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The DIY $10 Prepaid Cellphone Remote Car Starter
An anonymous reader writes "Wish you could start your car via your cell phone, but don't feel like ponying up the $40k for a Chevrolet Volt or $499 (plus $29 a year) for an aftermarket system from Viper? This hack relies on a cheap prepaid cellphone that has had its vibration motor surgically removed, replaced by a couple of leads triggering the car's starter. Whenever the phone receives a call it starts up the car — a somewhat dodgy proposition if a telemarketer ever gets hold of your number, but an interesting solution nonetheless. Total cost of the project: $71.03."
On many phones you can group contacts and assign different ringing profiles. You could just program in allowed numbers and set all other calls to "silent".
I personally leave my car in gear (with the reverse locked in if I leave it for extended periods of time), so this would not be very practical. :)
That alone is enough to doom this project from the start - telemarketers are relentless, and they will get your phone number even if you haven't given it to anyone. Hell, you could also get trouble from people dialing wrong numbers, or from people miswriting/mistyping their phone number when giving it to somebody else (I get a phone call in Spanish every so often, and at one point they confirmed that they had indeed dialed my number correctly).
* Q
P.S. If you don't get this note, let me know and I'll write you another.
...or you'll need a tow into a reception area to get going again.
Wish you could start your car via your cell phone
No, not even remotely.
Heh heh... remotely...
Presumably, you would only want to remote-start your car if you were near it. A microcontroller and a short-range control solution (say, the transmitter and receiver from a cheap mini RC car) would do the trick. For security, you could add a microcontroller on each side to send and receive a specific pulse sequence that changed in a pseudorandom manner. The total cost would be about the same, or less.
For true remote control using the phone, connect the phone's speaker to an ADC on the microcontroller, and have it listen for specific tones.
What if the car is running and someone calls?
Goodbye starter motor?
I can just see the first time you bump the speed dial on your cellphone while going down the freeway if this thing turns the car off as well as on...
Unfortunately, an AT&T Go Phone costs minimum $100/year. Net10 appears to cost $200/year. Virgin Mobile costs $80, and TracFone costs $100. So it isn't cheaper per year.
So what you're saying is that aside from where about 40% of Americans live, winters are never bad enough to need to run your vehicle before driving. Sorry bud, for those of us stuck in the cold shite in the northeast, remote start is a nice feature.
I'd prefer my phone to be able to open my garage door. It should be a cinch, as it's all radio signals (I know, different frequencies, but hey! what about the universal radio chips that were supposed to be controlled by software?), but nope, if I forget my remote, I cannot use my phone.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
It is frugality stupid.
This could get far more interesting if you coupled the phone to, say, a laptop, or a headless mini, and integrated that into the auto systems. Then, you could call in, use a username/password, and have remarkable control over the vehicle - disable as well as start, for one. Interesting possibilities...
In Dark Knight, The Joker made good use of some variants of this idea. I'm sure the DHS will be very excited about a bunch of people buying pre-pad phones just to 'wire up yer car.'&sarc;
of your standard cell phone triggered terrorist bomb. Nothing new here.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
What happen's if someone finds out your phone number? Can they steal your car?
Wow. An old technique for IED detonation re-hashed for car starting. A hack in the worst way.
The reason Americans like remote starters is to get the car's heating or air conditioning to start working before they actually get in the car, due to the fact that most "tough" Americans are actually f**king hothouse flowers with one-degree comfort zones.
In my opinion this is far too cheap of a hack. You need more control. I've personally built a very elaborate text message based system that incorporates anti-theft features/GPS/door lock/un-lock and other features. Costs $11/month in a prepaid sim card. Was great fun to construct using a microcontroller and various other parts. I was planning on building a website documenting it - but I'm horrible at putting webpages together. Other than the GPS, the cost wasn't that much more - but the unit does far more for me. Working out the bugs however took a long time, so if you're in a hurry to get remote cell based car warm-up, this project is a start.
A DTMF decoder, PIC microcontroller, and a couple dozen lines of assembly code and you could secure the system by requiring a code be entered on the calling phone.
Better known as 318230.
It is as useful as the CD tray opener on your CD remote control. You still have to go to the device to put a CD in. In the car analogy, you will still have to go to the car to drive it.
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
I would have used a tone decoder. They run in the $30 - $40 range, and typically require 4 DTMF tones. Set the phone to auto-answer on ring, a typical mobile setup. Plug the decoder into the phone jack. Dial the phone, and it auto answers. When you see "connected" in your own cell, just press the 4-digit sequence. The decoder starts the car. No more worry about telemarketers. And no taking the cheap cell phone apart.
According to Consumer Reports AND The Tappet Brothers (Tom and Ray Magliozzi) it's bad for the engine to "warm up" your car by letting it run idle in park. It's also a waste of time and gasoline.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
The DIY $10 Prepaid Cellphone Remote Car Starter
The DIY $10 Prepaid Cellphone Remote Toaster
The DIY $10 Prepaid Cellphone Remote Coffee Machine
The DIY $10 Prepaid Cellphone Remote Front Door Lock
The DIY $10 Prepaid Cellphone Remote Laser-enhanced Shark Cage Opening Mechanism
The possibilities are endless!
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Can't speak for other people, but I warm up my car so that the engine is running smoothly before I head out into the 10-degree winter weather up here in the northern U.S. It's for the engine's sake, not mine.
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You should come and experience the stop and go "driving", that constitutes Los Angeles. I dearly love manuals, and have often thought of switching to automatic. I have a performance type car, and replacing a worn clutch disc after 35k miles was not pleasant. And Yes I do know how to drive, and have taken two other manuals over 100k w/o wearing the clutch, until I came to LA. The dealer said I was doing averag in clutch wear for these cars, here in LA.
So an automatic would be cheaper in heavy stop and go commutes
..........FULL STOP.
And what actual benefits do you get? The knowledge that occasionally your vehicle will have burned a bit of fuel just so you can get intoa nice warm car. Why not just put on a coat?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
With T-mobile, you have to put on $100 at the start, but as long as you add some time once per year (minimum of $10) you keep all your minutes.
Seriously, this is a hack and a half. That's one of the worst soldering and assembly jobs I've ever seen (cat5 for hookup wire?) I don't even see enough parts to make it work at all. You'd need one relay to provide ignition power, then a second to hit the starter. Plus there are no other features here like a neutral/park detect (so the vehicle doesn't start moving), an auto shutdown so the vehicle won't run for days if you accidentally start it and forget, etc.
A cheap remote start kit like the Bulldog Security Deluxe 500 is $105 anyway.
I bet that one day we'll even be able to communicate with each other through this new invention.
All of the cars I've seen in the past five years have anti-theft mechanisms like chipped keys. These prevent the engine from starting by disabling the starter or ignition or fuel pump unless the properly chipped key is within range of its reader, in the car.
How would such a remote starter work on such cars? How old is this guy's car?
None the less, this is an old technique for remote activation that has been used for other purposes, both good and evil.
Right on. Yes, they really are that lazy and ignorant.
http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/669811.page Also, you gunk up your catalytic converter while idling which creates back pressure on the exhaust system. Cat converters are not cheap to replace.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
Ok, so they did this for $71, not $10. Why even put that $10 price tag in the title? Because one component costs $10?
That makes about as much sense as quoting the price of a whole car that can remote start out of the box.
In modern cars, I keep hearing that warming up your car isn't needed, and can actually be bad for it. Note it still recommends 30-60s to let the fluids warm up, which makes sense.
My grandmother, who was going slightly deaf, recently had a very loud radio triggered beeper installed that went off everytime somebody rang the doorbell.
Turned out it worked on the same frequency as the neighbors DIY garage door system:
If he opened his garage, her alarm started ringing.
If somebody rang her doorbell, the neighbors garage door opened.
I changed the frequency for her, but I think I should have explored the pranking possibilities of that set up a bit more.
The only time I would have seen a use for it was when the temp got under -20 degrees F back home. It is nice to warm up the car when the wife is riding along. :-)
(That's roughly -28C or lower for the Celsius users out there...)
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
I had thought of doing this some time back, what stopped me and apparently the author
as well is the price of maintaining minutes on the phone just to run a remote starter.
Got Code?
What happen's if someone finds out your phone number? Can they steal your car?
No.
This is just using a cell phone to trigger the auxiliary trigger input on a remote starter system installed in the car. Basically this input just simulates pressing the Start button on the remote starter's remote.
Installed correctly, most remote starter systems will stop the engine if the brake pedal is pressed. Additionally, since the ignition key is not in, the steering is locked. Also, if the engine speed goes over a certain limit, the remote starter will stop the engine. Most cars with automatic transmissions require you to press the brake pedal to shift out of Park these days, so there's no chance of stealing the car that way.
I suppose if the car had a manual transmission, it would be possible to make it move forwards or backwards in whatever direction the steering wheel is pointed, but only at slightly over idle speed. You might be able to drive it up onto a trailer.
The problem that might come up is that most of these systems come with a pin switch that disables the system if the car's hood is opened (so you don't get your hands torn off when the engine starts unexpectedly, while changing a belt for example). Many people do not bother to install the hood pin switch. You would want to make sure it is in place and working, because a telemarketer's call could be deadly.
If the phone rings while you're driving or the car is already running, nothing happens other than the remote start will keep the engine running after you remove the key (if you don't touch the brake pedal.
Putting moderation advice in your
back in the day this would have been up here first. Now it shows up weeks after appearances on other 'tech blogs/sites. Do the editors not read any other blogs to have a clue which 'stories' are kinda old news?
Thanks for the link. I had always heard five minutes (which is what I do).
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the do it yourself Homeland Security visit kit.
According to me it is bad to drive with near zero visibility due to condensation or frost on the interior of the windshield. My life trumps the life of the engine.
Anyways a bock heater or garage is the way to go, at least if parked at home.
I've only been in the US a few years and I see people with these remote start setups quite a bit. The only thing is I have no idea why they're useful? I've never had any real desire to start my car when I'm walking towards it (which is what most people seem to do with them) and in fact it would be illegal in my home country. If anyone could explain what they're for I'd appreciate it :)
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
Ever start your car in temperatures below -40? And that's not counting wind chill. Your engine will not like it if you jump in, start and go with zero warm up time. That being said, 30 seconds to 2 minutes is all the time needed to get the juices flowing.
I agree. I just scrape the ice off and drive off right away. Of course, then my windscreen fogs up on the inside due to chilling from the airflow over it, but fuck you or your kids if you happen to walk in front of me: better you die than I "waste time or gasoline", right?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
You should be able to set a custom ring/vibrate for numbers in your address book, eliminating the false starts from everyone calling the last person who had your phone's number.
Yeah it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that it's better for the car itself to warm up before driving, right?
It ain't really necessary unless you go to seriously deep temperature. If your usage profile includes -12 C (conversion for those of us having no clue about Fahrenheits), proper oil with the right viscosity will be 'there' within half a minute, tops. From then on, light load is way better to heat up the engine than letting it idle for an eternity. It's quite some air pollution, too.
Now, if you're going -30 or so on a semi-regular basis, I'd suggest a block heater or a propper fuel based heating system. Those will actually prewarm the engine.
Yeah, I always wait just long enough for the RPMs to settle to normal during cold (less than 20 degress F) before I go. I figure that means everything is warmed up enough to circulate normally...
I should also add that starting the car early helps to heat up the windshield and other windows, making it quite a bit easier to scrape the car after an ice storm by partially melting the ice on the windows.
In other words, there are sometimes practical occasions to prestart the car, not just reasons based on comfort.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
Then your car is a piece of shit.
I live in an area that people like you would curl up and die after seeing the snowfall we get overnight in a typical storm (3 feet overnight is not uncommon) I brush it off, get in and in the 2 minutes it takes me to get my ipod docked and playing what I want the windshield is clear (no hot air yet but warm enough to keep it fog free)
Why do you people buy shit-tastic cars in colder climates? buy a fricking car that can handle cold weather. like a Dodge caravan, Chevy Aveo, or other car with a real heater and defroster system. my wifes Outback clears it even faster.
According to an article in the Longmont Times (Colorado?) Jan 12 2010
NB this is applicable to cars on public property or highways, not in your driveway or garage!
...it's bad for the engine to "warm up" your car by letting it run idle in park. It's also a waste of time and gasoline.
Agreed, but it's the lesser of all evils. A *cold* car (and I'm referring to anything north of the Mason-Dixon) is better off getting a chance to circulate oil and "warm up" vs. getting in and putting the strain of moving the vehicle on cold, non-circulated oil. It's even worse if you get in and rev the engine to warm it up. Sure, there's an ecological argument here, but there again, studies have shown that the vehicle emits less pollution if allowed to gradually warm up before a load is applied vs. applying that same load to a cold (again, *cold*) engine. Do I have statistics, articles and data? Nope - I grew up where it gets above 90* for about three weeks out of the year
It's definitely a waste to let it sit there for long periods of time. At -40 my experience is that it can be useful for the engine itself to give it a couple minutes...with many vehicles you can hear when it's ready to drive--the note of the engine changes slightly.
I then warm up the rest of the car by driving very sedately for quite a while until the transmission and suspension stop feeling so stiff.
Why would you want to do this? I still don't get it. Unless you're James Bond, and can also remotely drive the car, I don't see a need for this.
The whole hot/cold climate thing, can't you just wait a minute for it to cool/warm?
Sure you can brag about turning your car with your cellphone, but what next? Waste of gas, time and money, I just don't get it.
Those guys can eat my ass if they think I'm driving around in a cold car I can't see out of. They are also welcome to scrape my windshield for me.
See how your Aveo, Caravan, and Outback handle it when it's a 17 year old car. I know my heater doesn't warm up that quickly.
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
Which is why, in cold climates, you connect the remote to your parking heater instead of your engine. That's even recommended by ADAC.
In most states letting your car start or run without you present is illegal. (yes, this includes starting your car and running back inside while the ice melts or the air cools). Also, it's not exactly the safest idea if you live in an area with high theft. I read a story a while back about some thieves that would cruise a nearby rich neighborhood and pop a door on a car 'warming up in the drive way' drive off and surprise the owner when there was no car there anymore. This made even easier by people who leave their car UNLOCKED AND RUNNING in the driveway.
So you freeze your butt off for like 5 min, oh darn. If it's that big of a deal, get a garage or heated seats, or an engine block heater.
-=JML=-
This is a perfect example of when DIY is not appropriate. Imagine a telemarketer calling you and starting your car while it's in the garage (door closed). You literally could kill yourself.
I start the car 20 minutes before I leave because it is 2 Degree F. outside and I want a cozy car...
Who cars about the car...?
In modern cars, I keep hearing that warming up your car isn't needed, and can actually be bad for it.
I really don't care if it's bad for the environment. At -10F I'll be warming up my car rather than freezing my nuts.
SNOW is not generally a problem when it comes to defrosting windows... it's ICE. Keep in mind, some of us live where much of the frozen perciptiation we get is not like the nice fluffy and powdery snow you may get. It's a totally different ball-game when there's a layer of ice on your windshield twice as thick as the glass itself. Sometimes you have to let the engine warm up enough to melt the undersurface before it can be scraped off.
You could use the standard Do Not Disturb (DND) feature. Callers are greeted with an announcement instead of ringback, and only callers knowing the correct PIN are allowed through.
Its a standard LSSGR and PacketCable feature, MSOs should have it too...
My 22-year-old Citroen CX usually cleared the windows within 30 seconds or so, even in the -20C mornings we had over our fairly brief winter just there. In the cold weather it took longer for hydraulic system to bring the thick, cold, gooey oil up to pressure.
Hey. I wait for the idle to come down and if the windscreen is fogged, I wait for it to clear. Clear?
I've been driving in the Northeast for 30 years with no serious accidents. Oh, I was rear ended by some yuppie fuck in his Volvo once. He was talking on his cell.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
I've been doing this for years, to start my computer remotely. Parallel attach the phone's motor connectors to your PC's on switch. Don't tell me I'm the only one who did this.
(wakeonlan doesn't work over internet, or you'd need a relay machine like a dd-wrt router which has a WOL tool in it's webbased manager).
My car is a Camry with 50K on it. Barely broken in. It handles Boston winters just fine, ya twat.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
You've never heard my car scream and moan when its -20F out and I try to drive off- it has no power and feels like its going to stall. You -have- to warm it up. And this is a 2003 car, not some 1983 Dodge POS.
According to every automotive expert I've ever read or talked to, starting you car in cold temperatures is bad for you engine, and taking off in a car that hasn't warmed up properly is even worse. Apparently you've never lived anyplace with sub-zero temperatures, and neither has Consumer reports or the Tappet Brothers.
That said, this device seems a bit overkill. Especially for a hacker. How about a simple relay switch powered by PIC or Atmel chip and a garage door opener. The PIC or Atmel chip being the brains of the circuit to test for, among other things: "is the car already running", "is this an authorized signal", "is the car in park", etc. Now of course handling those cases would require interaction with the existing onboard system. Which is why they sell kits that already implement these functions. Or you can hack your own together as I've stated, or do really stupid dangerous things like the article states. One possible consequence of the cell phone approach is, having your car started by some stranger who fat-fingered their friend's phone number, and sends 50 text messages in rapid fire order. Hoo haa.
It's nice to finally see that technology developed to remotely set off terrorist bombs finally being used for something productive...
this would perhaps try to start the car by routing power to the starter, but if the car is newer than ~10 years old, it would probably have a car alarm and an immobilizer. Since the immobilizer would still be in effect there would still not be any power to the fuel pump and the ignition so the engine wouldn't start anyway, and since the car alarm would also be active it would probably go off. Bummer, eh? And besides, if you have a stick-shift car (manual gearbox) you'd better make sure it's in NEUTRAL before placing the call (and that the parking brake is engaged). Oh, and you'd better hang up after the first signal because otherwise the starter would engage every ~5 seconds or so. Not very nice to the engine. I think commercial aftermarket systems are a little safer. There are car alarms with these functions built in.
Mod this up. I live in the US Midwest and snow is not a problem, but we tend to get ice at least once a year. Even if the ice is only a quarter inch thick, you can't scrape it off (at least not without breaking your scraper) until you warm up the car a little to loosen up the ice. Snow is very easy to deal with and my car has my window defogged in 30 seconds but getting rid of the ice takes time.
Granted, bluetooth is limited in range, but would it be possible (and secure) to try designing a remote starter using bluetooth? Most devices are limited to a 10m range, which would be disappointing for a car starter, but it seems like an interesting idea, nevertheless.
I think you are mixing up "warm up the engine" with "warm up the interior". If it is really cold most people don't want to try driving with frozen fingers and frosty windshields.
Get a web developer
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Parts of this country get very, very cold in winter. It can take a long time for a car to warm up to the point that ice on the windows will melt. Weather conditions vary but I've personally given up on scraping very thick ice off of the windows a few times. Warming up the car can be the only way to get the windows clear.
I have had remote start systems in the past, but this year I installed a parking heater, which is basically a tankless water heater with a circulating pump. It runs on gasoline and warms the car's coolant up before I get in and start it. It can be operated by a remote or by a timer on the dashboard. It seems pretty efficient, as what's coming out of its exhaust pipe is barely lukewarm. Once the coolant is warm it turns on the car's heater blower and will defrost the windows and warm the interior.
It's a lot better than a remote start - uses less fuel, and there is never a cold start of the engine.
Downsides - the cost. I bought mine on eBay, brand new for about $275 from a car dealer who was going out of business. Normally these heaters are not sold directly to end users, you have to get it installed (usually at a heavy truck parts supplier), and the cost for one including installation ranges up to $1800. It took me 9.5 hours to install (at no cost other than a full day's time). Supposedly the factory installers take about the same time to do it.
Electric engine block heaters are a lot cheaper (can be under $50) - you just plug them into an extension cord, but most people can't do that in their work parking lot.
With the remote I can start my heater from up to 450 feet away (and I have). The heater I have is German made and conforms to their stringent safety standards, plus it sounds like a tiny jet engine. Similar heaters are used on big diesel trucks to provide heat when parked, in areas that do not allow the trucks to idle their engines.
Putting moderation advice in your
Do you like your car to last a long time? Then don't warm it up for 20 minutes.
Funny how environmentally responsible actions are frequently the selfish actions.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
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Yeah, of course it depends on HOW cold. It never hits -40F where I live. If it did, I'd use a block heater. If your car stalls when you try to back up out of the driveway, it's still too cold. Otherwise, just drive it slow for a few miles. Of course for many Americans, slow drivers are just another kind of terrorist.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
Tom and Ray are reasonable people. They would not ask you to drive blind. I find that heated seats make more difference than heated air. Heated floors would be even better.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
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Idling is bad for the engine, but I don't see how it wastes time.
Anyway... WRT ice and frost on the windshield, a volunteer fireman's trick is to leave the windshield wipers part way up and use them to hold a large piece of cardboard on the windshield. It not only keeps the frost and ice off the surface, but it also keeps the temperature of the glass a little higher, preventing frost from reforming after it has been removed.
That trick significantly reduces the time needed to get a clear windshield before you drive away.
The problem is that most people crank their defroster to maximum fan speed and that makes the engine take forever to warm up . The secret is to put the fan on a low speed (even 1) and don't be in the car for a minute or so (while you clear the windows), then ease it up to 2 and start going. Notch the fan up as you notice your temp gauge going up. Don't use maximum speed unless your engine is at full operating temperature. Even then, very small engines in very cold weather will lose heat at maximum fan speed unless they're actually driving (i.e. the engine is under load); idling at full fan speed may still result in the engine cooling off.
I start my engine, leave the fan on low, turn on my seat warmer, clear the windows, and by the time the windows are scraped, I drive. Drive gently and easily until the engine is warmer. That way I get heat quickly and I am friendlier to the environment.
If the interior of your car is really humid and you're getting frost inside on the windows, turn on the air conditioning. This will help to sublimate the ice faster. (Keep the heat turned to the warmest temperature, of course. It'll still warm up your car - but with air with less humidity in it, which helps to remove the frost and ice.)
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I'm not confusing anything. If your windshield is fogged, you have no choice but to unfog it. Do what ever it take to avoid running me over!
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
I think I 'd rather use a cell phone like this to remotely STOP my car in the event of theft.
Washington, D.C. is only barely behind http://m.wusa9.com/news.jsp?key=196541) L.A. butI still commute here with my manual transmission. At 75K mi my clutch disc still grabs like an acrophobe on top of a bungy platform.
Knowing how to operate a manual transmission mechanism is only one part of knowing how to drive. To properly drive a manual transmission vehicle in heavy stop-and-go traffic you cannot tailgate and you will spend a lot of time in Neutral. Yes, this means that more than once per-commute someone will cut in front of you because there was more than 5 feet between you and the vehicle in front of you even though your "performance type car" could have avoided that by hanging 6 inches off the rear bumper instead.
Do you have a reference there? I've read recently that allowing the car to warm up (for 30s I think they said) allows the engine to operate more efficiently as you're pulling away. This results in better protection of the engine, as the oil is warm, and sufficiently better fuel efficiency in the first little bit of driving that things are about even on use of petrol [gasoline].
Hey! These guys turned your car into an IED!
Get ready for your own, personal "False Flag"!
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
so remote start via key fob is perfect. It takes me about 30-60 seconds to get from starting my car at max range to in the car with my seat belt on.
I won't waste gas warming the car up, but I do see why people do. It was -2F (-18C) a few days earlier this winter and I was sorely tempted to. And I'm not in Alaska, it's the middle of Illinois.
Cooling it off in the summer is even more importanat; it get up to 150F (65C) inside a car in the summer. The best you can do is roll the windows down until the 150F air is replaced by the 95F (35C) air, at which point the AC is starting to work.
Free Martian Whores!
it's bad for the engine to "warm up" your car by letting it run idle in park.
It's also bad for my infant to get into a freezing car :) If it weren't for the little delicate one, I certainly wouldn't bother "warming up the car".
My wife wishes for it if the windows are frosted/snowed over, especially on really cold days when the wiper fluid just freezes. I mean, you end up starting the car and letting it warm up while you scrape and dust anyway... why not just walk out to a frost-free windshield?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Of course for many Americans, slow drivers are just another kind of terrorist.
I don't mind them if they pull over once in a while to let the normals pass them. And if they stay out of the passing lane.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
If its been sitting out in sub-zero temperatures for a long time then it is a good idea to have it start and warm up for a few minutes before driving it away. Of course you can do that when you get to the car, and spend those few minutes scraping the snow and ice off it. For colder temperatures a sump heater is a good idea, some employers do make power available for their night shift staff for this reason.
How does "ponying up $40K for a Volt" have anything even remotely to do with Remote starting your car?
"It's also a waste of time and gasoline."
And in some countries (like mine) it's illegal having a motor running in an empty car.
"Oops, sorry, wrong number."
The Internet has given stupid people the resources of intelligent people.
I would probably listen to that advice more if it were recommended by ACDC...
When the temperature is very cold many cars will not drive well unless they are warmed up first. My car stutters and almost dies if I start it and drive it right away during the winter months, it must be warmed up for at least 1 minute first.
I'd just like to thank you for specifying your units there.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Also: If your car regularly gets up to 150F in the summer... leave the windows open a crack.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
There are both electrical and fuel powered solutions specifically made for heating up the engine and passenger compartment though, where the former is definately the best choice from an environmental perspective while also beeing much better for the engine itself.
When an engine is cold it'll use more fuel, at the same time as the catalytic converter doesn't work well.
I have a lower cost solution. I own a Prius, and the keyfob acts as a remote in the sense that it just needs to be inside the car for the car to run. The door handle also knows if you have the keyfob is in your pocket so the car will automatically unlock. All I need to do is train my dog to carry the keyfob out to the car on his collar, open the door, hop inside and step on the starter button on the dash twice to get it started. A simple tug on a rope attached to the door and the inside will warm up nicely. Getting the dog to do all that could be very easy, as he very intelligent and always wants to go for a ride! The one downside is that I will have to tell him 'No' often, since most of the time I have to go to work. Maybe its not such a good idea. Its so hard to say 'No' to those big sad eyes...
Lazy, polluting SOB. The heat warms up faster driving than sitting there, too.
I think they're talking about warming up the car as preventative maintenance, not warming up the car so that it's comfortable to drive in and demisted.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
And that's not counting wind chill
And you shouldn't... not as far as the car is concerned. Inanimate objects do not suffer from wind chill.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Ever start your car in temperatures below -40?
Not without an engine block heater, which warms up the engine for you (at least enough so you can start it and start driving).
The only reason to let a vehicle "warm up" on idle is to allow the passenger compartment to warm up (or cool down, for those 120F days), which is just a waste of gas (as others have said).
I just scrape the ice off and drive off right away. Of course, then my windscreen fogs up on the inside due to chilling from the airflow over it, but fuck you or your kids if you happen to walk in front of me: better you die than I "waste time or gasoline", right?
Keep your windows cracked and/or don't turn on the blower until you can actually get *heat* from the heater. I've not had this problem in my eastern Ontario winters.
If your fuel-injected engine isn't running smoothly after a few seconds at temperatures above zero, then you should have it checked out.
Also a good way to make an IED trigger. In that case, you reallly don't want a telemarketer to call when your doing the final arming stages.
Why would I sacrifice quality of life to make the car last longer? I can just buy another one when this one breaks down. Using the same logic I could walk everywhere and the car would last forever.
-40 is the same in C or F
It is much more wear on your motor to start it at -20F and hop on the Interstate then it is to allow it to warm up 2 minute before adding any "load"
Don't worry, both Consumer Reports and The Tappet Brothers are idiots most of the time. If your vehicle has regular maintenance it will be just fine warming up while idling.
Wot's a pahking heetr?
Here's a better solution. This design connects to the cell phone audio output (so you don't have to open the phone) and has a DTMF decoder chip, so you send it tones to make things happen. That at least gives you some protection against random phone calls.
Whose Wise Idea was it to start putting salt on the Road, I bought a car from up north and bottom was rusted out, I've seen beach cars that were in better shape.
Down here when it snows more then 1/2 inch the whole city shuts down.
Webasto sells this nifty gadget which is basically a miniature gas furnace which heats the coolant, starts the water pump to circulate it in the whole circuit and the cabin fan to "defrost". Much more efficient in fuel use, keeps your engine from idling wear, and bypasses the idle parking laws.
Avaliable for big cars and trucks, where space is avaliable under the hood.
You're not old until regret takes the place of your dreams.
I live in New England (Maine, specifically), and I personally see little use for a remote starter. But I purchased a car that was meant to be used in this climate (glow plugs for the Diesel engine, heated seats, heated side mirrors, and a small electric coil in the windshield defroster to clear the windows quickly). But a lot of cars simply aren't equipped that way. Volvo, Saab, VW, and maybe a handful of other brands really know what cold weather means, and give you the tools to compensate for it. With a lot of other cars, warmup is as much a safety issue as it is a comfort issue.
Heaven help you if you get salt or something else on the windshield and try to wash it off, only to discover that your windshield is cold enough to frost up your wiper fluid when spread thinly enough. Instant, near-total blindness.
It's unfortunate that more auto manufacturers don't offer cold weather packages, but even when they do they can get expensive (more so than a remote starter). It's probably cheaper to just run the thing for 10 minutes the 20-30 times a year you might need defrost. It's not like it consumes gallons and gallons of fuel.
Having said all that, remote starters can and do get "abused". If you're remote starting your car when it's well above the freezing temperature of your washer fluid, you really need to rethink how much that is costing you (in my opinion). But, hey, it's great living in a free country where people can legally do things I consider stupid. :)
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
Yes, it is. So Buy me a new car, or your kids die. I'm fine with either outcome really.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
The Volt comes with an iPhone app that allows you to start it remotely over the mobile phone network.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
This really depends on the ambient temperature and the vehicle type. The stress of engaging a drive train that is still at -30 degrees or colder well exceeds the stress of allowing it to idle and rise to a viable operating temperature. For a diesel powered vehicle the stress of operating in extreme cold without warming up is magnified significantly.
There is threshold of what is reasonable, and waiting an hour or more to let the heater melt the ice for you is beyond that threshold but there is a reasonable amount of warming up that is prudent to decrease the stress on the vehicle.
Tom and Ray need to spend a couple of winters in Duluth, MN or better yet, International Falls.
My solution was to move to Florida, it works well and often my truck does not even ask me to wait for the glow plugs to warm up.
While your comment was intended to be hilarious, my two scrapers have saved me much time waiting for my car to warm up on those frosty days. Rather than waiting for the ice to melt by heat, I can just leave the engine running for the minute or two spent scraping and it'll be warm enough for the trip to the park and ride down the freeway.
el-Woosho!
I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
Damn...and I thought "I" had it bad this morning in the upper 40's, with slight fog, and heavy condensation on my windows.
I said to myself, "Hell, this is just not gonna be a morning for putting the top down on the car and driving into work."
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
My bicycle starts in all temperatures I can start in. Only sissies drive to work! :)
sure, nice idea... but I'm afraid these instructions could easily be misused to make IEDs.
not sure why this mediocre idea with minimal usability has gotten such coverage especially given the potential for misuse in any number of violent applications... sure it's basic and anyone with minimal electronic skills could probably figure out anyway, but thought I'd bring that up.
There is a concept in Product Liability law called foreseeable misuse, where manufacturers must protect against obvious modifications that could change the function of the device or cause harm, etc...
Umm, they have these things called windshield scrapers. They're, you know, a lot cheaper than a new engine.
I've owned and/or driven in a LOT of cars, and the problem of "the inside fogs over" clears up in about 30 seconds of running the defroster. So: hop in the car, start, turn on defroster. Put on seat belt. Turn on radio. Inside of the windshield is already defogged. Give me a freakin' break.
Dude, it's not that hard. 1) start car, turn on defroster. 2) Scrape windshield. 3) by the time you're done, the inside of the windshield is already defogged, even if the defrost hasn't gotten up to temperature yet. It doesn't need to be warm to get the fog off the inside of the windshield, it just needs a few seconds of relatively dry air blowing over it... which you get from the first few seconds of defroster. It only needs to get warm at all to get the frost off the outside of the window, which, you know, you already scraped off.
I can't even believe we're having this discussion. The idea that not preheating your windshield inevitably means that it's impossible to see is mind-boggling.
Right, because with all that time wasted running the gearshift and clutch, they could be writing the Great American Novel... while they're driving their automatic. Seriously, dude, I understand that some people would rather not bother with shifting, but it's not like they're "wasting time" that they could spend doing something else. They're DRIVING at the time.
Coincidentally that very issue was addressed yesterday by Tom and Ray Magliozzi:
TOM: "In the old days of cars with carburators, you could hurt a vehicle by warming it up for too long. In warm-up mode, a carburetor would pour lots of gas into the cylinders, and the excess fuel could run down into the crankcase and dilute the oil. This rich mixture could ruin the car’s catalytic converter, too."
RAY: "But modern cars use computers to meter their gas into the cylinders so precisely that they could idle for days without problems..."
I never let my car idle more than a minute if it's warmed up, and others mentioned the fogging up issue...
But my mpg increased like 20% this winter if I let my car idle 5 minutes (vs the 30 seconds I did before). I usually only take short trips ( 45 minutes, usually 15 or less) but I have to wonder if it's all that bad for the engine...
But someone could have confused it with Kelvin or Rankine.
Or, you can live in Tucson, AZ and for the one day every 2 years that there is enough moisture to make ice, your AMX card will clear your windshield for you.
Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress
Sorry, I don't speak Spanish.
This is actually true, but it depends on the car. Most newer cars allow a high start idle to reach the necessary oil pressure which is essential in preventing early bearing failure. If the car is properly broken in running it in park for long periods is ok. however most cars when started without a blip on the gas cannot sustain proper oil pressure for safe bearing operation. This will shorten the engine life dramatically
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Cracking the windows when it's that hot helps a little, but very little. In the spring when it's nice out the car still gets hot, it helps a lot in that case.
Plus, you run the risk of it storming while you're inside at work, especially here in the early summer.
Free Martian Whores!
Damn me for not clicking the link, el-Whoosho for sure.
...there are several states in the U.S. where it is illegal to leave a running car unattended - and a few that specifically cite remote starting in statute.
If it weren't for that, I imagine that by now new cars would come with the feature built into the remote door-openers.
And in some countries (like mine) it's illegal having a motor running in an empty car.
And in some states and municipalities in the U.S. as well. In my hometown, idiots would go out on a 50 degree morning and start up their car, then let it idle for 10 minutes while they got ready for work. When it was determined that the majority of car thefts (and this town is nestled between the two highest car-theft cities in California) were of cars left to warm up, a law was passed that cites individuals for leaving a running car unattended.
First, why USD 71? I Bet I can get a phone for USD 20 where I live. If something is worth doing cheaply then it's worth going Scrooge.
Second, what's this thing with starting the car remotely? I mean, suddenly we can't be arsed to get into a car with the engine shut off?
Or is it because you want to run the air conditioning and cool the car down when it's hot? Well, open the fecking doors for 3 minutes and experience a temperature drop. It'll be quicker than running the air conditioning and -for what it's worth- save a bit on the environment.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
I want to include my remote car starter in a Sonic Screwdriver.
Any suggestion?
Maybe there is a "slim" version of universal remote car starters, or something with a smaller form factor?
Nouvelles de jeux et technologies en français. TC
Why would you need to do this? For $70, a bunch of work, and to open yourself up to a hugely major security and safety risk? I'm not sure where the poster lives, but there are plenty of companies who do aftermarket work on cars here and advertise that they will install proper remote start systems for something like $100-$150. I don't have a need for this, but if I did, I would pay $30 more to know it would work and not be triggered by a wrong number. You can probably build your own refrigerator and sofa out of other objects too, but there are stores that sell pre-made ones, you know.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Or you could just wipe the windshield with a cloth & drive on, the car'll get warm fast enough, but i guess that requires some (how ever small) effort.
...all else being equal, automatic transmissions can tow more.
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> Wish you could start your car via your cell phone ...
No, but I often wish I could *stop* other peoples cars, as they 'drive' (sleep ?) their way near my daily cycle commute route.
Wind chill has nothing to do with the object being animate or not, it has to do with the object having its own heat source. Wind chill is the difference between convective and conductive cooling. On the human body, an additional factor would be evaporation cooling from moisture.
Wouldn't it make sense to create a custom bluetooth setup to do the same thing? I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult...
Click and Clack—Bostonians themselves—recognize that it's quite necessary to warm up your car in cold weather, and recommend remote starters to people now and then. You don't need to warm up the engine every time your drive like they used to recommend on older cars, but having your windows defrosted and your heat working can be a great boon to safe driving.
My new solution: I now keep a dead Dunkin Donuts card [though any dead gift card should do] in a pocket of each jacket, and I can clear my windshield in under a minute.
And yes, I *did* grow up in the windshield-scraping glory days when the Minnesota driver's license was built on a nice, thick piece of plastic.
I remember seeing an article on a DIY car starter with a cellphone, here it is.
Cell phone based car starter, another take
http://hackaday.com/2010/01/19/cell-phone-based-car-starter-another-take/
GSM car starter
http://hackaday.com/2010/01/15/gsm-car-starter/
Start the car with a wave of your hand
http://hackaday.com/2010/01/14/start-the-car-with-a-wave-of-your-hand/
Better yet, you can signup for a Google Voice(Beta) account and route all the calls you want to where you want them to go.
A lot of phones these days with GPS have software where if you send it a text message it will respond with its GPS coordinates or you can lock down the phone, I know some guy who did this with some of his expensive construction equiptment when he didn't want to buy a LoJack system. I use the Android app 'Mobile Defense' and have found my phone once when I left it at a restaurant.
Interesting, do you also have laws against leaving the door open, or not owning a handgun, or dressing like "you want it"?
"sorry, wrong number, i was trying to call my car...no, I am not crazy...see, i have this special built-in cellphone to my car that starts it up when it rings...no, I am not insane."
temperatures below -40?
Celsius or Fahrenheit? though at -40 it doesn't matter... :)
how the hell did this conversation get from cell-phone start-up to methods for clearing ice off of windshields and windows?!?!?!?
Running your engine is bad for your engine - oh ok. I don't think your engine needs that much warm up time, but people idle their engines all the time.
It's a lot better for your car than driving down the road completely blind because your window fogged up as soon as your (presumably) warm body sat in the driver's seat. When it's -10F outside, it doesn't take much heat and moisture for the window to become completely opaque.
Thanks for the advice, but I'll continue to warm my car before I drive off, thanks.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
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Engines are designed to operate "under load" i.e. pushing the car down the road. Engines lubricate themselves much better when you are actually driving the car, not sitting idle in a traffic jam or driveway.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
There's 415,000 "edge cases" where I live...that's about 1/10th of the population of the U.S.
...MORON. Good grief, what are you? 18? 19?
Pot...kettle...black?
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Snowfall is not necessarily correlated to how likely a window is to fog. I've owned five cars (multiple makes and models) since I moved to Alaska; my wife has owned another three since I met her. In every one of these cars and under the right conditions, the windows fog up and make it difficult -- if not impossible -- to see outside, unless the car warms up for a few minutes.
Anyway, you yourself are admitting you let the car warm up and the windows defrost before you drive off: "...I brush it off and in the 2 minutes it takes..."
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
...because one of the primary reasons for remote start up is to warm up your car in cold conditions, thereby making it easier to scrape ice off one's windshield?
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
Ah, that must be why aircooled engines don't have a fan.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Wait until you have heat, and you'll go through windshields much more often.
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I wonder if the owner has disclosed this modification to his insurance company ?
I'm sure they would like to be financially responsible for the consequences should the car start and cause an accident.
The most impressive cold engine start I've seen was on big Caterpilars and such in Antarctica, at the end of the winterover. With the truck having just spent 10 months unused at temps down to -80C, and a current temp of -60C. One guy gets inside and turns the key in the ignition while the other sprays some 'start pilot' (whatever that is) in the air intake. Broooom! There it goes. I've never been so impressed by hardcore mechanical engineering.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Whose Wise Idea was it to start putting salt on the Road, I bought a car from up north and bottom was rusted out, I've seen beach cars that were in better shape.
Down here when it snows more then 1/2 inch the whole city shuts down.
Everything rusted from salt or everything smashed from sliding on ice. Take yer pick.
I am not a crackpot.
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or even this
All definitions have to do with subjective human observations on their own skin. Your conductive/convection/moisture theories are all about WHY there is wind chill, but not WHAT it is.
Engines can not suffer from wind chill, as defined.
Yes, I want people to crash into trees and run over chirren on the way to work. But be honest with me, you live in New Jersey where the mercury never drops to -10F.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
As an ex-Alaskan automotive mechanic, I will try to correct some of the misinformation I am seeing here.
First off, unless the temperatures in your area REGULARLY drop below -10F. there is no reason to do this (or any sort of remote starting) other then for pure comfort of having a pre-warmed car interior. ONE minute of an engine running is plenty to get things seated properly(piston rings and valves are the most important here).
That being said, in places like Alaska and northern Canada it perfectly reasonable to install some form of auto-start.
The idea suggested is idiotic. Having to rely on so much other tech when a simple infrared keyfob (just like the one that locks/unlocks your car) works just as well. Just point it out the window, push a button and your car starts. Sure, you cannot start it from across town, but who the fuck would want to? Commercial auto-start systems are fully programmable with start times, so if your hiking in from the bush and want a warm car when you get to it, just program in your start time.
For this circumstance, there is a better solution, a Webasto coolant pre-heater. It is a small furnace that essentially heats up the coolant (and turns on the interior heating fan, if you like) and only uses .5-.9 OUNCES of fuel an hour. You could keep your engine warm for a most of a day for less then a gallon of fuel (yes, they run on the fuel from your main tank).
But, back to auto-start systems, I never used one myself. They are mostly for the lazy. It isn't that hard to go outside and start your car normally then go back inside for 20 mins. I usually started my car right before I hopped in the shower.
The main reasons for pre-warming a car in severely cold climates are many.
1. Seating of internal components.
These components were designed to function properly at RUNNING temperatures. You would be surprised how much piston ring blow-by occurs until those rings seat. Running an engine under a load before this occurs is the biggest cause of engine oil dilution and engine wear as the crankcase is just being loaded up with raw fuel that escapes past the rings into the crankcase.
2. Pre-warming of other under-hood components.
Other components such as accessory drive belts do NOT like flexing when very cold. A warm engine raises the temperature of everything under the hood, but it takes some time for this to occur. Most of the heat is initially coming from the exhaust manifolds. People that just get in and drive were my best customers. They hop in, fire it up and drive off, causing cracks to form in seals, drive belts, CV boots etc. I had one customer (military, from Georgia, but stationed in Fairbanks) and I replaced the CV boots on her car 3 times before I finally asked her some questions. She was getting in her car, firing it up, then immediately backing up through a 90 degree turn unto the street, then driving away. The CV boots could not handle the stress of a full rotation of the steering wheel while frozen to -35F. After another inspection, it turns out she had lots of other associated problems.
3. Plastic cars.
Most of the interior of cars are plastic these days. Try hopping into a -40F car and start playing with dash buttons and knobs. Some will eventually break right off in your hand. Simply sitting in a vinyl seat at such temps will usually mean severely cracked seats. The plastic literally shatters if you sit on it at low temps. Buying leather seats solves this issue to some extent.
In short, the discussed method is ridiculous. You can do the same thing, with far more safety, by simply using a commercial auto-start system and having it properly installed. Simply hooking into the starter circuit is downright foolish. You need to have system safety checks as well, such as the device making sure the vehicle is in Park/Neutral before starting, a crank signal needs to be checked to tell the device when to DISengage the starter, etc, etc. Some will even look at your fuel tank level to make sure the fucking th
That still doesn't make sense. Isn't half the point of an electric car that it doesn't need to be 'started'; that it's ready to go as soon as you get in?
Is 1563649 a prime number?
A coolant flush will do wonders for how quickly your heater heats up. I had mine done after about 4 years according to the scheduled maintenance and I was getting heat in roughly half the time it took before the flush.
Anchorage, Alaska, where at least once a year, it hits -20F, and sometimes gets as low as -30F ;)
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Yikes. So there is Unix or Linux work in Anchorage? I can't ever find *nix work except in medium to large cities. I would love to work in a small city like Anchorage.
So I heard people just leave their cars and trucks running all night in winter in Alaska.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
They sometimes do in Fairbanks (where -40F is not uncommon) but not in Anchorage. I've managed to hold a couple of Unix/Linux jobs here, so they exist...but they aren't as common as Windows/Cisco jobs, unfortunately.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Welcome to LA County. Leave before your soul evaporates.
When they are done with yours they can eat mine, which will be nice and warm courtesy of my effective heater.
I'm an experienced mechanic and regard any potential wear from idling as a trifle. Set the idle properly if required, end of story.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
I love people who say this... Just open any Helm's manual (they write a lot of shop manuals for actual dealership garages) and read some testing procedures. It will clearly list "run car until operating temperature is reached" which is "when the radiator fan comes cycles on and then off".
Also, on most modern cars the tolerances, components, engine management, etc can handle running 10 to 15 minutes just fine to warm up a car. Your engine is under a lot more stress in stop and go traffic in the city from the constant acceleration and deceleration.
I assume that would be to turn on the defroster and other functions, but yeah, remote start has far less utility in an electric. :)
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
that's funny, because Road and Track listed some of the cars in the US with the highest millage, and of those drivers (one was a Volvo with over a million miles, and one was an Accord with over 750,000).. the drivers never really turned their cars off. For example, the Accord was owned by a guy who worked as a Meter Reader, and would leave his car idle as he walked around the houses. He said it was only ever really turned off for routine maintenance or when he was sleeping. I know my parents Accord has over 350,000 and runs great.. and it has a remote start that gets used quite often.
Not true. For the average person, the Automatic gives better fuel mileage. Get stuck in mud or snow, and the Auto is easier to get unstuck. Put a woman behind the wheel; most don't grok stick shift. The stick car needs more maintenance, usually clutches, within its normal lifetime. Using a stick requires more brainpower. Brain power which is best used for listening to a CD or talking on the cell phone. Finally: Fuck you. I want a warm, toasty car. With automatic. I got lots of money, so I can indulge in my whim. The starving kids in africa can kiss my automatic transmission. LA can choke on my smokey exhaust. There, I said it!
My fucking reply is not flamebait JUST because I disagree with the previous poster. Fuck whoever modded my comment.
Really? What states are those?
There's 415,000 "edge cases" where I live...that's about 1/10th of the population of the U.S.
Did something wipe out several hundred million Americans when I wasn't watching?
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Really? Four hundred thousand is a tenth of three hundred million?
After all, I am strangely colored.
Might be bad for the engine but driving with ice all over the windows is worse, crashing and such you know. I could put a cover over the car but occasional winds can blow them away.
So on the days when there is frost on the windows I warm the car up until I can see.
Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro
"Those guys can eat my ass"
You have got some weird sexual fantasies of yours there, buddy.
Mod parent up:
Most of the things discussed here have little importance in a "normal" winter, with -5 to -10 Celsius (15 Fahrenheit) and without freezing under the hood. However, ice can form over the many moving parts inside the car, so heating up is good for things other than the engine
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Yeah. I never suggested anyone should drive blind.
My neighborhood seems to be full of people who think that they need to let their cars idle for 10 minutes before they can drive them, regardless of the temperature. Fifty years ago it may have been necessary to "warm up the engine" before driving on a cold day. With today's engine technology it's actually harmful to do so.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
Yeah, I was in a hurry and left out a zero...or two. Sigh.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
No I don't tailgate - Porsche parts are too expensive, and I have no need to tailgate anyone and often let people in front of me for that very reason. Because I don't want to get hit in my rear either i leave room for me to scoot up.
Trust me, when I had a Saturn - I took it from 50k to 110k in LA, and still on the original clutch.
Performance cars wear their "fun" parts out much more quickly.
And yes I traded in my Saturn for a Porsche (and a bunch of $$) - the dealer never recalled doing that before.
..........FULL STOP.
Well, I have read it's not only bad for the engine but worse for the catalytic converter as well. Gas is not burned efficiently when the motor is idling and all that unburned gasoline is seWhen the cat converter gets gunked up, it creates backpressure so that the exhaust fumes can't efficiently escape. Also, the cat converter is not cheap to replace and contains significant amounts of rare metals.
The engine is designed to work under load, i.e. pushing the car down the road. I remember Tom and Ray saying that an idling engine does not produce enough oil pressure to keep all it's parts fully lubricated.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
Err..I live in New Orleans
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I thought that place was abandoned.
Nope, alive and well!! Looking forward to a great Mardi Gras season here in a couple of weeks...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
For the large diesel engines (everything from the Cummins B-series on up) you can install an ether system which basically automates the spraying of the starting fluid.
Putting moderation advice in your
Some people don't have the option of not warming their cars up before driving. I used to live in the northern extremes in Canada and would have killed for an automatic car starter up there. We used to use block heaters and always had to remember to plug it in or else no one was getting to work or school the next morning. Nowadays I live in a slightly warmer climate but still see the advantage to starting your car ahead of time. These days it is all about convenience. I do however think the real point of this article is that you can do this by hacking a prepaid phone to do the dirty work.
There's 415,000 "edge cases" where I live...that's about 1/10th of the population of the U.S.
So the US only has a population of 4,150,000 people? That's significantly less than I'd assumed.
That's significantly less than I'd assumed.
Why yes, yes it is.
;)
That's the problem with having Gig-E wiring in the head, but only a 56K connection to the fingertips. Sometimes a zero or two gets dropped in the transmission, especially when you aren't paying complete attention to what you are typing because you are doing something else at the same time
In any case, I would stay say one in a thousand isn't exactly an edge case, particularly in light of the fact that there are plenty of other, more populous parts of the country that get as cold -- if not colder -- than much of Alaska (for example, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota).
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?