Warming up?

[KozmoNaut]

Starting the engine and then scraping the windows is a bit silly. You're not getting any heat for a while until the engine is loaded, so it's useless for helping to clear the windows. If you need the demist going for that long to clear the fog off the inside of the windows, you really should clean your windows on the inside and get rid of all those damp rags inside the car!

I usually just start, wait for the oil pressure light to go out (which is almost instantly on start), and set off, treating it nicely until the oil is warm.

If the windows are frosted over, I hit them with a couple of litres of lukewarm-to-warm water (not scalding hot from the kettle!), start the car, run the wipers a couple of times and set off. Clears the ice right off and warms up the windows so they don't fog as easily. I've done it for 15 years and I've yet to crack a window, despite dire warnings from people who should know better.

The envious looks from the "start then scrape" brigade are delightful.

[jasper5]

Starting the engine and then scraping the windows is a bit silly. You're not getting any heat for a while until the engine is loaded, so it's useless for helping to clear the windows. If you need the demist going for that long to clear the fog off the inside of the windows, you really should clean your windows on the inside and get rid of all those damp rags inside the car!

I usually just start, wait for the oil pressure light to go out (which is almost instantly on start), and set off, treating it nicely until the oil is warm.

If the windows are frosted over, I hit them with a couple of litres of lukewarm-to-warm water (not scalding hot from the kettle!), start the car, run the wipers a couple of times and set off. Clears the ice right off and warms up the windows so they don't fog as easily. I've done it for 15 years and I've yet to crack a window, despite dire warnings from people who should know better.

The envious looks from the "start then scrape" brigade are delightful.

What is the point of not starting your engine when the weather is cold/icy?

The sooner you start to get heat into the cooling system the better.

The windscreen on my van is twice the size of a standard car screen and so takes a little while to scrape the ice off, by the time the screen is clear the inside is getting nice and comfy with a nice clear screen inside, the fan on max takes care of that.

My dog is very happy too as he comes out with me in the van

One drawback with putting water on the screen is the screen freezing up again and icing even harder.

I've used my method for 40 years!

[jonsowman]

One drawback with putting water on the screen is the screen freezing up again and icing even harder.

Haha yes, it's a case of tipping water over the screen, then rushing around and hit the wipers to clear the water off before it freezes. Occasionally I stand in the wrong place and the wipers cover me in freezing water

[Sonia406]

One drawback with putting water on the screen is the screen freezing up again and icing even harder.

Haha yes, it's a case of tipping water over the screen, then rushing around and hit the wipers to clear the water off before it freezes. Occasionally I stand in the wrong place and the wipers cover me in freezing water

Please someone tell me I am not the only one laughing with the knowledge, we've all been there?

Sorry Jon... not funny... well, it is a bit.

[jonsowman]

[davew]

i've used water on the screen for years, i've lost count of the times i've done and been told "don't do it it will crack the screen" well i've been doing it for 25 years and it's never happened yet, the secret is to only use luke warm water.

[Welly]

I fill a 7ltr watering can with domestic hot water (approx 58 deg C) and it goes straight on the glass, my glass is usually very clean and treated with Rain-X so the water runs straight off and never re-freezes. I have NEVER stood scraping Ice off.

(15 years)

[steve_earwig]

I'm guessing you've never had your doors freeze shut?

(approx 58 deg C)

Just cold enough to reduce the amount of scale? I can't run the wood burner below 70 or it fills with tar (took me 4 years to figure that one out), plus the pump cuts in about 72 and I can't change that, unless I over-ride it but then I run the risk of waking up to no hot water in the morning. I don't seem to be able to do much with the electric hot water tank either, if I run it below 65 the water doesn't mix so we get about 5 litres of hot water out of it and the rest is tepid. And the water here is damn hard, limescale is just a fact of life

On the plus side, when the wood burner's going, if I reverse the cocks I get hot water out the hose pipe

Also: I filled up the other day and noticed they're now doing screenwash marked -38 degrees

[Welly]

60 deg C is the benchmark for stored domestic hot water here, any more than that would see you getting scalded. Also if it's too hot it'll damage any thermostatic mixing valves.

Legionella growth occurs between 20 and 45 deg C, storage should be at least 50 but should be raised to 60 for at least one hour per day. Storing at 55 to 60 covers most daily use in the home, 50 is not hot enough for most anyway.

[steve_earwig]

So not actually anything at all to do with limescale then

Scalding? Hmm, time for an outing for my thermomumameter methinks The water coming out of the tap in the kitchen here (after about 10 meters of 1/2" pipe ) is 61 degrees. Oops.

[Welly]

The only effective way to stop Limescale is to use a proper Water Softener (using a Salt reservoir) but are expensive and need maintaining. There are scale 'reducers' (magnetic type) but these are considered pretty useless, I've never seen one have any impact on reducing scale.

[steve_earwig]

Ah, I've seen those advertised, using a magnetic field to align the limescale molecules or something. I always thought that, if they did anything at all, they probably made it more likely for the limescale to form somewhere you can't use de-scaler - in your kidneys

[Bailes1992]

I leave my car 5 mins to idle once the temps start to drop this time of year. But even during the summer I wait 30s to ensure there is oil fully circulating around the engine! I've also just dropped from a 5w30 oil with Ford specification to a 0w30 oil with A5/B5 specification. This should improve oil flow on cold starts and should take high temperatures better.

I have an auxiliary electric powered heater matrix, heated washer jets, heated mirrors and a quick clear heated front windscreen all which take a few minutes to get into 'full swing'.
On an icy day I switch the car on. Leave it idle for 30s then start loading it up (heated windscreen etc). Then Il get out and scrape the side windows while the windscreen and mirrors sort themselves out.
By the time I get back inside the car it's usually nice and toasty inside and I drive off taking it easy till the engine up.

I also save inconvenience by using concentrated screen wash neat as at the engine of the day it's illegal to drive without washers.

All year round I make sure I start the car with as little load as possible. I also ensure the clutch is dipped not only to reduce load but to save wear on the DMF.
The car also gets a good hard, full throttle pull at least once a day to clear all the soot too!


Edit: I wrote this over the last half hour doing a few sentences here and there. I come to find a load of posts about hot water

[steve_earwig]

Wouldn't it be nice to have a heated garage

Which reminds me, I must take the battery out of the Pug before it gets too cold.

[KozmoNaut]

What is the point of not starting your engine when the weather is cold/icy?

The sooner you start to get heat into the cooling system the better.
...
One drawback with putting water on the screen is the screen freezing up again and icing even harder.

Engine wear is highly accelerated while the engine is cold, and pollution from a cold engine running in open-loop mode is off the scales. It really is best for both the engine and the environment to just start it, wait for the revs to stabilize and set off, instead of idling excessively. So yes, it is best to get heat into the cooling system as quickly as possible, which is best done by putting a load on the engine by actually driving it.

If the water freezes before you can get in the car, start it up and run the wipers, you're either using cold water, or you live on the Siberian tundra. I've never had it freeze up, the warm/hot water puts enough heat into the windscreen that it doesn't freeze as long as you remember to use the wipers.