Semi-extreme cold

LandCruiser

LandCruiser

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The TE has been living in -15 F degree weather for the last few days.

When it was -20 with -30 wind chill, the engine sounded really harsh and clattery. For those of you out there, this is also at around 8000 feet.

Seems to have gone away. Dealer couldn't be reached for comment because it went away when the weather warmed up.

Anyone have any ideas? The Limited wasn't acting up in the cold.
 
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LandCruiser said:
The TE has been living in -15 F degree weather for the last few days.

When it was -20 with -30 wind chill, the engine sounded really harsh and clattery. For those of you out there, this is also at around 8000 feet.

Seems to have gone away. Dealer couldn't be reached for comment because it went away when the weather warmed up.

Anyone have any ideas? The Limited wasn't acting up in the cold.
Click to expand...

Here at 6K I get a very loud winding noise on initial start up. This is only when it's around 10F or below. After starting, it runs very smoothly. Wind chill will have no effect on the engine as it is not exposed to the wind. OAT should not effect the engine once it's running unless something is messing with your intake of air or fuel. If it's really -15f then I would guess that your fuel pump is cold and not operating at 100% initially. I would not worry about it since the issue has gone away, just like my popcorn issue did once it warmed up.
 
does it go away after a few minutes? I have noticed on only a few occasions when it is really cold (like you describe), sometimes my 4runner will howl like a dying animal on start up. It goes away after about 30 seconds or so. It happened more frequently with my previous vehicle and was told it was my power steering pump. Supposedly, the power steering fluid gets a little thicker in the cold and the pump has to work harder to get it moving.
 
Wind chill does not affect your truck, only temperature. Minus 20, even with a windchill factor of -50, is still minus 20 to your engine block, oil and other fluids.

Still, minus 10 or 20 is darn cold, and the truck will definitely make a little noise at startup. You might have a problem if it lasts more than 20 seconds, but entirely normal otherwise. A block heater will eliminate all such noise altogether.
 
Having one installed. Almost all my other other vehicles have had one, huge difference at startup and warm air begins to flow much quicker since the coolant is already warm.
 
Mine also sounds clattery for quite awhile after startup. I use a block heater too. It does get cold up here though, all the way to -40 the odd time.

I just let it warm up for a few minutes then drive it very slowly and gently before hitting highway speeds.
 
To the OP, we got about the same temperatures here quite often. When this happens, the engine make some weird noise on start-up for 1 second (sound like a old ford power steering pump) and the engine, from the outside of the vehicle, is also very harsh sounding, even once warmed up. My 2011 V6 tacoma (same engine minus a few details) did the same. Got used to it.
 
I had a similar issue the other day when I was leaving work. At home, the 4Runner is garaged, so there has not been an issue. However, after sitting in below 0 temps for a full day at work, my 5th gen screeched upon start up for a few seconds; sounding like it was metal on metal. It scared the bajeebus out of me. Upon leaving the parking lot, it felt like a wheel was out of balance for a while but then settled down. When I got home, I noted a slight burning rubber smell coming from the passenger front and driver's rear wheel wells. Haven't had any issues since. My engine does sound a bit more clattery/diesel sounding in the extreme cold.
 
dekeman said:
Wind chill does not affect your truck, only temperature. Minus 20, even with a windchill factor of -50, is still minus 20 to your engine block, oil and other fluids.

Still, minus 10 or 20 is darn cold, and the truck will definitely make a little noise at startup. You might have a problem if it lasts more than 20 seconds, but entirely normal otherwise. A block heater will eliminate all such noise altogether.
Click to expand...

actually wind chill affects anything that generates heat. once an object reaches ambient, then wind chill doesn't affect it.
 
My 13 TE makes a weird screech when starting at below zero temps for a second. Then it goes away. Was stationed in Minot ND for yrs and always had a block heater for my Jeeps. I am just glad the damn thing starts in below zero weather in STL nowadays!
 
It made a weird chattering noise until it warmed up. Don't have a block heater, was told I don't need them in Colorado until we had this winter where it stayed below 0 for days on end--now the dealer can't ship them in fast enough.

The problem is that at work there's no outlet to keep the damn thing warm. At home I could keep it plugged in, which is what the wife's Limited does--she can't stand a cold vehicle. But hers already came with a block heater.

As others have mentioned in other threds, the block heater works best if you plug in a "hot" vehicle.
 
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The problem is you need to move somewhere warmer, lol.

Don't mind me, drunk posting through. :beer::beer::beer:
 
NoDak said:
actually wind chill affects anything that generates heat. once an object reaches ambient, then wind chill doesn't affect it.
Click to expand...

Yes, for inanimate objects, wind chill can reduce a warmer object to the ambient temperature more quickly, but it cannot reduce the temperature of that warmer object below the ambient temperature, no matter how great the wind velocity.

So, an engine block and its oil that sat overnight in -50 windchill but at a temperature of -20F is still "only" -20F. Wind chill index is not a measure of real temperature but, rather, represents the "feeling" of cold on your skin.

And I'm with Eddie, we need to move somewhere warmer.
 
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Why don't you just keep it in a heated garage and ask the guy who details it daily to start it up once in a while? :biggrin2:
 
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