Car Trouble
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Car Trouble
Well lo and behold my strategy has backfired. I bought my 8 in late August thinking I would garage it over the winter, taking it out only sporadically to keep it "loose". The idea was to keep using my wife's old 1998 Ford Contour (w/ 86,000 miles) as my daily driver/winter car. With the coldest day of the year now upon us, I was disappointed to discover that the POS Ford wouldn't start. I didn't try too hard, knowing it was bloody cold and that I have had flooding issues with this car in the past (no 8 owners, you are not alone). My dilemma at this point is how to get this car started, and whether I should consider getting a different "beater". Funds aren't all that available right now, but it looks like keeping the Ford outside isn't going to cut it all winter. FYI, I have a 2-car garage, one spot for the 8 and one spot for my wife's MPV (and yes, her car must stay garaged). Any suggestions??? I really don't want to have to drive the 8 in the winter weather.
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Block heater for Contour? Could you and your wide carpool? Whats public transportation like up there? Trade in the Contour for a POS. That's what I did for work purposes!! Not into leaving the 8 at the airport for extended periods of time.
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MI FamilyMan,
Your strategy is just like mine this year, wife's MPV stays in the garage next to the RX8. The RX8 is ready to go on not so salty dry road days or just in case the winter beater won't start. I got Dunlop Winter Sport M3's on the RX8 and it worked great all last winter, but man was it tough to see the salt hanging off my new toy.
I wanted to get a beater last winter, but the wife said she didn't want a 3rd car that had to be parked "in the yard" all the time. Both cars are out all summer long since the garage is taken over with mini bikes, skateboards, and general kids stuff, so her argument didn't hold water any more. I went out last month and got a 93 Chevy 2wd pickup with 202,000 miles, tuned it up and so far it's started every time since I got it home. It actually wouldn't start when it was on the lot, but got it for 50% of what he was asking when it wouldn't fire
There is no reason a Contour with only 86,000 shouldn't start if it's tuned up well. Put new spark plugs in, keep the gap a little on the tight side and make sure the cap, rotor, and wires are in great shape. If you can find them, go with one heat range hotter plugs to get them warmed up a little quicker and burn off the carbon that builds up when your letting the car idle to get warm. Thin oil (0w 30 or 5w 20) and clean battery connections also help. Good luck and don't give up on the beater yet, your RX8 will thank you for it.
Your strategy is just like mine this year, wife's MPV stays in the garage next to the RX8. The RX8 is ready to go on not so salty dry road days or just in case the winter beater won't start. I got Dunlop Winter Sport M3's on the RX8 and it worked great all last winter, but man was it tough to see the salt hanging off my new toy.
I wanted to get a beater last winter, but the wife said she didn't want a 3rd car that had to be parked "in the yard" all the time. Both cars are out all summer long since the garage is taken over with mini bikes, skateboards, and general kids stuff, so her argument didn't hold water any more. I went out last month and got a 93 Chevy 2wd pickup with 202,000 miles, tuned it up and so far it's started every time since I got it home. It actually wouldn't start when it was on the lot, but got it for 50% of what he was asking when it wouldn't fire
There is no reason a Contour with only 86,000 shouldn't start if it's tuned up well. Put new spark plugs in, keep the gap a little on the tight side and make sure the cap, rotor, and wires are in great shape. If you can find them, go with one heat range hotter plugs to get them warmed up a little quicker and burn off the carbon that builds up when your letting the car idle to get warm. Thin oil (0w 30 or 5w 20) and clean battery connections also help. Good luck and don't give up on the beater yet, your RX8 will thank you for it.
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Originally Posted by irish8
Block heater for Contour? Could you and your wide carpool? Whats public transportation like up there? Trade in the Contour for a POS. That's what I did for work purposes!! Not into leaving the 8 at the airport for extended periods of time.
- Irish
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Originally Posted by oi812
MI FamilyMan,
Your strategy is just like mine this year, wife's MPV stays in the garage next to the RX8. The RX8 is ready to go on not so salty dry road days or just in case the winter beater won't start. I got Dunlop Winter Sport M3's on the RX8 and it worked great all last winter, but man was it tough to see the salt hanging off my new toy.
I wanted to get a beater last winter, but the wife said she didn't want a 3rd car that had to be parked "in the yard" all the time. Both cars are out all summer long since the garage is taken over with mini bikes, skateboards, and general kids stuff, so her argument didn't hold water any more. I went out last month and got a 93 Chevy 2wd pickup with 202,000 miles, tuned it up and so far it's started every time since I got it home. It actually wouldn't start when it was on the lot, but got it for 50% of what he was asking when it wouldn't fire
There is no reason a Contour with only 86,000 shouldn't start if it's tuned up well. Put new spark plugs in, keep the gap a little on the tight side and make sure the cap, rotor, and wires are in great shape. If you can find them, go with one heat range hotter plugs to get them warmed up a little quicker and burn off the carbon that builds up when your letting the car idle to get warm. Thin oil (0w 30 or 5w 20) and clean battery connections also help. Good luck and don't give up on the beater yet, your RX8 will thank you for it.
Your strategy is just like mine this year, wife's MPV stays in the garage next to the RX8. The RX8 is ready to go on not so salty dry road days or just in case the winter beater won't start. I got Dunlop Winter Sport M3's on the RX8 and it worked great all last winter, but man was it tough to see the salt hanging off my new toy.
I wanted to get a beater last winter, but the wife said she didn't want a 3rd car that had to be parked "in the yard" all the time. Both cars are out all summer long since the garage is taken over with mini bikes, skateboards, and general kids stuff, so her argument didn't hold water any more. I went out last month and got a 93 Chevy 2wd pickup with 202,000 miles, tuned it up and so far it's started every time since I got it home. It actually wouldn't start when it was on the lot, but got it for 50% of what he was asking when it wouldn't fire
There is no reason a Contour with only 86,000 shouldn't start if it's tuned up well. Put new spark plugs in, keep the gap a little on the tight side and make sure the cap, rotor, and wires are in great shape. If you can find them, go with one heat range hotter plugs to get them warmed up a little quicker and burn off the carbon that builds up when your letting the car idle to get warm. Thin oil (0w 30 or 5w 20) and clean battery connections also help. Good luck and don't give up on the beater yet, your RX8 will thank you for it.
#7
Originally Posted by MI_FamilyMan
The idea was to keep using my wife's old 1998 Ford Contour (w/ 86,000 miles) as my daily driver/winter car.
Someone else already suggested a heater. If you're going to do electic (plug-in) heat, I'd do multiple things at once. First, you need to heat the engine, so I'd get either a tank-type or (preferably) a freeze-plug-type heater to keep the block toasty. Then, I'd get one of the type of battery heaters that adheres to the side of the battery to keep it warm. Finally, if the block heater isn't cutting it, you can get a magnetic oil-pan heater to keep the oil from gooping up in extreme cold. A simpler solution for that would be to just run Mobil-1 0W30.
What I'd like for my car (if I had to deal with weather like that all the time) is a Webasto BlueHeat combustion heater, or something similar. This heater burns a small amount of gas from your fuel system to heat the engine coolant and circulate it through the engine. It's not dependant on being near an electrical outlet, and can be started remotely or by a timer. That way, your car can pre-heat itself an hour before you leave in the morning, and when you get in the car the engine (and therefore the interior heater) is warm. Also, if you ever get stuck in a blizzard on the highway for hours, it will keep you toasty without guzzling tons of gas idling.
Googleing on it shows references to it costing $800 - $2000 depending on options and installation complexity.
Last edited by JM1FE; 12-19-2004 at 10:33 PM.
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Originally Posted by Speed-ER doc
Move to Texas. Then you can drive your 8 all year. :p
- Irish
(Not born or raised here...however, I got here as quick as I could!!)
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My 03 MPV has been damn near flawless. That was a big reason that I bought the RX8. Good sales staff, good service staff, and fun vehicles have totally sold me on Mazda’s. I got excellent service form my dealer when the CEL came on in the MPV shortly after I got it (intermittent bad coil). Other than that, just normal service for 35,000 miles, but it needs tires soon. There is a TSB for the MPV’s on the rough shifting, but mine hasn’t done it yet. Check out the TSB’s on MPVclub.com if you haven’t yet.
3° F this morning and the beater made it to work no problems.
3° F this morning and the beater made it to work no problems.
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I spent TWO WINTERS in Muskegon MI. To this day I still measure my time in MI by winters. No way in hell that I'd slap a set of snow tires on my 8, or any other car that I cared about for that matter, just to get thru winter. The salt will eat your vehicle alive coating or no under-coating.
I was in the same predicament MI Family man. I had an MR2 and the wifes vehicle. Each winter I bought one of those $500 winter specials. Drove an Isuzu 4wd pickup the last winter up there. Truck actually looked/ran decent considering its $500 price...until half way through the winter, when the rust surfaced from underneath that brand new "cover the old rust up" paint job.
I was in the same predicament MI Family man. I had an MR2 and the wifes vehicle. Each winter I bought one of those $500 winter specials. Drove an Isuzu 4wd pickup the last winter up there. Truck actually looked/ran decent considering its $500 price...until half way through the winter, when the rust surfaced from underneath that brand new "cover the old rust up" paint job.
#13
Originally Posted by irish8
Amen...Tejas brother!!!
- Irish
(Not born or raised here...however, I got here as quick as I could!!)
- Irish
(Not born or raised here...however, I got here as quick as I could!!)
Come down to austin, we only have 2 seasons anyway and neither of them will keep you from driving the 8 :D
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Originally Posted by Speed-ER doc
Move to Texas. Then you can drive your 8 all year. :p
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Originally Posted by oi812
My 03 MPV has been damn near flawless. That was a big reason that I bought the RX8. Good sales staff, good service staff, and fun vehicles have totally sold me on Mazda’s. I got excellent service form my dealer when the CEL came on in the MPV shortly after I got it (intermittent bad coil). Other than that, just normal service for 35,000 miles, but it needs tires soon. There is a TSB for the MPV’s on the rough shifting, but mine hasn’t done it yet. Check out the TSB’s on MPVclub.com if you haven’t yet.
3° F this morning and the beater made it to work no problems.
3° F this morning and the beater made it to work no problems.
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Originally Posted by Straight8
I spent TWO WINTERS in Muskegon MI. To this day I still measure my time in MI by winters. No way in hell that I'd slap a set of snow tires on my 8, or any other car that I cared about for that matter, just to get thru winter. The salt will eat your vehicle alive coating or no under-coating.
I was in the same predicament MI Family man. I had an MR2 and the wifes vehicle. Each winter I bought one of those $500 winter specials. Drove an Isuzu 4wd pickup the last winter up there. Truck actually looked/ran decent considering its $500 price...until half way through the winter, when the rust surfaced from underneath that brand new "cover the old rust up" paint job.
I was in the same predicament MI Family man. I had an MR2 and the wifes vehicle. Each winter I bought one of those $500 winter specials. Drove an Isuzu 4wd pickup the last winter up there. Truck actually looked/ran decent considering its $500 price...until half way through the winter, when the rust surfaced from underneath that brand new "cover the old rust up" paint job.
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