You think you have trouble starting your car on a cold morning?

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

I remember, must have been 83, travelling up the A1 from Lincolnshire to Northumberland and back, during a spell of bitterly cold weather and really heavy snow, there was only single track all the way as the snow ploughs had only cleared enough for single track each side of the dual carriageway, there were numerous diesel lorries abandoned at the side of the road unable to move because the fuel waxed. Many of them had fires lit under the fuel tanks hoping to get the fuel moving, fortunately we had a petrol engined van. Remember sleeping in a Services wooden hut in Northumberland and that night temperature dropped to -18 C, that was cold, it was no wonder diesel vehicles couldn’t move. Dave W

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 19/02/2021 20:23:21:

Posted by Sam Stones on 19/02/2021 19:33:14:

Also in the 60’s Bill, my first vehicle was a Morris minivan. By the late 60’s I got really posh and bought a neighbour’s Ford Anglia. Neither were garaged so winter starts in the north of England could be a bit exasperating.

However, I learned something you can’t do on modern cars.

Parking the vehicle for the night while the engine was still hot and running, the trick was to pull the choke at the same time as turning off the ignition.

It hardly ever failed to produce an instant start the following morning.

Sam

PS Cold starts have never caused me a problem where I now live.

I fitted a manual choke to the VV carb on my cortina, later fitter a twin Weber off a transit

The other strategy was to rev up and cut the power. Not recommended for diesels.

And then we complained when the bores were shot at 70,000.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Getting further away from the thread, with apologies to Neil, over a weekend around Xmas 1939-40, as a result of a very heavy snowfall, the public transport services in Bolton were brought to a complete standstill.

It was essential however, for WWII munitions to continue especially at De Havilland and the Loco Works near Horwich.

On the Monday morning, in their haste to clear the snow from the tramways between Horwich and Bolton, the Bolton office urged the Horwich crew to start snow clearance of the left hand track. The Bolton crew would meet them somewhere halfway. By Wednesday, both crews had made good progress.

Needless to say, they didn’t actually meet in the middle as planned. Only the left hand tracks had been cleared.

Sam

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

My winter holiday in the 70s and early 80s was to Soviet Russia always the week after that including the 1st of Jan as this week was Orthodox Xmas – temps could range from -40 up to a comfortable (for walking ) -16 – the few years that were warmer had miserable slush – the trams, buses, trains + our coaches ran even at the -40 temps (overnight train Leningrad to Moscow no heating + outside temp -40 was somewhat cold!) – soviet engineering was impressive in its simplicity but generally worked.

[peter smith 5Participant @petersmith5]

My parents neighbour was of the old school. Always used a yellow oil heater under the sump from about October till late spring. Same procedure every year.
His latest car was a Volvo with the daf ( t ) system of variable speed belt and pulleys.
A passing fire engine on its way back to Cambridge saw the garage on fire, stopped and put it out . Meanwhile he woke, smelt the smoke, dialled 999 and was a bit surprised by the knock on the door.
pete

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I wonder if the simplicity Frances cites, of Soviet engineering, was part of its efficacy in extreme conditions – some regions of Siberia have the greatest annual temperature anywhere in the world, at typically -40 to +40ºC.

Operating steam locomotives in such conditions must have been a challenge to say the least, and their cabs were usually wood-lined to protect the crews. They also had outer hand-rails along the running-plates, ordered by law by the pre-Revolutionary Tsar (Nicholas II?) after a railwayman slipped on the iced steelwork and fell to his death.

Once, my Internet home-page gave a link to a history of a terrible railway project, slave-built under Stalin's rule to link two Siberian coast ports about 700 miles apart. President Kruschev's government quietly abandoned the project, not far from completion. The photographs included a couple of a derelict steam locomotive, stripped of many parts. That is in the High Arctic.

'

Chokes?

My sister took on our Dad's pride and joy, a Commer motor-caravan with 2.2l petrol-engine. Once day, after she had spent hundreds of ££ restoring it after Dad's long illness had confined it to the garage for many years, she lent it to friends for a day out, in good weather.

They reported it broke down and had to be recovered.

They had either forgotten or ignored her very careful instructions on using the one control totally new and incomprehensible to them – the choke.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

A friend's son in law helped by cutting the church grass. Sadly he did not realise that once running, the choke should be released, and the control returned to the Max speed setting.. From then on the little Honda would go from Max to below Min on the dipstick in 2 hours running.

The latest replacement no longer has a speed control. Basically just a Stop /Go control, giving constant speed so he obviously was not alone in making that error.

The Ford 105E and its larger variants was sensitive to the Choke/Throttle interconnection. Correctly set, cold starts were no problem. Full choke and crank, then release to half way once the engine was running. Upset it and you were in trouble!

The Renault 6TL was the same. Unless the choke was partially released after run up, it would hunt, flood and then it was get a spare battery or tow start to clear the flooding!

Howard

[Jon LawesParticipant @jonlawes51698]

Posted by peter smith 5 on 26/02/2021 18:47:29:

My parents neighbour was of the old school. Always used a yellow oil heater under the sump from about October till late spring. Same procedure every year.
His latest car was a Volvo with the daf ( t ) system of variable speed belt and pulleys.
A passing fire engine on its way back to Cambridge saw the garage on fire, stopped and put it out . Meanwhile he woke, smelt the smoke, dialled 999 and was a bit surprised by the knock on the door.
pete

That was very unlucky, the belts were mounted at the rear axle. Whole underside must have got stinking hot

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Posted by Bill Dawes on 19/02/2021 14:11:53:

I remember back in the 60s still living with my parents in Brum being woken up every morning by a builder trying to start his Ford Cortina estate, it just churned over and over for what seemed eternity. From that day on I have always contended that Ford were pioneers in long life batteries.

Bill D.

I had same problem went out house at 5 a.m when on 6-2 so didn't like waking neighbours so I fitted a 6 volt HT coil and a resistor but when starting the coil was fed with 12 volts this cured the cold start problem.

H

[peter smith 5Participant @petersmith5]

‘‘Twas not the belts that was the problem but a fuel leak and an oil leak from rocker box cover.

pete

[peter smith 5Participant @petersmith5]

In the days of Morris traveller series 2 ( split screen ) the last cell on the battery had been bridged by short piece of 3/16 brazing rod thus 12 volt was really 10 volt. I push started it down the hill in the morning and got the kids to push start me in the afternoon so I could get home. 3 months before I could afford new battery.
You never had it so good

pete

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Back in the 70’s a friend had a Moskvich , I think that’s how it was spelt, and being Russian the engineering was “agricultural” but extremely robust and practical. He showed me how the car coped with the Russian winters of -30 degrees C, under the bonnet on the side of the engine block was a hand wheel, this was a dump valve and when operated it dumped all the coolant from the engine block, so no problems with freezing and cracked blocks. In the morning all you did was fill the engine up with boiling water and off you go.

In the 60’s I was in the Middle East and the Indian Air Force used to stage their aircraft through our airfield when travelling to Russia to have major overhauls on their Russian built aircraft. One of their Antonov aircraft suffered an engine failure on approach to our airfield and was grounded while it underwent an engine change. Being nosey I went to observe what the engineering was like, I was surprised at how basic and heavy duty the engine appeared, they were regarded as a usually very reliable unit if on the heavy engineered side. Dave W

[peter smith 5Participant @petersmith5]

When my former head of department was sent to Korea for his national service the temperature during the day could reach 30 centigrade and at night fall to minus 15. The transport night workers would go round each vehicle and start it up, run for 30 mins, turn it off and restart after another 30 mins. He said that there were over 100 assorted vehicles in the compound. Frozen ground at night, quagmire at midday.

The funny thing was that the Koreans never had any trouble.

pete

[peter smith 5Participant @petersmith5]

One of my teacher friends had a car that failed the mot on numerous faults. He decided to buy a new car ( on the advice of his wife of course ) He could only afford a yellow Lada. His son thought it was cool but daughter stated that she would not be seen dead in it. Son got lift to school while daughter walked more than a mile.

It always started first time within 3 seconds, NEVER broke down, was traded in for another when it had done 50,000 miles. Second as good as the first.

p.s. Daughter still walked to school, wife became Mayor of the town and travelled by Lada. Daughter refused to get married in it saying she would rather live in sin.

pete

they don’t make em like that anymore.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

"They don't make 'em like that any more"…

The Ladas, presumably…

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Having put an MGB engine and overdrive gear box into a cambridge estate, one problem was that the engine had been to coin a phrase breathed on, and the flywheel was to light. On cold damp mornings it would fire but not run. Having worked for a company that made the modules for luminition I got hold of a few and another pack of lies got me the chopper arms. Once fitted along with a sports coil it made the ignition not only spectacular but lethal. It solved the starting problem and on a cold damp night if you lifted the bonnet you were greeted wit a fantastic light show. No need to gap the plugs – just break the side electrode off ! Oh the fun I had in that car !!!! Noel

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Ref. the Korea tale. my father was in Korea and told of the cold weather.

Double tents, one inside the other with heating stoves and chimneys. the vehicles were parked at night on straw to stop the tires sticking to the ground..

[peter smith 5Participant @petersmith5]

Re Korea,

Yanks invent Velcro to save lives???

They used to get in sleeping bags, metal zips, breath and breath froze the zips. Chinese got in tents and pop,pop,pop – goodnight Vienna. They then told them to sleep with rifle down inside sleeping bags – do l need to explain.

Those near front line used to crawl under tanks to shelter from incoming fire. Ground frozen . At dawn tanks sink into mud????

My friend was on guard duty in front of barrier. Orders to shoot anyone going through. Up pulls jeep with 4 US Colonels demanding to pass. While on phone ( you don’t shoot people like that ) they moved barrier, went through into enemy territory and never heard of again. They had been given map reference and instead of shelling it they went there. True. Mind you the Coca Cola and ice cream was never more the 5 clicks behind them.

pete

[Author]

Posts