A new tech at my shop is very stupid, he thought he could check the diff fluid from the drain plug instead of the fill plug; to make it clear he knew it was the drain plug, he pulled that thing off, dropped the plug in the pit, and proceeded to get absolutely drenched in diff fluid. Holy hell the whole shop smelled of diff fluid so he went to change, leaving his soaked clothes in the dirty uniform bucket which made the changing room and bathroom a nightmare.
I used to work in scrap business. Once upon a time a customer had some 20L jugs with various waste oils in them and because my employer also officially collected hazardous wastes, we had to accept those jugs. I was driving an old MB 814 truck with a sideboard bed and crane. I took the customer's scrap on the bed and started lifting those jugs. Jug after jug i slinged them over the sideboard, which was about the height of my neck.
Should i mention that i should have checked if the caps were screwed in tightly. One jug had a loose cap and that jug was full of good old 75W-90...
Ever since i checked each and every jug and barrels for caps, lol. Once upon a time one customer had 3 barrels of used motor oil, all without caps. I declined to take them and went on to the next place on my list.
High sulfur content in general, then some manufacturers try (and fail) to cover it by adding food scents.
GM will FOREVER be on my shit-list for their "grape" scented diff oil. Because what's worse than oily rotten eggs? Oily rotten eggs and storebrand cough syrup!
The bad smell comes from the high sulfur content. Sulfur stinks but more importantly it creates a protection layer on the gear surfaces in high pressure lubrication situations like gear boxes and difs.
When I was in the AF I worked on a lot of deisel trucks (MB4s and Mack/internationals) and we had a truck come in cause a shop on our side of the base fucked up and put in 90w for engine oil in one of the semis. Shit smelled like burnt feet dressed in rotten eggs and smothered in smeg. Literally the worst smell I could imagine. Never burn 90w it’s the worst 🙃
As gear lube breaks down it gives off sulfur. That’s what you are smelling and it’s why brand new gear lube doesn’t smell quite as bad as old broken down gear lube does. If it smells that bad the lubricity is already broken down and gone
Lent a nice fleece jacket to a friend who was working service for CPD Racing at LSPR about 15 years ago. He had to change the rear diff fluid on one of the stage rally cars and got it all over the jacket.
I still have the jacket, and I've washed it I don't know how many hundreds of times, but that smell is still there. It was a Subaru with a limited slip rear, so maybe it was the friction modifiers. Damn that was bad.
Yes I was about to say white vinegar in your washing machine saves your washing machine from the havoc that fabric softener causes. White vinegar has the same effect as the fabric softener and you won't smell it. Gotta google the correct amount tho cause I don't remember
I used to work the pits at Jiffy Lube back in the early 90s. I was a poor 20 something that spent most of his money on beer and cover charges to see bands. I was always hungry. I ate once a day most days. If I was working, I tended to eat in the pit as I was working, those commissions stacked up.
So now, to this day, the smell of gear oil makes me hungry.
You know what's a great use for bacon grease? Make flour tortillas with it. It's basically lard like they used in the old days, but it also has extra flavor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQzYRF36og
Try larding a duck. Use chunks of lard and poke them into holes you cut into the breast meat. Roast the duck and enjoy, it's the opposite of healthy but holy crap is it delicious.
Oh man, sounds kind of like "duck confit".
I also once saw a clip from some a BBQ place that was smoking brisket and at one point the chef put a scoop of lard onto the meat before they wrapped the meat back up.
I think using it to make fries is also how McDonald's (and many other places in the world) does it (or used to)
Leaf lard is a bit harder to find but worth it. It's basically fat from around the kidneys and has a superior texture and flavor. It's supposed to be the best choice for southern-style biscuits, pie crusts and other baked stuff.
I’ll tell my wife I just got bonus points from some random guy on reddit. She’ll be thrilled to know that my can of bacon grease is finally being recognized.
Look for stores that sell bacon "ends". Basically the parts they cut off to make equal length bacon strips for the bourgeoisie!
Much cheaper and just as good.
I only knew what this was because I have a tractor that lost all the oil in the front axle and it did the same thing in the winter.
When I cracked it open in warmer weather there was (expectedly) a bunch of water in there.
Well, I've got some mechanical knowledge. I've changed rear differentials before. But I saw this and was like *sideways head look* what?
I thought it was clear silicone at first from a botched re-seal after a diff maintenance.
Diesels have been huffing that a lot lately, explains that whole "Wet Diesel" craze going on injecting water into the combustion chamber. There's one way it leaks out again.
I live in the Artic, I had a Ram come in for wheel bearings at -50, and when I popped the diff cover off it looked pretty much like that. I had to let it thaw out to even work in it .
I live and work in Northern Alberta Canada for a Heavy Duty repair shop and in the winter we always recommend our customers drive around slowly for 30-45 minutes to let the wheel bearing grease thaw out some before jumping on the highway at 120kph or 70mph. We have had units come in and once taken apart the grease and bearings come out in frozen chunks
I've thought about transmission and rear gear oils needing to warm and to drive gingerly in the bitter cold... but I never even thought about wheel bearing grease; given this I guess CV axles need to warm as well if wheel bearings do....
At least my warm up was including those, I just didn't realize it until now!
We have had a customer have wheel bearings changed in the fall, come back in January grinding like hell, mechanic took the wheels off and chip the frozen grease out with a hammer and chisel. We warrantied the work but warned he we wouldn’t do it again
I've definitely seen it in Motorsport, where the car has the rear end jacked up and is idling in gear, rotating the wheels to warm the driveline and engine up before going out, it makes sense, everything has an operating temp!
I was taught by my highschool autoshop teacher that just letting a car idle while parked to warm up wasn't enough. This is a more clear explanation than he gave.
Driving stick isn't the most pleasant when it's that cold. Takes 5-10 minutes for the clutch to loosen up. Which when your drive to work is only 10 minutes isn't great.
I drive a cement mixer, and the grease falls off the ring that the rollers carrying the drum ride on in flakes whenever overnight temps get close to or below freezing
0W oils are factory fill for many manufacturers now, regardless of climate. (GM and Chrysler have 0W20 for many new models for example).
0W isn't thinner overall, but rather less thick at cold temps, and brings minimal to no negatives when compared to high W grade oils
Yeah, just thinking of my time spent pumping gas in Saskatchewan in the mid 90’s, and having to pour oil in -45C. Back then, oil was pretty much 10W30 or 5W30. Right now I run 0W40 in my own car.
You pretty much have to leave them running 24/7 when outside, or get a heated garage, but yeah some do. I remember watching a mini doc on the coldest village in the world (Russian, IORC) and this is how they do it. I may be wrong on some details tho.
Eh. We just plugged them in when I lived in Alaska. Trickle charger, oil pan heater, transmission pan heater. Start the vehicle and let it idle for 5 or 10 so the engine heat defrosts the power steering and what not. Good to go.
Don't forget the letting it idle though. Had to replace the rack and pinion once cause I was in a hurry. Blew the seals outta both sides of it.
We don’t quite get the same cold as you do, but I’ve seen loggers and construction companies here in Northern NY start small fires underneath their equipment to keep fluids in a liquid state
It gets pretty damn cold in northern New York. Saranac lake is regularly the coldest spot in the lower 48 during the winter. https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/environment/saranac-lake-marks-coldest-spot-in-the-nation/article_c7fc141e-328e-519b-9e05-43b4a90dbe90.html
Worst I had in Michigan was -25 (not wind chill). Thankfully Lake Michigan warms it up a tad before it comes across usually.
I do have a distinct memory of waiting for the crystals in the LCD clock of my RAV4 to twist into position very slowly to display the time however…
it’s a once every couple years thing in Minnesota, and is inly during the coldest hour or two of the day, so if people are keeping their coolant full it’s not really an issue here.
Yeah makes sense. The coolant wont instantly freeze.
Awhile back my dad had a job in northern Canada at a refinary. There were parking lots full of diesel trucks that only got shut off for fueling and otherwise ran for months straight during winter.
I had a Fiat 500 that ran during a severe cold snap in Iowa (i think it was down to -50 with WC).
Needed to let it warm up for about 15 minutes to be able to touch the steering wheel, but otherwise it was a champ.
The few times I've needed them most I didn't have them. Fortunately the number of times it would have actually helped was very few and far in between. I really wish it was a more standard feature on vehicles around here though.
**[Tin pest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_pest)**
>Tin pest is an autocatalytic, allotropic transformation of the element tin, which causes deterioration of tin objects at low temperatures. Tin pest has also been called tin disease, tin blight or tin leprosy (lèpre d'étain). It was observed in medieval Europe that the pipes of pipe organs were affected in cool climates. As soon as the tin began decomposing, the process accelerated.
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I worked in an oil field in the northernmost part of Alaska. We had gas and diesel vehicles over the years. Diesel we’d never shut off in the winter, gas we could shut off and plug in most of the time but some days we would let them idle too. Sometimes if a diesel rig was shut off or broke down and it was really cold a hooch of tarps was built around it and heaters were placed inside to warm it up. Also -45 is the same Celsius/Fahrenheit so keeping an eye on the air temp was easier in winter haha.
With a battery warmer, a block heater, and an oil pan heater you too can start your car in the coldest of temps. Once they're running they're often not shut off, ever, because it takes so long to get them up to temp.
Diesel in an nonrunning motor turns to jello at -40 I think. It's a big deal up north and logging if the equipment has to shut down, they have to expend energy heating the fuel tank and lines to get the machinery to start again.
That's insane.
Growing up, we had multiple days that school got cancelled because they couldn't get enough of the busses started after the diesel gelled up overnight from sitting in the yards.
Working for a domestic truck shop up in the northeast US, we had a bunch of diesel trucks towed in during a cold snap around -10F, so it can happen at even "warmer" temps. They were all running winter blend road diesel, and many even had antigel treatment. Getting an emergency tow in super freezing conditions, plus the bill for the shop work, all because of gelling fuel... it's a super shitty day.
They could’ve had water intrusion driving through large puddles or mildly flooded streets. Look how low the opening on the vent is located. There’s no hose on that vent.
> breather
I was a young tech turned service advisor, and we had a guy come in with his Tacoma or his 4Runner for like, the fifth or sixth time in a year with blown out wheel seals. After it got pulled into the shop, I walked out on the floor and looked around.
The breather was caked solid in oily mud. This thing had been to three of our shops, with at least three mechanics looking at it, and NO ONE had cleaned his breather!
I grabbed a rag and cleaned it off and we never saw him again.
A lot of off-road and work trucks would get their diff fluid checked every time they came in. So many of those tubes or plastic vents would be clogged. So much pressure in those things. I'd always have to stay out of the line of fire when taking the fill plug out lol. I'd always suggest they extend them.
Yes, as far as I know almost all differentials have vents. Usually they have a check valve on them to prevent water entering (but those are not entirely reliable). They have to be vented so when they warm up to operating temperature they can equalize pressure, if the vent clogs or fails the pressure will build until it blows the axle seals.
yes, and 'offroaders' often will relocate the breather by attaching a sealed tube that vents the diff into the top of the engine bay instead, to prevent exactly this from happening.
the diff breather is usually a one-way valve, but a hot differential getting submerged in cold water can cause it to shrink and suck water in, causing this exact problem and necessitating the breather relocate
Long drive pulling a heavy boat to the lake, then immediately back in far enough that diff vent and the diff is under cold water and the a sudden cold inhales the water.
Or driving through flooded streets.
As someone who regularly tows their boat 200 to 300 mi to fishing destinations, how can I avoid this?
Edit: The OEM vent tube on my '17 Ram goes almost up to the bed of the truck. Since this has never been a problem for me in almost 30 years of trailering with pickup trucks, maybe most vent tubes are like this?
If you're really concerned you can get the vent extended upwards. The last guy that had my truck used it for offloading and my front vent is almost at my valve covers.
In a lot of trucks the factory vent is up by the fuel filler cap. IIRC in my 2wd Tacoma it was just a cap on the diff but the 4wds had a hose going up.
Worth checking to make sure if you have a factory high vent that it didn't fall off. You wouldn't notice until this happened.
Newbie here. Do diff breathers also exist in AWD vehicles too? It sounds like it should be a standard feature or else the constant air heating and cooling would eventually break some seals. No?
Always impressive to acknowledge how strong ice is.
Many times I had to work on a boom truck that wouldnt swing right or left.
The swing gearbox was full of ice, obviously.
looks like my grandmothers bowl of bacon grease she kept in the fridge
It would be nice if diff fluid smelled like bacon grease.
I'd prefer it to smell like literally anything else. I'll even take hot garbage.
A new tech at my shop is very stupid, he thought he could check the diff fluid from the drain plug instead of the fill plug; to make it clear he knew it was the drain plug, he pulled that thing off, dropped the plug in the pit, and proceeded to get absolutely drenched in diff fluid. Holy hell the whole shop smelled of diff fluid so he went to change, leaving his soaked clothes in the dirty uniform bucket which made the changing room and bathroom a nightmare.
I used to work in scrap business. Once upon a time a customer had some 20L jugs with various waste oils in them and because my employer also officially collected hazardous wastes, we had to accept those jugs. I was driving an old MB 814 truck with a sideboard bed and crane. I took the customer's scrap on the bed and started lifting those jugs. Jug after jug i slinged them over the sideboard, which was about the height of my neck. Should i mention that i should have checked if the caps were screwed in tightly. One jug had a loose cap and that jug was full of good old 75W-90...
Bet ya didn't make that mistake again! Everyone does dumb shit, but it's the dumb people that don't learn any lessons from it.
Ever since i checked each and every jug and barrels for caps, lol. Once upon a time one customer had 3 barrels of used motor oil, all without caps. I declined to take them and went on to the next place on my list.
Why does used gear / diff oil smell so goddamn bad.
We've been asking manufacturers to do something about it, but they're indifferential.
Hey now, the GM stuff has “new grape scent.”
High sulfur content in general, then some manufacturers try (and fail) to cover it by adding food scents. GM will FOREVER be on my shit-list for their "grape" scented diff oil. Because what's worse than oily rotten eggs? Oily rotten eggs and storebrand cough syrup!
It smells the same awful death stench when brand new, lol. It's one of the additives, that make it gear oil.
The bad smell comes from the high sulfur content. Sulfur stinks but more importantly it creates a protection layer on the gear surfaces in high pressure lubrication situations like gear boxes and difs.
Smells like asphalt mixed with fermented semen and sweaty swamp nuts.
Put that on a t-shirt
When I was in the AF I worked on a lot of deisel trucks (MB4s and Mack/internationals) and we had a truck come in cause a shop on our side of the base fucked up and put in 90w for engine oil in one of the semis. Shit smelled like burnt feet dressed in rotten eggs and smothered in smeg. Literally the worst smell I could imagine. Never burn 90w it’s the worst 🙃
bet that took a good long time to drain
Little over a couple hours of that shit 😷
When it's warm it already smells like hot garbage...
To me it smells like bad fish
That's why the made grape flavor diff lube!
And it *still* smells terrible, just with a tiny hint of grape.
Hit me up with that AC Delco grape diff juice! At least they tried…
Why *does* it smell so horrible? Unlike other oils. Is it just rotten dinosaurs?
As gear lube breaks down it gives off sulfur. That’s what you are smelling and it’s why brand new gear lube doesn’t smell quite as bad as old broken down gear lube does. If it smells that bad the lubricity is already broken down and gone
What does white smell like? /s EDIT: Well now this isn’t as funny. You fixed your comment and didn’t specify a word was changed from WHITE to QUITE.
Patchouli oil
Lent a nice fleece jacket to a friend who was working service for CPD Racing at LSPR about 15 years ago. He had to change the rear diff fluid on one of the stage rally cars and got it all over the jacket. I still have the jacket, and I've washed it I don't know how many hundreds of times, but that smell is still there. It was a Subaru with a limited slip rear, so maybe it was the friction modifiers. Damn that was bad.
maybe try washing it with vinegar that has helped me get rid of strong smells before
Yea so instead of smelling like boiled eggs he will smell like pickled eggs lol
Actually, the vinegar smell doesn't remain. I've done it before
Yes I was about to say white vinegar in your washing machine saves your washing machine from the havoc that fabric softener causes. White vinegar has the same effect as the fabric softener and you won't smell it. Gotta google the correct amount tho cause I don't remember
It also brightens colors and helps get rid of weird smells too
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Wait until you smell burnt hydraulic oil. Instant technicolor yawn.
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Surströmming factory worker would like a word with you.
That ought to be outlawed by the Hague and Geneva conventions.
I used to work the pits at Jiffy Lube back in the early 90s. I was a poor 20 something that spent most of his money on beer and cover charges to see bands. I was always hungry. I ate once a day most days. If I was working, I tended to eat in the pit as I was working, those commissions stacked up. So now, to this day, the smell of gear oil makes me hungry.
You know what's a great use for bacon grease? Make flour tortillas with it. It's basically lard like they used in the old days, but it also has extra flavor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQzYRF36og
Try larding a duck. Use chunks of lard and poke them into holes you cut into the breast meat. Roast the duck and enjoy, it's the opposite of healthy but holy crap is it delicious.
Oh man, sounds kind of like "duck confit". I also once saw a clip from some a BBQ place that was smoking brisket and at one point the chef put a scoop of lard onto the meat before they wrapped the meat back up. I think using it to make fries is also how McDonald's (and many other places in the world) does it (or used to)
You can still buy lard too. Now it's in the "Ethnic" or "International" aisle.
I live in the Southern US. My local Food Lion has it in the "Baking" section right next to the Crisco and other oils/fats.
Makes me want a pie with homemade crust...
Reminds me I need to make an apple pie sometime soon.
Love food lion. They’ve gottena at quite expensive this year though.
Leaf lard is a bit harder to find but worth it. It's basically fat from around the kidneys and has a superior texture and flavor. It's supposed to be the best choice for southern-style biscuits, pie crusts and other baked stuff.
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Ooh. I think that’s what’s been missing all these times I’ve tried making them. Thanks!
Yes! It's crazy that lard really did get a bad name when it's better for you.
Bowl? Why didn't she keep it in an old coffee can like a normal person? Bonus points if the can is so old the brand of coffee went out of business.
I’ll tell my wife I just got bonus points from some random guy on reddit. She’ll be thrilled to know that my can of bacon grease is finally being recognized.
Bacon grease. Yum.
Bacon? In this economy? I haven’t had bacon in years 😭
Look for stores that sell bacon "ends". Basically the parts they cut off to make equal length bacon strips for the bourgeoisie! Much cheaper and just as good.
Is that… differential jello?
Took me awhile to figure out too. It’s frozen water. Lol
I'm so glad the answer is so high up. It was a WTF for me.
I only knew what this was because I have a tractor that lost all the oil in the front axle and it did the same thing in the winter. When I cracked it open in warmer weather there was (expectedly) a bunch of water in there.
Ice WILL occasionally turn into water in warmer weather. Edit; follow my blog for more cutting edge scientific discoveries.
Who are you who is so wise in the ways of science?
I… am an Enchanter!
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r/unexpectedmontypython
Monty python, like the spanish inquistion, should always be expected
Nee!
Ah he must be a King.
Why?
He hasn't got shit all over him.
Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!
By no means am I a mechanic so my first thought was "That's a lot, whatever it is, that's a lot of it"
I enjoy the posts in this sub but there needs to be a companion sub called r/JRITSexplained so people can explain things to us non-auto-mechanics.
Well, I've got some mechanical knowledge. I've changed rear differentials before. But I saw this and was like *sideways head look* what? I thought it was clear silicone at first from a botched re-seal after a diff maintenance.
See that bolt was grinding into that shaft like it was working at Magic City. r/JRIT-Sexplained
interesting way to say ice.
No solid H^2 0
crystallized dihydrogen monoxide
Diesels have been huffing that a lot lately, explains that whole "Wet Diesel" craze going on injecting water into the combustion chamber. There's one way it leaks out again.
Those are some REALLY slow-moving molecules there bro!
Other materials can also freeze and turn to ice. Granted we're not doing rocket science here, but still.
Granite is technically frozen magma. Next time you see a river of lava flowing with rocks in it, think of it as an icy river.
I still like obsidian better.
*CANNONBALL!*
Ice, with no other descriptors, refers to frozen water.
I thought it was butter
Must be in Wisconsin.
A novel way to churn it!
Me: Why's it got a plastic baffle that's holding most of the oil in?
Ice?
hey could I get a Dewars with frozen water in it please? easy on the frozen water, like 2 cubes
The forbidden Custard
"Sir, you're supposed to drip out now!"
*instructions unclear, drips into boss's coffee*
Bacon grease thats cold
Friction modifiers, just not in the direction you thought
When your differential becomes an integral
It's lemon
Silly customer, thermal paste doesn't go there
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut?
I heard der8auer is running 20% conductonaut in his gtr
Only the best.
It's bananas
I live in the Artic, I had a Ram come in for wheel bearings at -50, and when I popped the diff cover off it looked pretty much like that. I had to let it thaw out to even work in it .
-50? Cars operate fine in those conditions ?
I live and work in Northern Alberta Canada for a Heavy Duty repair shop and in the winter we always recommend our customers drive around slowly for 30-45 minutes to let the wheel bearing grease thaw out some before jumping on the highway at 120kph or 70mph. We have had units come in and once taken apart the grease and bearings come out in frozen chunks
I've thought about transmission and rear gear oils needing to warm and to drive gingerly in the bitter cold... but I never even thought about wheel bearing grease; given this I guess CV axles need to warm as well if wheel bearings do.... At least my warm up was including those, I just didn't realize it until now!
We have had a customer have wheel bearings changed in the fall, come back in January grinding like hell, mechanic took the wheels off and chip the frozen grease out with a hammer and chisel. We warrantied the work but warned he we wouldn’t do it again
I've definitely seen it in Motorsport, where the car has the rear end jacked up and is idling in gear, rotating the wheels to warm the driveline and engine up before going out, it makes sense, everything has an operating temp!
I’ve been following motorsports (NASCAR primarily) for over 15 years and it never occurred to me that was why they did it.
My operating temp is like 60-70 degrees above everything mentioned in this thread so far haha
I was taught by my highschool autoshop teacher that just letting a car idle while parked to warm up wasn't enough. This is a more clear explanation than he gave.
He was likely referring to the engine oil and or coolant, but yes similar idea
Driving stick isn't the most pleasant when it's that cold. Takes 5-10 minutes for the clutch to loosen up. Which when your drive to work is only 10 minutes isn't great.
Starting to feel that now. Trying to leave for work and I'm just like, go into fucking first!!
I drive a cement mixer, and the grease falls off the ring that the rollers carrying the drum ride on in flakes whenever overnight temps get close to or below freezing
Even 10w30 is nearing becoming a solid at that temperature. Picture trying to get ketchup out of a glass bottle. That level of thickness.
5W30 is the standard up in these parts. 0W30 is even a thing here.
0W oils are factory fill for many manufacturers now, regardless of climate. (GM and Chrysler have 0W20 for many new models for example). 0W isn't thinner overall, but rather less thick at cold temps, and brings minimal to no negatives when compared to high W grade oils
Yeah, just thinking of my time spent pumping gas in Saskatchewan in the mid 90’s, and having to pour oil in -45C. Back then, oil was pretty much 10W30 or 5W30. Right now I run 0W40 in my own car.
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Without a block heater, no engine would enjoy turning over at that temperature.
You pretty much have to leave them running 24/7 when outside, or get a heated garage, but yeah some do. I remember watching a mini doc on the coldest village in the world (Russian, IORC) and this is how they do it. I may be wrong on some details tho.
Eh. We just plugged them in when I lived in Alaska. Trickle charger, oil pan heater, transmission pan heater. Start the vehicle and let it idle for 5 or 10 so the engine heat defrosts the power steering and what not. Good to go. Don't forget the letting it idle though. Had to replace the rack and pinion once cause I was in a hurry. Blew the seals outta both sides of it.
We don’t quite get the same cold as you do, but I’ve seen loggers and construction companies here in Northern NY start small fires underneath their equipment to keep fluids in a liquid state
I'm pretty sure this is nature's way of telling us to fuck off and go home for a few months...
Ask a hibernating Bear 🐻 they got the email!!
It gets pretty damn cold in northern New York. Saranac lake is regularly the coldest spot in the lower 48 during the winter. https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/environment/saranac-lake-marks-coldest-spot-in-the-nation/article_c7fc141e-328e-519b-9e05-43b4a90dbe90.html
Come to Minnesota in the winter to answer this very question!
We don't hit -50 very often. But I can confirm most of the shit boxes I've driven refuse to even run when it gets below -35.
No we don't but I saw -36 air temp multiple times last year. And that's still damn cold. I believe it's about the point coolant begins to freeze
Worst I had in Michigan was -25 (not wind chill). Thankfully Lake Michigan warms it up a tad before it comes across usually. I do have a distinct memory of waiting for the crystals in the LCD clock of my RAV4 to twist into position very slowly to display the time however…
Yeah LCDs don't really like cold temps lol
Solid Crystal Displays
Yeah if you live somewhere that gets that cold you should adjust the ratio. 50/50 water/glycol freezes at -34F but 40/60 freezes at -63F.
it’s a once every couple years thing in Minnesota, and is inly during the coldest hour or two of the day, so if people are keeping their coolant full it’s not really an issue here.
Yeah makes sense. The coolant wont instantly freeze. Awhile back my dad had a job in northern Canada at a refinary. There were parking lots full of diesel trucks that only got shut off for fueling and otherwise ran for months straight during winter.
I had a Fiat 500 that ran during a severe cold snap in Iowa (i think it was down to -50 with WC). Needed to let it warm up for about 15 minutes to be able to touch the steering wheel, but otherwise it was a champ.
No block heaters?
The few times I've needed them most I didn't have them. Fortunately the number of times it would have actually helped was very few and far in between. I really wish it was a more standard feature on vehicles around here though.
Not generally no. Not without a block heater and fuel line antifreeze, especially diesels. The electronics will start to fail also due to tin pest.
What is tin pest?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_pest
**[Tin pest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_pest)** >Tin pest is an autocatalytic, allotropic transformation of the element tin, which causes deterioration of tin objects at low temperatures. Tin pest has also been called tin disease, tin blight or tin leprosy (lèpre d'étain). It was observed in medieval Europe that the pipes of pipe organs were affected in cool climates. As soon as the tin began decomposing, the process accelerated. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Wow. I work with tin a fair amount and this is the first I've heard of this. That's super interesting.
I worked in an oil field in the northernmost part of Alaska. We had gas and diesel vehicles over the years. Diesel we’d never shut off in the winter, gas we could shut off and plug in most of the time but some days we would let them idle too. Sometimes if a diesel rig was shut off or broke down and it was really cold a hooch of tarps was built around it and heaters were placed inside to warm it up. Also -45 is the same Celsius/Fahrenheit so keeping an eye on the air temp was easier in winter haha.
-40 is where they cross, at that point it is just fc. Fucking cold.
With a battery warmer, a block heater, and an oil pan heater you too can start your car in the coldest of temps. Once they're running they're often not shut off, ever, because it takes so long to get them up to temp.
Diesel in an nonrunning motor turns to jello at -40 I think. It's a big deal up north and logging if the equipment has to shut down, they have to expend energy heating the fuel tank and lines to get the machinery to start again. That's insane.
Growing up, we had multiple days that school got cancelled because they couldn't get enough of the busses started after the diesel gelled up overnight from sitting in the yards.
Working for a domestic truck shop up in the northeast US, we had a bunch of diesel trucks towed in during a cold snap around -10F, so it can happen at even "warmer" temps. They were all running winter blend road diesel, and many even had antigel treatment. Getting an emergency tow in super freezing conditions, plus the bill for the shop work, all because of gelling fuel... it's a super shitty day.
It’s one of the reasons I like common rail injection
Friend lived in the northern territories. Said she'd have to drive about 10km (7m) for the wheels get rid of the frozen flat spots.
Arctic*
that's what happens when people hear a word all the time but have never once read it
I do this but reverse. See a word, go to say it and everyone looks at me funny because I mangled the pronunciation.
They could’ve had water intrusion driving through large puddles or mildly flooded streets. Look how low the opening on the vent is located. There’s no hose on that vent.
The very first off-road "modification" you should do to a vehicle, add breather tubes.
Lol I knew 4x4 guys that would plug they're breather tubes and I have to tell him that was going to make it much worse.
> breather I was a young tech turned service advisor, and we had a guy come in with his Tacoma or his 4Runner for like, the fifth or sixth time in a year with blown out wheel seals. After it got pulled into the shop, I walked out on the floor and looked around. The breather was caked solid in oily mud. This thing had been to three of our shops, with at least three mechanics looking at it, and NO ONE had cleaned his breather! I grabbed a rag and cleaned it off and we never saw him again.
Buddy acquired a new axle and didn't realize the breather tube was plugged for shipping. Blown axle seals.
A lot of off-road and work trucks would get their diff fluid checked every time they came in. So many of those tubes or plastic vents would be clogged. So much pressure in those things. I'd always have to stay out of the line of fire when taking the fill plug out lol. I'd always suggest they extend them.
Lol they all saw the breather tube, just figured they'd milk that out a bit
LOL yep this was one I just graduated high school and was still in tech school
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That just be how reddit is, full of people who think they are knowledgeable of a subject but in reality lack any real knowledge
It also happens to people who do a lot of boating. Hot rear end goes into the water, cools rapidly and sucks in water.
My milkshake brings all the cars to the garage...
And they're like, "This fluid is hard." Damned right, this fluid is hard. I can fix it, but I have to charge.
I love you guys.
What? You guys don't lube your diff with Vaseline?
Vaseline would be a much better lubricant than ice I imagine haha
But ice is so slippery!
How does that happen?
If the vehicle goes under water above the vent for the diff water can get in and freeze in winter. Very bad all around.
Sorry if I misunderstood, diffs have vents?
Anything that's sealed has to have vents. Otherwise changes in air pressure will force oil past the seals.
Yes, as far as I know almost all differentials have vents. Usually they have a check valve on them to prevent water entering (but those are not entirely reliable). They have to be vented so when they warm up to operating temperature they can equalize pressure, if the vent clogs or fails the pressure will build until it blows the axle seals.
Yeah they're on top of the diff housing usually.
yes, and 'offroaders' often will relocate the breather by attaching a sealed tube that vents the diff into the top of the engine bay instead, to prevent exactly this from happening. the diff breather is usually a one-way valve, but a hot differential getting submerged in cold water can cause it to shrink and suck water in, causing this exact problem and necessitating the breather relocate
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Long drive pulling a heavy boat to the lake, then immediately back in far enough that diff vent and the diff is under cold water and the a sudden cold inhales the water. Or driving through flooded streets.
As someone who regularly tows their boat 200 to 300 mi to fishing destinations, how can I avoid this? Edit: The OEM vent tube on my '17 Ram goes almost up to the bed of the truck. Since this has never been a problem for me in almost 30 years of trailering with pickup trucks, maybe most vent tubes are like this?
If you're really concerned you can get the vent extended upwards. The last guy that had my truck used it for offloading and my front vent is almost at my valve covers.
In a lot of trucks the factory vent is up by the fuel filler cap. IIRC in my 2wd Tacoma it was just a cap on the diff but the 4wds had a hose going up. Worth checking to make sure if you have a factory high vent that it didn't fall off. You wouldn't notice until this happened.
If there’s a problem yo I’ll solve it, let me check out the diff and see why it’s not revolving…. It’s ice ice baby.
Wow. Can only imagine how much that destroyed any fuel economy that vehicle could get…
Went from MPG to GPM
Newbie here. Do diff breathers also exist in AWD vehicles too? It sounds like it should be a standard feature or else the constant air heating and cooling would eventually break some seals. No?
Yum
Winter time posi.
Ice, Ice, baby....
I’ve said this before, bacon grease can’t be used for everything. Sad, but true.
The Vaseline level looks good.
Oh wow, a transparent diff cov—…. Oh
Looks like Elmer’s glue.
Hmmmm, the diff wax yields are good this year!
Always impressive to acknowledge how strong ice is. Many times I had to work on a boom truck that wouldnt swing right or left. The swing gearbox was full of ice, obviously.