Argh. Someone help the arctic F-Body boy.

[axeman]

Man I have not heard of temps that bad since I left active duty and got out of Minot.Good luck

[Big Bad James]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by andrew.brandon:
Why do you want to go somewhere in your car with it that cold. I would just stay home.<hr></blockquote>A man's gotta work, right? :D

I'll try anything, I just want my damn car to start. :( I'll give some of your suggestions a try and let you know how it goes.

The hot water thing is out though, and I'll tell you why.

It was only -28*C a month back, and I took my car to an indoor car-wash (the ones with the pressure washer and neat little foamy brush thing). I took the pressure washer (which blasts HOT f'in water, BTW) and shot at the car. The water froze within 10 seconds. I ended up spending ten dollars in loonies (that's a one-dollar coin to YOU :D ) on the friggin coin-op car wash because I couldn't get the car to stop icing over.

Now imagine -52*C. Today it's only -28*C, but that still means that hood-latch will be frozen as a motherf-.

[95DGcamaro]

The hairdryer isnt going to be able to make hot air in that temperature... It will just make the air a tiny bit warmer because of how cold it is. I tried using a hair dryer for my hockey stick outside when it was only -10* C and the thing blew air that was around -8* C. It didnt work.

Unless you have a SUPER BIG hairdryer, I doubt it will work. :(

I would just stay home [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[C.O.Jones]

Create a tent over the front hood. Doesn't matter what with, but you need to keep it fairly tight. Then get inside the tent with the hair dryer. If anything melts WIPE it up! I too once used the hot water method on a door.... froze up on me while I was driving and was a real pain in the a$$ to open from the inside.

[Die Ford V8]

Get a big bag of hot water and lay it across your hood. insulate it a little so it doesn't get cold so quick. it should melt the stuff some. go from under the car an see if you can reach the cord. or jump in a pool of water and send us a frozen cube with you in it. what a display... [img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img]

[Guardsman]

Do you have an electric blanket? Try leaving that on the hood overnight (with a tarp or something over under it and on top of it to keep it dry). Just make sure that you have a good breaker on the outlet that it's using, but you should be alright.

That should heat up the hood enough to allow you to get it open. The other thing would be those chemical hand warmers, pile a bunch of those on the hood. I know you guys have those up there, at the hunting stores :D (I grew up in Michigan).

[Big Bad James]

Good news: The battery isn't frozen, and it's actually fairly nice out right now, something like -19*C.
Bad news: The hood is still frozen shut, and the battery is too weak to start the car.

So I compromised. Alright, so the hood won't open so I can charge the battery. So I'll have to charge the battery without opening the hood.

I bought one of those solar-powered trickle-chargers. It's very VERY sunny out, so I put the charger in the rear hatch (where the most sunlight is in the car), and I'm just going to leave it for a day or so.

[CoreyCamaro]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by youngcamarokid:


I would be quite affraid of cracking metal.

Extremely cold + instantly hot = BAD.<hr></blockquote>

If you are still having trouble, start out with very cold water and slowly work your way up. It will take a while but you cant say its not worth it.

[sac2165]

Can't you just get some of that de-icer they sell in the spray can???

[MississippiMaro]

yeah it's called alcohol......fantastic de-icer..not subject to extreme temps like water is.

[Chrisz24]

I would just say F it and deal with it later.

I cant deal with the teens we had for a month, I'd slit my wrists if I had temps that cold.

[ka50]

Good news: there are things that plug into your cigarette lighter to start your car up. I donno if they work, but I know they exist. Go to your local autostore.

[Big Bad James]

I tried, and it sucked goat testicles.

The solar powered battery chargers blow, seriously. I had it plugged in for two days, it was constantly getting light, it was very bright out, and yet my battery gauge seemed to go down.

It's going into the shop for some exhaust stuff near the end of the month, or early next month, so to hell with it until then, I'll just get them to put the battery in as well.