Cold temps and sluggish everything

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:40 pm

When I was driving home from work it felt like the srt was filled with damn corn syrup. The car got up to operating temp but the whole way home my brake and clutch pedal and tranny were wayyyyy too difficult to move. I'm guessing its just cause it was cold as hell out, but its never been like this before. Any ideas?

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:02 am

Are you kidding me?! 16 views and no reply..... Sweet.

60trim · Post by **60trim** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:33 am

My owners manual says that its normal when its cold outside. It doesn't "hurt" the tranny, but thats just a scheme from DC to get more money out of you.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:37 am

My throttle gets stiff when it rains. Sometimes. Does that help?

JK, sounds like normal car mood swings to me. The clutch and brake systems only share one thing: hydraulic fluid. That would be the first thing to look into if you're concerned about it. How cold are we talkin?

60trim · Post by **60trim** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:24 pm

-35...not including wind chill

lol j/k

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:26 pm

"Sluggish everything" is normal when driving in the cold... at least until all the moving parts and fluids warm up.

Keep in mind that cold for me will be a temperature that is at least in the double digit negative zone.

When it is like that I start it up, let it warm up for a few minutes then start driving but take it smooth and easy for a few miles.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:29 pm

We're close to that here. Been hovering between -25°C and -30°C without wind chills. Warming up this weekend to -10°C or so.

Everything runs slow until it warms up, although I don't have the clutch issue as mine's calbe. The gearbox fluid does get kinda thick though. Most annoying thing is the door, the grease in the one froze and now it doesn't shut until it warms up

Need to liquid wrench the hell out of it this weekend.

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:56 pm

I have same issue...

also, you posted at 11pm at night, and then check again 12 hours later, give it some time man! MOST people sleep between those times

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:03 pm

Although we don't get as cold here, it is still enough to make everything feel like it is dipped in maple syrup. Morning warm-ups are a must.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:52 pm

Cold here is 25F and it hasnt even gotten that low in a month or two. With rain and wind it feels a lot colder, especially when im at work in the middle of the night. I'm lucky in that sense I suppose. Gotta love CA!

Post by **racer12306** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:12 pm

When it was about 0*F here on monday morning my car was like that. It took it a second to fire up.

I couldn't believe how "firm" the clutch was.

Marthby · Post by **Marthby** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:59 pm

A car is like a human body in a way, do you perform as well in the cold as you do when the weather is perfect? Doubt it, and neither does your car. I let my car warm up in idle for 3 minutes before driving it in cold weather.

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:24 am

Even in the summer, you should take it easy on her until the temp needle is at normal operating temp. Goosing it cold, especially in a turbo car sucks cuz the oil is so much thicker, and can't splash-lubricate as well, and less volume will go through the lines to the turbo. When it's cold, I would recommend stay less than 2k RPM, and less than 5% throttle. Just enough throttle to cruise.

OB · Post by OB » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:48 pm

^At 5% throttle (is that humanly possible?) and <2K RPM it would take 15 mins to get up to the speed limit. I've heard that 5/8 of the engines redline is a good max rev for a cold engine. Using that theory, somewhere around 3000-3500 RPM is a good max rev range on a cold motor. Letting any engine warm up for at least 30 seconds or longer is a very good idea as well, maybe as much as 2-3 minutes in extra cold conditions. I try to give mine as much time as possible, but my car is parked in a garage so I can bend the rules a bit when i'm in a hurry

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:13 am

This could be the very reason why I have bad blowby on my 05. I'd start it, and as the revs were dropped I'd be adding the gas to go.

Waking up at 620, with a 40 minute drive to work, and have to be there at 7? Bad.

Post by **racer12306** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:35 pm

On my fiance's beetle there was actually a cold temp light. until it went out you weren't supposed to go wide open or go above 50mph.

I tend to keep the car under 3000 rpm's when cold, but once the temp needle gets out of the blue mark, its game on.