Effects of the freezing weather on a car

Bog Butter

Apart from the water in the radiator freezing and a weak battery dying does this exceptionally (for this country) cold weather have any negitive effects on a car.

Darragh29

Well in these kind of temperatures, doors and locks can freeze solid, and forcing linkages within the door and window operating mechanisms can cause mechanical damage. I tried to open my car door today and if I hadn't put water around the door seal to unfreeze it and instead if I kept pulling at the handle, I imagine the handle would have ended up coming off the door in my hand!

Mc Love

Just spent about ten mins trying to open the doors of my sisters VW Polo!

Rubbed vaseline on the rubber seals so as to prevent it from sticking again.

kona

Rust.

****ty side effect of salt..

Green Hornet

Well I went to let down the side window this morning and there was a BIG bang as the window broke away from the window seal. Luckily enough it was fine but I'd imagine it's possible to unseat the window from the runner (or whatever it's called) inside the door as those motors are pretty powerful and somethings gotta give I guess.

user3

there isn't any really if you have pretty new car just have a good battery and atifreeze in the radiator.
But Salt on roads damages your car:
• damage your car's clear finish.
• promote rust.
• affect the mechanics of your vehicle.

Stark

Good job there's not much salt then

teednab-el

user3 wrote: »

there isn't any really if you have pretty new car just have a good battery and atifreeze in the radiator.
But Salt on roads damages your car:
• damage your car's clear finish.
• promote rust.
• affect the mechanics of your vehicle.

wash car with turtle wax shampoo, apply waxing agent and then sealant and your cars bodywork will stay protected at the very least.

kona

teednab-el wrote: »

wash car with turtle wax shampoo, apply waxing agent and then sealant and your cars bodywork will stay protected at the very least.

At below zero?!

The water will freeze.

Then goodluck getting the wax to rub in!

teednab-el

kona wrote: »

At below zero?!

The water will freeze.

Then goodluck getting the wax to rub in!

Luckily I did it before the Big Freeze . Better to do it when this cold spell of weather is over.

beam99

A polish mechanic i know drove his Irish car back to Poland last year, he was over there for 2 weeks the weather there was around -8 most of the time he reckoned, but when he came to Ireland a week or so later he was driving and one of his flexi brake hoses burst,
He reckons it was caused by the cold weather.

Cian92

Can your car's gears freeze? The gear stick is stuck in 1st, the clutch can be pushed down. We fixed it by rocking the car with the handbrake down, but it is stuck again now. Could it be the cold?

Also does the cold affect central locking?

DublinDilbert

The hose must of been on its way out anyway...

The flexible brake hoses would be the same no matter where in the world the vehicle is sold. Basically there's not difference between an irish brake hose and a polish one...

daveharnett

Cian92 wrote: »

Can your car's gears freeze? The gear stick is stuck in 1st, the clutch can be pushed down. We fixed it by rocking the car with the handbrake down, but it is stuck again now. Could it be the cold?

The gears are floating in oil. While the oil won't freeze at the temperatures we are seeing, it does thicken. At the current nighttime temperatures, gear changes will be a lot more difficult in the mornings until the oil warms up.

daveharnett

malman wrote: »

Apart from the water in the radiator freezing and a weak battery dying does this exceptionally (for this country) cold weather have any negitive effects on a car.

The cold will cause rubber hoses and belts to shrink, and expand again when the car is run. This will accelerate wear on them, as the mechanic below discovered.

beam99 wrote: »

A polish mechanic i know drove his Irish car back to Poland last year, he was over there for 2 weeks the weather there was around -8 most of the time he reckoned, but when he came to Ireland a week or so later he was driving and one of his flexi brake hoses burst,
He reckons it was caused by the cold weather.

Tut tut. Yes, the weather would have accelerated the wear, but the hoses must have been visibly in bad shape for a good bit before one failed. They are very durable, and don't fail over one week, or two.

Darragh29

daveharnett wrote: »

The gears are floating in oil. While the oil won't freeze at the temperatures we are seeing, it does thicken. At the current nighttime temperatures, gear changes will be a lot more difficult in the mornings until the oil warms up.

The gear input and output shafts along with the syncromesh and gearbox selector assemblies might be partially immersed in gear oil, but the gearbox selector rods, the base of the gearstick itself and associated linkages, the linkages between the selector rods and the couplings at the top of the gearbox, they are not lubricated and can freeze up, causing mobility issues.

Also the clutch assembly can become partially seized in this type of weather which will become apparent when the engine is started if you cannot get gear. With the engine off, this problem could exist but not show itself...

Sandraf

Somebody told me to use WD40 on the locks. Would this work ? Don't want oil all down the four doors that won't open!. Not using the car tomorrow so hoping the temp will improve and thaw the doors. The boot unlocks but the car is reversed up to the wall so can't get in that way either. Any suggestions?

neilthefunkeone

Well im going to attack the underside of the car with a power hose when the cold ends to clear any salt that i may have picked up.. but doubt it.. car ahs been off the road for a week or so....

biko

Sandraf wrote: »

Somebody told me to use WD40 on the locks. Would this work ? Don't want oil all down the four doors that won't open!. Not using the car tomorrow so hoping the temp will improve and thaw the doors. The boot unlocks but the car is reversed up to the wall so can't get in that way either. Any suggestions?

I use 3-in-1 spray by Wd40, great stuff for car locks and house locks in this weather.
One spray and you'll be fine for a long time.

It's the white spray can with an additional red nozzle for locks.

Sandraf

Thanks for the replies. The doors actually defrosted themselves. Then when I managed to get in the battery was dead . That's third time had to get re-started with a battery bought last May as I told Mr Fast-Fit. Have a new replacement in now & alls well

DaRo

malman wrote: »

Apart from the water in the radiator freezing and a weak battery dying does this exceptionally (for this country) cold weather have any negitive effects on a car.

They are only positive effects of cold weather.
-people will stop putting water into their radiators instead of coolant