time in 2 years because the rear window is mesed up and the zipper wont zip so it was getting wet in the back and I dont want my tools getting wet

I have been to the cold a time or 2
I went to London and a few other citys in that area a few years back in January and that was like -20* there
and I loved it

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:29 pm

Its going to be 8F in the morning. This is when I wish I had a block heater, but the temps dont get this low very often at all.

Just let it warm up for a few min then take it nice and easy till it warms up. :wink:

Can the libby really take 5w-20? I thought it was 5w30.. I run 10w-30 year around. I guess 5w-30 would be best for this weather, but since we only get this around 1-2 months per year, I dont believe it would be worth it.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:16 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

Its going to be 8F in the morning. This is when I wish I had a block heater, but the temps dont get this low very often at all.

Just let it warm up for a few min then take it nice and easy till it warms up. :wink:

Can the libby really take 5w-20? I thought it was 5w30.. I run 10w-30 year around. I guess 5w-30 would be best for this weather, but since we only get this around 1-2 months per year, I dont believe it would be worth it.

I dont know its in the book
5w30 or 5w20?
I know that with the way we get 30's one day and 70's the next I jut run 10w30 all the time in the KJ and in the summer I run 10w40 in the TJ

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:22 pm

It is 5w-30 for the Liberty...

Honestly - 8F isn't really that cold. When it's like -10F then the engine has a hard time turning over on it's own. A garage helps but a plug in block heater is probably needed. Places like North Dakota, Maine possibly Minnisota are places that really need the heater.

hooperswish · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:52 am

Run synthetic oil and it will flow much more easy at those very extreme colds :wink:

It was about -10 here the other morning and mine cranked right up. I think my huevos are still frozen to the seat though...

Gitser · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:42 am

sleeve84028 wrote:

As long as the coolant is up to snuff - there is nothing to worry about. If you live in Canada or in the really cold parts of the USA, you can think about the engine block heater but for most of us the cold isn't really all that bad.

You'll come to appreciate how fast the Liberty warms up on these colder mornings for sure.

I don't know about anyone else, but my libby takes a good 5 - 10 minutes to start blowing even slightly warmer air at these temps ( 0 - 15 degrees ). I had a 2000 S-10 before the Liberty and that would start blowing hot air in 5 minutes. Thats the one thing I miss about the S-10 :cry:

McMoney · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:19 am

My CRD warms up in 1-2 min even when it is -30 outside

I plug it in below -15 just to make it easier to start.

TheJawsOfDeath · **Joined:** Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:56 am **Posts:** 305

it was about -10 today, supposed to be down to -25 this week, and my Liberty stays outside. It always starts right up, and I try to let it idle for maybe 5 minutes before I drive. Im assuming that the clutch is hydraulic, because when its really cold the clutch gets extremely heavy and "goopy" feeling, as does the transmission. I've only had one day that was really bad for my transmission, it was more than -30 overnight, and It was rather sticky going into 2nd. Otherwise when its cold I just shift slowly and smoothly and she drives great.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:49 am

I figured I would just update the thread after this mornings drive after all the discussion:

The ambient air temperature was -3F / -19.5C at 6:30am when I ran out and started the Jeep. The engine turned right over and fired up shortly there-after. I then locked the doors (use the spare key), ran back inside and finished getting ready for work. 5 minutes later I was out the door and off. After only 5 minutes of warm up time, the temperature gauge had already started to climb and the heater was blowing hot air..

Gotta love the Liberty and that heater!

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

sleeve84028 wrote:

Gotta love the Liberty and that heater!

That's for sure. I've had my KJ at highway speed at -45 C and had no problem heating the interior. These vehicles have great heaters.

Video Guy · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:00 am

snowsport wrote:

sleeve84028 wrote:

Gotta love the Liberty and that heater!

That's for sure. I've had my KJ at highway speed at -45 C and had no problem heating the interior. These vehicles have great heaters.

Amen to that.

Jeephead1977 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:21 am

-15 this morning -33 wind chill jeep started right up she groaned a little at first but no problems and I have to agree on the great heaters

Deranged War Tomato · **Joined:** Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:33 am **Posts:** 13

What the "H" "E" Double Toothpicks are you all taking about. There is Globle Warming out there. The world is going to "H" "E" ...... :roll:

-22F here last night. Don't know the windchill factor. My 2004 is always parked outside. No block heater, No batery blanket, No electric interior heater. Just good antifreeze anf some Heat in the gas tank. Sure the power steering pump screams for about 30 seconds at start up, but that is it. Yes the Liberty has a GREAT Heater.

callaway · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:23 pm

we used to have a 2003 navigator... that thing took FOREVER to warm up.

should i worry about anything freezing and cracking?

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:08 pm

No. The only time the block cracks is when the coolant has too much water in it.

example:
Put a square block of solid aluminum outside at the north pole what would happen? [I hope you say nothing]

Now take that same block - drill a hole in the middle of it, fill with water and then weld the open end shut and leave it outside in the artic... Now, you can start worrying about cracking blocks.

So just keep good coolant in your system and you'll be fine.

extreme cold and driving

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