cold start?

[mrein3]

Originally Posted by 72chevynoob

Is it possible to get a carbed engine to cold start easily? By cold start I mean -20*C, but it goes all the way down to -40*C here which is the same as farenheit -40.Just out of interest's sake because my dad said its not possible. My truck will probably never run in the winter except when the circulating coolant heater has warmed it up to operating temps.
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-20C is only -4 fahrenheit. You should be able to EASILY start a vehicle like our trucks at -4F. Just last week I had a -18F (-27.7C) start with my truck after an evening of fishing.
Here is my winter checklist (stuff you do in October so your old car starts and runs in January and February):
1. test your antifreeze to -40 (as you so eloquently put it F and C are the same at -40).
2. 10w-30 in the crank case. I used to run 10w-40 summer, 10w-30 winter. Now I just run 10w-30 year-round.
3. I've never put anything but -20 washer fluid in my washer fluid tank but if you did cheap out and use water this summer, now is the time to get it out of there. And flush the lines to the sprayers.

Thats about it. I'm usually good to -20F. Anything below that can get dicey. Oil starts getting real thick at those temps and bad things can happen. When it gets that cold you're best off with your car plugged in to a block heater or a heater hose heater - anything to get some warmth in the engine.

PanelDeland - Yes. Coolant heaters work. Before I had a garage it was the difference between starting and not on a really cold morning.

20 years ago I worked with a guy that grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. I asked him, how do you start a car when the temps are -40 to -50 (air temp, not wind chill - wind chill has NO effect on a car). He said we just left them running.