Well, I took the advice of the owners manual but I'm not always sure they
have winter conditions in mind when they write this.  First of all:

"Warm up idling wastes gas.  Start the engine just before you are ready to
drive.  Accelerate slowly and smoothly."  Page 49, Operate your Vehicle
Economically.

"Never leave engine idling.  When starting engine, be ready to drive off
immediately.  Maintain moderate speed until engine is warm."  Page 25,
Starting Procedures.

So I usually drive away fairly soon, but at extremely moderate speeds.  Is
this wrong?

Others asked about lubricants.  On page 56 of the owners manual, it looks
like you can use 20w-50 between -10 and 30 degrees Celcius, and 10w-30
between -20 and 15 degrees C.  Use 5w-30 for temps between -30 and -10C.
There is a huge range, and I would be changing my oil monthly depending on
the weather.

Jeff
85 Westy "Relic"
Winnipeg

----- Original Message -----
From: John Rodgers <inua@HIWAAY.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 8:18 PM
Subject: Re: winter vanagon complaint #2

> Larry, it would be interesting to get the response of the list on this. I
base my
> comments on 30 years of experience in living through and driving in some
brutal
> Alaska winters. I realize not everyone might want to go through the same
routine I
> have gone through until it is virtual habit. More than once in those cold
climes I
> have seen engines seize where the temp gauge said warm enough to go, but
the oil
> temp didn't agree, and upon drive off and opening the throttle the
bearings ran dry
> and the engine seized. But again, that was in an extreme environment. In
warmer
> climes it may not be necessary to wait that long. But I personally do like
to have
> full heat online when I start out on a cold day.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
> Lawrence Johnson wrote:
>
> > John, it was my understanding that it is better for the engine and
vehicle to
> > warm up by driving off at conservative speeds keeping the engine rpm in
the
> > lower half of the torque band. Its one of those things which I just
never
> > doubted and never thought about. I'd like to hear the wisdom of the List
on the
> > pros and cons of either procedure.
> > -Larry
> > PS its not a matter of rushing
> >
> > John Rodgers wrote:
> >
> > > Wrong way to go...ice and frost scraping...IMHO!
> > >
> > > If it is cold, a proper warm up is ALWAYS in order. Don't jump in the
van,
> > > start up and drive away a cold or partway warmed engine. Everyone is
in such
> > > a blasted hurry these days when it isn't really necessary 99.9% of the
time.
> > > Save your engine, Give it some warmup time to get to proper operating
> > > temperature.
> > >
> > > Give yourself enough time to go out and start the engine, turn on the
> > > heaters and defrosters, and go back in the house for a cup of coffee.
Let
> > > the engine warm up good, at the idle speed. <snip>