nickage87

Hello everyone. I wanted to check if anyone have had issues starting NX at this temperature. I am going to mountain vocation house, and just found out that it's going to be quite cold over there. Will I have problems starting a car after a night with temperature like this?

lexus114

i doubt it with the 0w20 synthetic oil. however. that is -22f so i wouldn't drive off for at least a few minutes.

GeeMC

I've had my NX200T for over a year now. I live in Winnipeg and in our deep freeze months of Jan/Feb it gets to -40C. No problems whatsover starting it. I did have a block heater in it last winter with no problem. Lexus Canada sent me a letter in October saying that the block heaters had been recalled due to a chance of a fire starting and to stop using them in interim until a solution is found.

So this winter I have not used a block heater. It has been -35C since last week, no block heater and the NX has started up without problem.

lexus114

hey your up in ice road trucker territory!!

GeeMC

Just after a cold start, drive it prudently for the first 10 minutes. Let it warm up naturally with light driving vs idling for 10 minutes.

nickage87

Update. So I almost didn't have problems starting it after a night. I felt how difficult it was for battery to spin an engine. It took twice as many rotations to start the car. Once started the smog was black for couple minutes. According to Google this is because of over saturated mix.

DampDuffer

Hmm, not an expert, but doubt the mixture was "over saturated" "for couple of minutes." Computer should take care of fuel injection mixture, IMO.

I'm not saying your exhaust wasn't black, but I've seen the exhaust from other cars that "appeared" dark when the car was first started in sub-freezing weather due to the mixture of the exhaust's water and the extremely cold temperature.

Not unusual though for your start to take longer in extreme cold: 1. Battery produces less current; 2. Depending upon its viscosity, oil is thicker and doesn't allow the engine parts to move making it even more difficult for the weakened battery; and 3. If there is any water in the fuel lines the sub-zero temps can cause the water to freeze blocking its flow.

I learned all this while driving a California VW Bug while living in Alaska one winter....

computerwi

Sounds like you faired fine. I would have suggested checking the engine coolant mixture for antifreeze strength (glycol to water ratio). I know in Canada we're good down to -40C mostly but US might have lower antifreeze content.