 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Oldsmobile Cars / February 2004Olds 98
Recently I took a trip to a lower altitude and had some starting problems. The outside temp had fallen to below zero and the car would not start. After trying several times, I drained the battery and had to get a jump. Even with the Jump, it still took several tries. Once I got it started, everything was ok..... until the next cold morning! If I plug in the engine heater it keeps the engine warm.... around 60 degrees or so, and starts without a problem. Seems to me that even with sub zero temps the car should start.... any suggestions? Keep in mind that the car is normally in higher altitudes.... 5500 and up. For the time of year you are in colder weather try a thinner oil, 20w50 or 20w40 Check the manual for recommendations. Upgrade the positive cable to the next grade larger will give help for starters that pull alot of amps. Convert your points system to electronic ignition. You didn't say what year you have, mine is 1964, and I now live at sea level and never had problems after I made these modifications. At the beach, Fortaleza, Brazil. @!!Recently I took a trip to a lower altitude and had some starting problems. @!!The outside temp had fallen to below zero and the car would not start. After @!!trying several times, I drained the battery and had to get a jump. Even with @!!the Jump, it still took several tries. Once I got it started, everything was @!!ok..... until the next cold morning! If I plug in the engine heater it keeps @!!the engine warm.... around 60 degrees or so, and starts without a problem. @!!Seems to me that even with sub zero temps the car should start.... any @!!suggestions? Keep in mind that the car is normally in higher altitudes.... @!!5500 and up. @!! Thanks. It is a 91 Olds 98. I can upgrade the positive cable with no problems, and use different oils, and I believe I already have an electronic ignition. I live in Colorado USA and all this happened in Massachusetts at Sea Level. > For the time of year you are in colder weather try a thinner oil, > 20w50 or 20w40 [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > @!!5500 and up. > @!! 20W50 or 20W40 are not "thinner" oils, they are heavier (high viscosity for the anal retentive) than what I would consider "normal", that being 10W30. To put it another way, I can't imagine what oil you are "coming down from" if you consider 20W50 to be "thinner". Chances are the recommended oil is 5W30 for winter driving. You might try 0W30, but I would not use it for extended highway/high-speed driving. -PapaRick ------------------------------------------------------------------ > For the time of year you are in colder weather try a thinner oil, > 20w50 or 20w40 [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > @!!5500 and up. > @!! Good point.... I will keep that in mind :) > 20W50 or 20W40 are not "thinner" oils, they are heavier (high viscosity > for the anal retentive) than what I would consider "normal", that being [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > @!!5500 and up. > > @!! I should clarify... The numbers on the oil bottle signify the thickness of the oil at different temperatures. My old car was made during a time that All-weather temperature oils were not readily available. The first number indicates the viscosity with a cold engine and the second number with a engine at or above operating temperatures. In other words, the oil gets thicker as your moter warms up. So... a straight 10 weight oil run at regular temperatures will beg for engine problems quickly! Your newer '91 Olds can safely run with the first number lower one level, say a 10 or 15 down from a 20, but I would leave the higher number alone for your engine's protection. '91 indeed has electronic ignition, so I would check for a clean distributor cap and connections to the spark plugs and coil packs. Condensation can kill your ignition quickly. Happy Oldsmobiling! > I should clarify... The numbers on the oil bottle signify the > thickness of the oil at different temperatures. My old car was made [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > temperatures. In other words, the oil gets thicker as your moter > warms up. I thought this was misleading, or maybe I'm reading too much into this. Oil doesn't not actually get thicker. From the engines point of view, warm oil behaves as if it were thicker, that's what "viscosity" is all about. If you pour (or change engine) oil when its hot, you would say its "thin" or runny as compared to pouring oil from a can at room temp. Everything you said is true, I just wanted to point out that oil does not actually "change" (thickness), just its behavior (i.e.; viscosity) changes relative to engine temps. It's not something you can see. -PapaRick So... a straight 10 weight oil run at regular temperatures > will beg for engine problems quickly! Your newer '91 Olds can safely > run with the first number lower one level, say a 10 or 15 down from a [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Happy Oldsmobiling! I don't think that's right either. Oil does thin when hot and thicken when cold (become more viscous and less viscous). My understanding of multi-weight oils, using the examples of 5w-30 is that it will thicken no more than a straight 5w oil when cold and will thin no more than a straight 30w oil when hot. Steve > > I should clarify... The numbers on the oil bottle signify the > > thickness of the oil at different temperatures. My old car was made [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > > > Happy Oldsmobiling! I don't disagree entirely, but if I read that 5 weight oil is thick and 30 weight oil is thin, I think you got that backwards. Or maybe I'm misinterpreting what you wrote, like I got it backwards myself. Multi-grade oil viscosity is a tricky thing, causing oil to act both ways, more or less, at the same time. As much as I've read about it, I'm amazed that it works like that. -PapaRick ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > I don't think that's right either. Oil does thin when hot and thicken when > cold (become more viscous and less viscous). My understanding of [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] >>> >>>Happy Oldsmobiling! Maybe this is a better explanation; All oil thins when hot and thickens when cold. 5W oil does not get as thick when cold as 30W oil. 30W oil does not get as thin as 5W when hot. Back when single grade oil was all that was available you would need a 5 or 10 W oil to be able to start the engine when cold and reach all the vital parts. Problem was that when the engine reached operating temp oil was so thin it couldn't maintain adequate pressure and cushion. 30 W worked great when starting at 70 degrees but starting when cold was difficult and the engine would starve for oil for too long. Along came multi-grade oils. Their range of viscosity change is much narrower, hence (in 5w-30) it would not get any thicker than 5W would when cold and as it warmed up it wouldn't get any thinner than straight 30W would when at full operating temp. Alittle hard to wrap your head around at first, but all oil thickens when cold and thins when hot, it's the degrees to which they thin or thicken that,s changed. Steve > I don't disagree entirely, but if I read that 5 weight oil is thick and > 30 weight oil is thin, I think you got that backwards. Or maybe I'm [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > >>> > >>>Happy Oldsmobiling!
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.