I've done some digging around in this forum and I found two diff set of response. not sure which one is right so let's see if anyone else here have the same problem

so for those who are from Calgary, im pretty sure by now you are aware of how effin cold it is (-30 degree according to the car computer)! this morning I started my car in the garage, the engine revs to ~ 5rev initally and the coolant light came on for ~ 30 secs then off. today when I left schoool, same thing.. coolant light came on for ~ 30 secs then off..

so is this normal and I can just ignore or something i should look into?? anyone else having the same problem?

 

Open your hood and check your coolant you may need to fill it with some 50/50 Prestone coolant. When was the last time your dealer replaced your fluids?

 

I had it happen many times this winter. Next time I had it into the dealer, they topped it up. It's happened maybe once since.

 

Usually mine revs to 5000rpm for 1 minute or 2 then goes back down...

but today, my car kept revving itself to 2000rpm, on and off throttle for 7 minutes...was not cool, looked like my car was on fire or something because it was creating so much pollution...

as for the coolant light, mine has never come on before...

 

YOU even drove today? it is really cold today but i didnt drive cuz of the deep snow from yesterday, especially around university....actually, my coolant lights went on once a while ago, maybe last semester; i thought it was normal and mine stayed there even shorter like 5 secs. but the next week, my car went to the shop due to engine stalls... i am not scaring u and i am not saying its just the symptom of engine stalls( its just a story)...i still think its normal, but maybe you should have your car to the shop for a coolant change service....good luck dying...

 

Wow -30 is that degrees C?? That is cold! My car drives good in the cold weather. For some reason it seem faster at low rpm when it is cold...I know weird...

Then again it doesn't get that cold here....0 to -10C is the norm...

 

My coolant light didnt' come on BUT....

well, I parked my car at work for around 8 hours outside today. When I was starting the car after work. The car was tough to start, which was to be expected in a cold day like this. But the check engine light stayed on and the wheel skidding light was on. Because the wheel skidding light was on, my car wouldn't react to any throttle inputs... so I ended up calling the dealer. They were very helpful and told me to turn off the car and wait a couple of minutes before restarting. She said that the check engine light will stay on and as long as it is not blinking, it would be alright. The trick did work, the skidding light was off but this time the power steering warning light was on (along with the check engine light) and I couldn't turn the wheel... I turned off the car and restarted it a few time before the light was off and I was able to leave for home after over 20 min.

I was a little bit concern but glad that I was able to go home today. Tomorrow I will go out for lunch so that my car won't sit in the same place for the entire day.

 

Mine was exactly the same as LittleRx8 described today also
When I clutch in, it seems to stop the on and off, but once I release it, it goes on and off again

 

Lol, It's normal, after all, its like a "Nature CAI" .

 

LOL I'm glad someone started a thread about todays temps.. I didnt get the coolant light but the 5K rev (thats a full K higher than anytime last winter) and it actually idled down nicer than last winter's deep freeze too. After it was warm and I was driving away, my steering light came on. Power steering failed. I pulled over, shut it off, tried what the manual said.. no go. Got it home, pulled the fuse, garage is significantly warmer (zero C), and now its fine.
I'd double check your coolant, but if all of us had weird stuff today, it just might be normal
On a sidenote, I saw the display say -33 when i left this morning, just outside the city limits.. oh the agony!

EDIT.. CLOUD.. looks like we had a similar problem! When will I learn to read everything first BEFORE posting..

 

At least your 8s all started. Mine has, probably, a frozen fuel line. It's parked in my girlfriend's driveway until things warm up. I took the battery out tonight to keep it warm inside.

*sigh* Calgary Transit, here I come.

 

Man am I glad I moved to California.

Found some Gold too!

 

I was waiting for an extreme weather thread to pop up today! I haven't attempted to start the 8 in such cold weather so I wouldn't be able to put my 2 cents in... but from what I've read... its all normal. And these US guys are complaining about their hard starts in 30F!

 

What are you doing here Razz??? Get out---->

Let's trade places...

 

Haha, today it did the same thing, but only for a minute. Guess it lasted longer yesterday because I didn't drive the 8 for the whole weekend.

Anyone else notice the 8 makes alot of pollution compared to other cars? haha...it looked like my car was on fire or something, when I started her at UoC parking lot. People were giving me a funny look.

 

I thought it was -50 today in calgary and sask with high winds

 

Agree.. lol Coolant light came on for a few times when I ravved to 8000rpm so I figured I'd top off some coolant, and it never came back on again...

 

ya it's like -48 or something with windchill I heard..

 

haha I know wat you mean, it seems to generate alot of smokes from the exhaust eh. Today in lot32 a person was walking pass my car while I was starting it up, and i guess it generated so much smoke that he couldn't see where he was going so he ended up walking into this other car hah.. then this person 2 car adjacent to me was trying to get some stuff from the back of his seats and he just closed his door and waited for me to leave because the wind was blowing all the smoke into his direction and literately covered his entire car.. Its awesome if you ask me :P

 

i thought it was a weird thing. i always got confused about this cuz every time when i was warming up it in the uofc parking lot, i always had a smoke while warming. i found out my car produced a lot more smoke than i do; then when i looked at others, i couldnt even see any smoke.
sometimes in the morning when i was just about to leave the first traffic light by my condo, i couldnt even see the car behind me. i sometimes thought probably my cat had been broken and i asked myself how come it didnt throw a cel?

 

Mon, Tues, weren't too bad for driving even though it was super cold, but today was quite bad for me even though it's not as cold as the past two days.

ABS came on quite a few times today, sliding me nearly into the intersects. I think there's more ice today because it snowed a little last night, creating a thin layer of ice that wasn't there there on Mon, Tues. And traffic was pretty bad today as well, guess everyone was being affected by the thin layers of ice, not just me.

 

My coolant light constantly comes on when I start, but will turn off after a bit. I've had the power steering go on me once. Car didn't even start 2 days ago. Now my center console is not working and my windows are fogging up.

 

the Ice on the road IS HORRIBLE, almost died a couple times today driving in the community behind New Asia Mall. Stupid Bimmer was tailgating me tonight cuz I was going 3km under speeed limit going up hill, so he/she rev'd up , switched line then passed me while going back into my lane, sending thousands of sands and gravel my way... im sure I got a few rockchips from that.. f**ken BMW drivers..

BTW Topped up my coolant today, problem solved.

 

^^ good to hear you're still in one piece.. stone chips and all.. you've got a few to catch up to me.. damn highway commute

Hope everyone's 8's are running a little better today, no weird lights, its nicer out now..!

 

Haha...I had my own problems with idiot drivers on Monday. Some white Civic hatch was tailgating me into the NW Costco stripmall. The entrance to the mall was glazed of course, so I started braking before hitting the ice. I saw the Civic was still accelerating up to my car so I had to take the right turn quicker than I wanted. Oversteer'd like crazy and nearly into a curb but I somehow saved it. After, I looked into the rearview mirror, and there's an Audi behind me. Where did the Civic go?? I looked further back, and saw the civic in a pile of snow.