Cold Snap & Diesel Woes...

[iconoclast]

Anyone on here having issues with starting? The current cold snap going around and severe temperatures in the negative range could have an effect on freezing lines or gelling fuels. Curious if anyone on here is having difficulty starting.

[lowlevelhell]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

Anyone on here having issues with starting? The current cold snap going around and severe temperatures in the negative range could have an effect on freezing lines or gelling fuels. Curious if anyone on here is having difficulty starting.

I have parked my X5 overnight outdoors in zero degree temps for days at a time. Any place with a winter climate should be selling a diesel grade commonly called "winter blend" which has an anti-gelling additive. The most I've seen out of my 35d is a 1-second "Please wait: Preheating" message on the DIC before it cranks and starts. Zero issues with starting or operation.

[roadkillrob]

Pretty much a thing of the past with modern diesels, like stated above, fuels are anti-gel these days based on where they are sold, but are good to -20C or more in a lot of places, they have arctic blends that go to -40C even. The engines themselves all have pre-heating and tight tolerances and start even at crazy low temperatures unlike the old days.

Northern Europe has been running a high percentage a diesel vehicles for decades without issues - cold weather and diesel starting issues are a thing of the past.

[stewy604]

No issues on mine in the past. Our winter has been mild this year, but last year we saw temps of -20 C overnight...no problems. Anything colder than -15 and I plug 'er in.

[nyquistcondition]

I have a 3.5i and drove it to town Saturday night in northern NH. It was -20F and when I returned to the car an hour later, it started but sounded very rough and the dash lit up with a warning. I don't remember the warning but it was some sort of "limited power" warning. I killed the engine immediately, and attempted restart 15 sec later. Car would not start - starter would run for 5 sec and then stop.

I was at a loss, so I left and returned an hour later. Car started fine. Check engine light is still on. This has never happened before. I assume I need to get to a dealer to get the light cleared. Car has 15k miles on it and is only a year old.

[c3uo]

No issues here (knock on wood). Instant start with 35d, just press start button and go. It really doesn't even show the preheating note for more than a half second then starts right up. -22 C (-8 F) this morning. I would argue better than my wife's 35i X3 which has to go from high idle down to normal idle before taking off. The diesel immediately drops to normal idle and warms up quickly.

[midlifecrisis]

Originally Posted by nyquistcondition

I have a 3.5i and drove it to town Saturday night in northern NH. It was -20F and when I returned to the car an hour later, it started but sounded very rough and the dash lit up with a warning. I don't remember the warning but it was some sort of "limited power" warning. I killed the engine immediately, and attempted restart 15 sec later. Car would not start - starter would run for 5 sec and then stop.

I was at a loss, so I left and returned an hour later. Car started fine. Check engine light is still on. This has never happened before. I assume I need to get to a dealer to get the light cleared. Car has 15k miles on it and is only a year old.

I had the same thing happen with my 35d the other day when I tried to start it at two below. Check engine light still on, but it runs fine. I'll call the dealer and schedule an appointment tomorrow. This didn't happen in similar weather last year.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

Pretty much a thing of the past with modern diesels, like stated above, fuels are anti-gel these days based on where they are sold, but are good to -20C or more in a lot of places, they have arctic blends that go to -40C even. The engines themselves all have pre-heating and tight tolerances and start even at crazy low temperatures unlike the old days.

that's the problem... in my region winter blends arrive at different times throughout the year and we do a great deal of road trips. so i may fill up in an area that doesn't have the winter blend yet and be in an area where it's already winter...

[42pilot]

Originally Posted by midlifecrisis

I had the same thing happen with my 35d the other day when I tried to start it at two below. Check engine light still on, but it runs fine. I'll call the dealer and schedule an appointment tomorrow. This didn't happen in similar weather last year.

Please share what the code found by the dealer. These cars not only have glow plugs that heat wicked fast, but they also heat the fuel before it gets to the fuel rail. I would be interested in the code.

[42pilot]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

that's the problem... in my region winter blends arrive at different times throughout the year and we do a great deal of road trips. so i may fill up in an area that doesn't have the winter blend yet and be in an area where it's already winter...

I live in GA and drive my diesel pick up all over in very cold weather. During the crazy shift in temps, I use an anti-gel additive like Stanadyne or Howes or Diesel Service. The latter two can be bought at nearly any Walmart or a quality fuel station that sells diesel. I prepare 8 oz bottles per fill for just such occasions. It's what you do when you own a diesel.

[iconoclast]

excellent. i am familiar with these additives they are very popular among the audi community. i will purchase a case to have on hand when needed and to avoid any possible delays in traveling.

[wjbender]

No problem here in New Jersey - the coldest it got here this winter was 1 degree and all I saw for 1/2 second was the preheating message. It is also amazing how fast the cabin heats up on a cold day. How do they do that with a diesel?

[artem123]

I do not own diesel BMW, however coldest one i experienced with Passat TDI was -1 F, and never had issues. I use additive when it is really cold but mostly because i loved the car, not because i had to. ( i think)

[midlifecrisis]

Originally Posted by 42pilot

Please share what the code found by the dealer. These cars not only have glow plugs that heat wicked fast, but they also heat the fuel before it gets to the fuel rail. I would be interested in the code.

I took it in this morning and my SA called to report multiple mass air flow meter/sensor faults. They don't have the part so it was ordered. It's OK with me - my loaner is a brand new X5 50i X Line. Way faster and sexier than my 35d - especially with the style 451 wheels, but not a good time of year for the summer tires!

I'll put up with the loaner for a couple of days, but I'll be very happy when I get my 35d back. It's the right choice for me.

[MotoWPK]

Originally Posted by wjbender

No problem here in New Jersey - the coldest it got here this winter was 1 degree and all I saw for 1/2 second was the preheating message. It is also amazing how fast the cabin heats up on a cold day. How do they do that with a diesel?

That's a question I've asked as well. My '09 Jetta TDI had an electric cabin heater (~1KW as I recall) to address the diesels relatively long time to warm up. It was quite effective, producing usable heat faster than any of the gasoline fueled cars we owned while I had the TDI.

Next came a '13 328xi which took a really long time to move the temp gauge needle compared to previous (non-BMW) gasoline cars we'd had because it indicates oil temperature vs. water temperature (and oil temp lags water temp).

Then our '14 X5 35d, which also indicates oil temperature (vs. water) and it not only warms up considerably faster than our 328xi did, but much faster than that '09 TDI (which indicated water temp, not oil).

So how do they do that?

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by wjbender

How do they do that with a diesel?

no idea, i had a v10 tdi touareg back in the day and it took forever for the interior to warm up. when we would come off the mountain i would have to idle for about 12-15 minutes to make it tolerable for the passengers.

[artem123]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

no idea, i had a v10 tdi touareg back in the day and it took forever for the interior to warm up. when we would come off the mountain i would have to idle for about 12-15 minutes to make it tolerable for the passengers.

Gas Treg used to heat up much faster. I loved it.

[iconoclast]

yeah, no comparison. almost any standard gas/petrol engine will warm up much quicker than a diesel. especially a 10 cylinder diesel.

[drowningman]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

no idea, i had a v10 tdi touareg back in the day and it took forever for the interior to warm up. when we would come off the mountain i would have to idle for about 12-15 minutes to make it tolerable for the passengers.

I had a 2006 V10 TDI Touareg as well. These all had factory Webasto Thermo Top C diesel aux heaters that were hooked into the coolant loop to make heat fast. Interesting that yours took so long to warm up. You could tell when it was running because steam would come out from behind the left front wheel well when it was below freezing. The Eurospec V10's had a timer in the overhead console so you could program it to preheat the vehicle without running the engine or needing a plug heater.

Still waiting on the 35d, will be interesting to see how it compares, sounds like little to no issue with heat even without an aux heater.

[iconoclast]

odd, i never noticed that but also never looked. perhaps mine was faulty? i had it in the mountains often and temps were negative overnight and close to zero or low teens during the day.

[stewy604]

+1 for Webasto products. I work for a CAT dealership and se use their products in our heavy equipment.

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by MotoWPK

That's a question I've asked as well. My '09 Jetta TDI had an electric cabin heater (~1KW as I recall) to address the diesels relatively long time to warm up. It was quite effective, producing usable heat faster than any of the gasoline fueled cars we owned while I had the TDI.

Next came a '13 328xi which took a really long time to move the temp gauge needle compared to previous (non-BMW) gasoline cars we'd had because it indicates oil temperature vs. water temperature (and oil temp lags water temp).

Then our '14 X5 35d, which also indicates oil temperature (vs. water) and it not only warms up considerably faster than our 328xi did, but much faster than that '09 TDI (which indicated water temp, not oil).

So how do they do that?

diesel engines are high compression compared to gas, to an extent they don'teven have spark plugs, the diesel catches fire at high pressure in the chamber, thus the reason for crazy low rpm torque and quickly heating up, also explains the "knock" sound and why they are not quiet like gasoline