[anarkietown]

Hey everyone,

I've noticed that with the colder temperatures around here lately (between -5 and 5 celsius), my 2.3i hasn't been performing as well as it should...

I noticed similar symptoms last fall and winter... When I start the car from cold, it's a little rough, but nothing too serious. The roughness tends to smooth out after about a minute or so. However, when I start off, my acceleration from a standstill isn't very good... in fact, it's almost as if the car has to "think about it" for half a second, and then it goes. Using fuel line antifreeze definitely helps with this, but my question is what to use? Methanol seems to work really well, but I've heard it's not good for fuel-injected cars. I've read that isopropyl alcohol is best, although it's more expensive than methanol. Of course, I assumed that all the petroleum companies here put antifreeze in their fuel already...

Any thoughts on what I can do to remedy this situation? (by the way, I always keep my tank at least 1/2 full, usually above 2/3).

cheers!

 

[Mark in Ireland]

Is your throttle body water heated because I understand they could ice up in damp cold conditions.

 

[anarkietown]

Yep, my throttle body IS heated by the coolant system. I don't usually seem to have a problem when the engine is at operating temperature, but that could be due to two things: Either the coolant is heating the throttle body and melting any ice in it, OR the fuel is being warmed by the engine compartment and being returned to the tank, thus warming up (and melting) any ice in the tank.

I'm going to go add some isopropyl to my tank... Does anyone else in colder climates have similar experiences?

 

[wedgepilot]

Slightly O/T, but what's the freezing point of petrol then? I'd always thought it would be well below zero celcius?

 

[PekkaAnttila]

Finland may be very cold - up to 30 minus centagree. It is a must to put extra liquid to the petroleum, otherwise there comes ice and running problems. Just a little, e.g. half a litre per three fillings. In Finland preheating the motor block for 1.. max 2 hours is also needed.

Kindly

 

[Derek]

Slightly O/T, but what's the freezing point of petrol then? I'd always thought it would be well below zero celcius?[/b]

I don't think the freezing point of petrol is the problem. Usually with carburetors icing occurs at cold temperatures and alcohol added to the petrol can reduce or prevent it. Ice forms from moisture in the incoming air condensing in the venturi of the carb, where the temperature is lowest due to evaporation of the fuel taking place. I've never heard of icing being a problem on injection systems but I guess it must happen.

 

[anarkietown]

Here in southern Ontario, the climate is rather humid, but with wild fluctuations in temperature (up to +30 in the summer, down to -20 in the winter). It's no surprise then, that a lot of condensation builds up inside fuel tanks, and eventually freezes. I would have thought the same thing, that only carburators were prone to icing, but apparently the problem affects fuel injection as well. I think the problem occurs in a different part though... In a carb, the icing would occur right inside the carburator, whereas with injection, the ice tends to build up inside the fuel tank and lines.

I've had a fuel line freeze up before, last winter... Since I had only driven cars kept in nice warm garages up to that point, I had never seen it before. I assumed the worst, when my car started sputtering and stalling! I took it to the local mechanic, and he said nothing was wrong with it (it had been sitting in the sun all afternoon). He suggested some fuel line antifreeze, and it worked like new!

I'm assuming more recent fuel injection systems might be a little more complex and less prone to this sort of thing happening. Has anyone else had a fuel line freeze before? Or am I just very unlucky?