92-Ford/F250-Extended Cab (460cu/inch)

During the winter stuff always seems to break in the coldest weather.

3v0 said:

During the winter stuff always seems to break in the coldest weather.

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Isn't that the honest truth! I'm amazed at vehicles even operating properly in very cold temps. When you stop to think about it, there's so much plastic, vinyl, thin metal, rubber seals, and then there's oil/grease, etc. All that stuff changes properties somewhat when exposed to long term cold. It's a wonder our vehicles don't crack into pieces when we turn the ignition key. Even all those electrical connectors have to remain reliable against vibration, moisture, and road salt.

I curse the engineering idiots that came up with the idea to use plastic for the door handles on modern vehicles. Every winter I snap at least one off of something with out trying. At -30F or colder those plastic parts could just as well be made out glass.

Last year I closed the drivers door on my F 250 and the little wind deflector shield over the top of the window broke into three pieces.

Its sort of where the old Mazda is shining its own little light this winter. The door handles are metal and there is far less cheap ass plastic on everything. Plus it uses about 1/4 the fuel despite sitting in the store parking lots idling all day when I go to town.

HiTech said:

Isn't that the honest truth! I'm amazed at vehicles even operating properly in very cold temps.

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Yup,

Growing up in Wyoming we had to plug in the block/hose heaters at night. I remember forgetting once and a freeze plug came off the block. Thankfully it was in a spot I could tap it back in.

When we get a new piece of equipment, pickup or tractor, on the farm it usually gets a right proper ND winterizing after the first year. Batteries and cables get doubled or tripled in size, the little 400 watt block heaters get replaced with dual 600 - 1000 watt units, 150 - 400 watt oil pan heaters get added, and the tractors get 500 - 1000 watt hydraulic tank heaters above and beyond that.

The Massey Ferguson 2745 we have has a Perkins 540 V8 diesel engine and right now it only has a single 600 watt block heater. As soon as the weather warms up its getting dual 800 watt heaters and a 400 watt oil pan heater on the next oil change. Its proved itself to be too useful with that snow blower on it to have to wait 5 hours for the single heater to get it up to starting temp when its 0 F this time of year.

The dual block heaters on engines are more for redundancy and fast warm ups and the oil pan heaters make sure that the oil does not have the consistency of highway tar when its - 30F.
What most people don't realize is that cold oil and its lack of immediate flow does far more engine wear and damage than anything else plus adds a surprising amount of drag that the starters and cold battery have to overcome on top of everything else.

The 460 with a C6 was Ford's best drive train. I had two 1977 Mercury Grand Marquis before, both with 460 V8 & C6, and that engine purred like a kitten with a heavy load ( passengers, cargo and full gas tank). It was drowned out by nasty import drivers overpowering their 4-bangers, showing off like children. Sadly, they got the last laugh when one of the 460s seized on the open highway - two broken pistons were the culprits. The tranny survived, and was sold separately before the car was scrapped. I would buy a Ford truck with a 460 any day.
Winter was nice - the engine started on the first try and you could see the windshield defrosting in five minutes while others were scraping their windows.