[T3] BBbbrrrrrr!

[Jim Adney]

It was -14 F outside just before noon today, and it's probably colder 
now. This is the coldest weather we've had here in more than 20 
years. My '73 square doesn't get run much in the winters, so I put a 
charger on it a few days ago to keep the battery charged up. Did you 
know that the electrolyte in a discharged battery will freeze at a 
much higher temp than if it's charged? If I let it run down, and it 
freezes, that's really hard on the battery. Sometimes it ruins them.

Well, I figured this would be a good test. The battery should be 
fully charged and the FI should work as well as ever. Still, there 
was no joy. The 15W-40 that was in the engine was just too thick at 
this temp. Even with a fully charged battery, the starter could turn 
the engine over only very slowly, not enough to have any chance of 
starting.

While a few of you live in places that are even colder than here, I 
realize that most of you have no idea what this is like, when the 
snow gets crunchy, and the inside of your nose tickles as you breath 
in and stuff inside there freezes. It's really not bad as long as 
you're dressed for it, and as long as the wind isn't too strong. 
Unfortunately, there's a wind now that drives the wind chill to well 
below -14 F. It's hard to dress well enough to be out in that for 
long.

The charger is still attached. I'll try again in a few days, if the 
temps here get above zero.

In the meantime, we're staying indoors as much as possible.

Happy New Year, everyone!   ;-)

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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