Need quick Doper help, as I need to leave for the airport tomorrow morning at 4am. It’s going to dip to -12 and I’m worried that my car won’t start. I don’t have a garage (as in the car is parked on the street) and it’s too late to get to the auto place to buy a heater or charger.
Any DIY/MacGyver tips?
Bring your battery inside for night. A warm battery has gobs more cranking power than a cold one.
I don’t have any tools to get the terminals on and off (gad! I’m hopeless). If the car won’t start in the morning, will a jump from another vehicle crank it over?
Yes. I hope you have jumper cables.
My EE professor (20 years ago) used to tell his classes that he would always turn on his headlights for 4 or 5 minutes before starting a car that had been sitting in sub-freezing weather, the idea being that the current draw would warm up the battery. Seems like one of those things that makes sense on paper but you’d be afraid to try in real life, just in case the battery was on its last legs.
Yes . . . my Dad instilled the gospel of Carrying Jumper Cables At All Times in all his kids.
Shortly before you go to bed, go take the car for a 15-minute ride. And be sure your gas tank is at least 1/2 full, though full is best. -12 isn’t that bad so unless your car is old and out of shape, it should be fine.
But not the rule of Having An Adjustable Wrench At All Times? 
I have a drill and a miter saw . . . does that count?
I’d just say plug it in, but that’s because I’m used to seeing cars with a little plug dangling out from under the hood all winter. Is that just a Montreal thing?
Probably not very helpful, because I don’t even know what exactly is being plugged in, just that all through my childhood my dad would plug our old car in overnight to make sure it would start in the morning. the new car doesn’t seem to need that treatment. Not sure what that’s all about.
Nope. I had one on a pickup here in Iowa. It’s an engine heater, and I think it keeps the engine oil warm.
Maybe not “warm”, but not freezing cold.
It’s a block heater but they aren’t standard on all cars so if you don’t have one, you’d have to have one installed.
Well then you shouldn’t have any trouble cutting that battery right out of there. Just remember, ‘measure twice, cut once’. You do have a tape measure, don’t you?
Thanks for fighting the ignorance!
God, do I miss my command start. Now I have to start my car and actually sit in it for it to warm up.
Do you have a long, heavy-duty extension cord and a shop-light? If you do, and the cord will reach to the street, it will help. No guarantees, but it will help.
If you don’t, I got nothin’. I can tell you how to install a block heater tomorrow, though.
You could leave the car running all night.
You can go out every 3 hours to start it, and let it run for a bit.
And I head the turn on your lights for a few minutes before also, never tried it though.
You live some place that gets to -12 F and you don’t have a block heater? What method do all you people use for starting your cars in the cold - hope and pray? I don’t understand this.
At -12F, if your car is in excellent shape and you have a good, strong battery, you will probably be able to start it. It’s damned hard on the car, though, and not recommended. Run your car around for awhile last thing at night so your alternator can charge your battery to its maximum and heat everything up, then keep your fingers crossed in the morning. Oh, and park it out of the wind if you can - windchill makes everything colder.
I don’t know about turning the lights on before starting a cold battery - that would take juice only from the battery without the alternator re-charging it, and if you only have a little go in it, you might not get a start out of it after that.
Look, I’ve had to start my car at -12 with no block heater many a time. It always started right up. With fuel injection, it shouldn’t be a problem, though you may have to give it a little bit of gas and crank it a bit more than usual.
With a carburator, it’s a bit more difficult, but as long as the car has been used recently and you’re not using a ten-year-old battery, it should be fine.
Windchill does not have any effect on a car or other non-living object. As far as your engine is concerned -12 is -12 it does not matter what the wind speed is.