recycled sixties

First of all thanks for the replies about winter tire advice.Next question is winter starting in an unheated garage in -20 to -30F. As I plan on driving my Boxster during the winter, can anyone tell me how hard it is to start the engine in these conditions? As there is no provision for a block heater but I do have synthetic oil, namely 0 W40, what can I expect? I have the 2.7 litre engine in my 2001. The battery is a year old. Do I have to charge up the battery every week or so?
Any info would be appreciated especially those who drive year round in cold weather.
Guy, Edmonton , Canada.

Macster

First, for temperatures below -25C Porsche recommends 0w-40 oil, so if you've got that oil in the engine that's good.

Be sure the coolant is fresh and can withstand the cold temps without freezing.

I've driven my Boxster year 'round in cold temps but not as cold as you are going to experience and while I've never had to start my Boxster's engine in -30F temps I've started the engine in 0F or a few degrees below many times and my experience is the engine cranks smartly and fires up and idles well. Takes a while to get some heat in the cabin though.

Be aware that regardless of how long you drive the car, run the engine, the coolant temp (and oil temp) will never get real warm, probably staying below 190F and maybe even lower than that.

If the battery is in good condition and you drive the car long enough after starting the engine to recharge the battery's loss of power from the engine start there should be no reason to connect a battery maintainer. However, if it is not inconvenient to do so, it wouldn't hurt to connect a quality battery maintainer.

Oh, have you thought about putting an electric heater in the garage? I used to use the style that is oil filled and shaped like an old steam radiator. The heater has a lot of surface area and while it won't make the garage toasty it can take away some of the chill, perhaps raising the garage from -25F to -15F or even warmer. Be sure you protect the garage and car against mice.

Sincerely,

Macster.

exc911ence

You might consider installing a radiator hose heater into the cooling system somewhere since a traditional block heater isn't available. I don't know how difficult this would be but it's an idea.

I'm going to watch this as I'm considering a Boxster for a daily driver (winter too) out here in Ottawa. Not quite as cold here as Edmonton, but as close as you can get.

recycled sixties

Thanks Macster and 911xcellence for your replies. A hose heater is a good suggestion. Last winter I had a 99 MX5 and it needed lots of tlc, namely block heater plugged in plus frequent boosting of the battery to keep it running after cold nights. I hope that the Boxster's bigger battery will help . I took a bit of a flyer buying this Boxster but I do like driving a sports car in winter. The Boxster is more heavy duty than a Miata and feel more confidant in the event of an accident.

I am trying to be independant of any Porsche clubs in the area. I was a member of a Miata club in Edmonton and they were hugely supportive. This is my first Porsche and find it hugely rewarding to drive. I do appreciate all your ideas about winter driving/starting. I will report my experiences on the 986 forum next winter and let u know of any problems. Your experiences and thoughts are always appreciated.
Cheers,
Guy in Edmonton, Canada.

Macster

When my 02 Boxster's original battery finally gave out I found out that Porsche had upgraded its battery recommendation from what the car left the factory with to a bigger battery.

Not only physically bigger -- more on this in a moment -- but more AH and CCAs.

As for bigger, the replacement battery was the same height, width but was longer (the long axis of the battery was bigger) so that while the replacement battery fit in the car's battery box the holddown had to be relocated to the next hold down hole from the one it was originally installed into.

A bit of a surprise to me was that there was a threaded insert behind the hole so the hold down bolt threaded right in and I had a new and larger capacity and larger size battery in the car in no time. Drop in replacement.

Porsche had made the battery box large enough to accomodate rather larger batteries. You might do some investigating and see what larger batteries are available and which ones will fit. I'd not go overboard with a huge battery even if it would fit. I'm afraid of overloading the alternator though I don't know if this is a valid concern or not.

A larger battery might give you and the car some extra margin to deal with the bigger demand on a battery having to crank/start a very cold engine.

Are you going to fit a hardtop?

I have driven in snow/ice even some small hail in my Boxster with its soft top (up of course) with no harm.

What I have found is that under certain conditions the side windows can freeze up -- stick -- so they will not drop when the door handle is pulled. You can still open the door but the window's top edge will drag against the top rail and make a noise that makes fingernails on a chalkboard sound pleasant by comparison.

But if you don't pay attention and close the door the top edge of teh window will smack the rail with a sound that will have you closing your eyes to avoid the shower of busted glass that you expect.

I never broke a window but still...

Anyhow, what I learned to do was to leave the door open and get in the car and turn on the ignition and push the window down -- not too hard -- while pressing the down button and this would break loose the glass and let the window lower. I'd raise and lower the glass a few times then check to make sure the glass would drop when the door handle was pulled.

And another thing I learned that even though the rear plastic window can be covered with a couple of inches of snow, even some ice, that with the cabin heater on and the dash vents aimed up warm air would flow along the top and the rear window and after a few minutes of driving the top and rear window would be nearly free of any signs of snow and ice.

Yet another risk is sheets of ice/frozen snow blowing off of vehicles ahead of you. My car never got hit but at least once I ducked down thinking a sheet of ice was going to come down on my car's top.

Oh, also I found while driving snow and in traffic with slush the windshield will collect snow/slush at its base, this snow/slush is shoved down by the wipers and gradually can freeze. Even if it doesn't get that solid the build up will over time block air intake into the cabin. The one time I encountered this I drove for hours -- at speeds under 25mph -- through heavy falling snow and slush on a road behind some other vehicles.

The snow/ice build up at the base of the windshield was huge -- several inches -- and the build up of ice under the wheel wells and in the radiator duct openings was also huge. I finally got out the snow and the roads were clear enough I could leave the highway and as soon as I could I found a DIY car wash with heated water and spent I don't know how much money rinsing the car to thaw/remove the snow/ice.



Lastly,if the car is parked in a cold garage the running gear heat and engine heat will melt this build up of snow/ice in the wheel wells. This water will drip down on the brake hardware and freeze and the car's brakes can be frozen. I never was unable to move the car but until I realized what was going on I stalled the engine trying to back the car out of the garage.

Sincerely,

Macster.