Loads of people seem to be having terrible trouble with their cars in this 'cold' snap. 1st off, its not that cold anywhere in this country really, try northern Canada or Sweden or anywhere like that. So why do we have so much trouble with cars in the UK?

I say we but im having no problems whatsoever because im driving an old BMW atm, but the 500 reeeeally doesnt like cold starts, sort of -4 at the worst really so not that cold. Combined with windscreen washers that break every winter and a heater that is average at best its not great. However its fantastic in ice and snow driving wise. On the drive at the moment we have an F reg Camry which never struggles, an M reg Clio likewise, so why does the Fiat? My GPS never had an issue either, the dealer says that everything is in order, nothing wrong at all. Its just frustrating more than anything else, helped slightly if all the warning lights go out before you try the key, but this is a 2008 car for gods sake, it should be able to handle it with ease. Is there anything I can do to help it?

Because of the Gulf Stream we rarely get bad weather. If not for the Gulf Stream we would be snowbound by several feet every year... we are on the same line of Latitude as a town in Canada that is regularly visited by Polar Bears... think on that for a while....

So.... we are Snow novices... and we are not prepared for it, thats why we are so poor in dealing with it.

That said I have few problems in it personally.

Because as a nation we are not prepared for anything. And when something different comes we complain about it.

i think the point the OP is making, is why our some of are cars struggling so much when they're also used/sold in colder climates. ignoring the fact that no one is ever taught to drive correctly in adverse conditions, as in no point in the driving test training is it ever covered...

my car has been absolutely fine!! :devil: if anything it loves this weather, getting cooler air into it and it's going like a dream.

however i've seen in the GP section of alternators freezing solid and breaking the drive belt!!

maybe it's the moisture levels in the uk that makes it so much different to other places? or is it just the lack of preparation for colder weather in this country?

I think its just individuals & the circumstances personally. What could you do to prevent an alternator freezing up anywhere in the world? Of course its not just Fiats... its just this is a Fiat Forum. My neighbours new Audi A3 diesel just wont start in the cold, even when it does its like a bag of nails, my car starts fine and runs as usual. Maybe he does something wrong?

It is damp here TBH for the reason I stated above (Gulf Stream) even in the hot weather we have a high level of humidity.

If it was a generic problem everyone would suffer from it...

Ffoxy said:

I think its just individuals & the circumstances personally. What could you do to prevent an alternator freezing up anywhere in the world? Of course its not just Fiats... its just this is a Fiat Forum. My neighbours new Audi A3 diesel just wont start in the cold, even when it does its like a bag of nails, my car starts fine and runs as usual. Maybe he does something wrong?

It is damp here TBH for the reason I stated above (Gulf Stream) even in the hot weather we have a high level of humidity.

If it was a generic problem everyone would suffer from it...

Click to expand...

this wasn't a dig at fiats btw, i'm sure all makes suffer, the GP was just an example i remembered from yesterday. hasn't the wind direction been from the continent, so only picking up moisture from north sea/channel. so gulf stream not coming into effect...

What amuses me is the incapability of some people drive in these condtions, it's not that bloody hard, as long as you are careful, there is no need to panic......

sean.round said:

What amuses me is the incapability of some people drive in these condtions, it's not that bloody hard, as long as you are careful, there is no need to panic......

Click to expand...

nobodys been taught how to drive in adverse conditions as part of driving test/training. so most people panic as soon as the car does something they don't expect, most people seem to sleep at the wheel in good weather anyway so you can't expect much.

maddogmorg said:

nobodys been taught how to drive in adverse conditions as part of driving test/training. so most people panic as soon as the car does something they don't expect, most people seem to sleep at the wheel in good weather anyway so you can't expect much.

Click to expand...

My tractor is ace in reverse up snowy hills lol!

maddogmorg said:

nobodys been taught how to drive in adverse conditions as part of driving test/training. so most people panic as soon as the car does something they don't expect, most people seem to sleep at the wheel in good weather anyway so you can't expect much.

Click to expand...

Whilst I see and understand your point, It also doesnt take much to drive carefully. Perhaps, like in all other situations, I am to reliant on people have the slighest bit of common sense?

Anyone remember the car advert where these little machine thingies came out of the front wheels (whilst still tethered to the hubs) and they detected the changing terrain. the car driver continued to drive as if there were no problems.
Then what about the advert for the cars doing all sorts of gymnastic type feats in an abandoned area.

And then we have all the adverts for fancy tyres that grip no matter what.
And, of course, we have abs, traction control, black ice alert thingies etc etc.
Drivers are just mollycoddled into believing they are invincible.

You even get the same arguments in the summer.
My car has abs, traction control, brake assist etc etc so the stopping distances in the highway code mean nothing to me, I can stop far quicker - and those distances were measured when tyres were made from old rubber trees and not the specialist materials they are today.

of course, these people forget, your average pedestrian has as much in contact with the floor as most cars - except they don't weigh over a ton & nor do they hurtle along at breakneck speeds.
Whilst braking distances were calculated in the olden days, the drivers knew exactly what was coming - so thinking distances are greatly reduced & not realistic.

Why is it that drivers spin their tyres frantically & believe that more power to the throttle will get the car moving?

sludgeguts said:

of course, these people forget, your average pedestrian has as much in contact with the floor as most cars - except they don't weigh over a ton & nor do they hurtle along at breakneck speeds.

Click to expand...

you've not been to the january sales evidently....

maddogmorg said:

you've not been to the january sales evidently....

Click to expand...

Although I have seen quite a few rummage sales.

Back to the OP, I remember one car had loads of problems with the washer bottle freezing up as I drove along.
It was a basic plastic sack hung on the side of the engine bay!
by hanging it at the bacfk of the bay, behind the warm engine & wrapping the hose around a heater hose, all my problems were solved.

Also, look at battery technology, we've barely moved on since batteries were developed.
OK, so now we have sealed batteries but they still rely on transfer of charge from plus to negative lead plates & a charge transfers the lead back. The battery is still very much at the mercy of the temperature - so why don't manufacturers wrap their batteries in warm material & house them in a more sheltered part of the car?

And then there's lubrication. In this weather, the oil pump is simply shifting a load of vaseline around the engine until it warms up enough to be effective. All this time the engine is getting some serious wear - so why aren't we seeing some sort of built in heaters on the coolant? There are aftermarket kits available - if you want to pay a fortune but they now put aircon onto almsot everything, so why not a simple heater system to warm the coolant & pump it around the engine to save it cranking from freezing?

Given up fighting the abs on the swift now it seems to have the mission in snow of making things worse so just using gears all the time, got some tyre socks on order which shall probably arrive when its all done but at least the car is running like a swiss watch otherwise save a whiny alternator on a cold start. I'll have them for next time even if not this time have to make do with my rubber mats for now.

Im thinking a Kenlowe Hotstart or similar might be good for it, along with a bigger battery of course. It just seems like its in pain on a cold morning, whereas the BMW just starts and sounds like it always does.

The 500 is running 5w30 oil at the moment so not particularly thick, once the engine is running it sounds and performs 100% but its getting it going thats an issue.

sludgeguts said:

so why aren't we seeing some sort of built in heaters on the coolant? There are aftermarket kits available - if you want to pay a fortune but they now put aircon onto almsot everything, so why not a simple heater system to warm the coolant & pump it around the engine to save it cranking from freezing?

Click to expand...

This is pretty much the only way to survive the winter up here in Finland. I paid 300 euros for heater that warms the coolant before start (if there is a plug available). This heater also has got a wire and a plug inside the car for a separate interrior heater.

Now that it´s been around -20 degrees for a while Im having all kinds of problems with my 500! For the first time I´ve been experiencing the coldstart problems now even tho my car is pre-heated. Had my ECU updated by the dealer and and now I´m just keeping an eye on it, been fine since.
Secondly I´m getting this very irritating rattling sound coming from the engine bay when I press the gas pedal. And it only happens after I´ve driven the car for a while, not right after start up, and only if the throttle is pressed. Cant figure out what it is, but it could be some belt collecting ice or just something else freezing up, or then just something resonating. What ever it is it´s driving me mad!
And as this wasnt enough the car is idling quite roughly at times, engine almost dying and the the revs come back up again. But this happens when I drive the car inside to a warm garage from the freezing outside air. I´m thinking that it must be caused by some temperature sensor freezing, because the outside temperature display in the dash keeps telling me its still -17 (or what ever) even though the car has been inside a warm garage for 5-10 minutes already. And if the ecu thinks it still freezing cold even tho it isnt could cause this idling prob(?). Looking through the front grille I can see that everything behind it is frozen into one white block of ice and snow, including the bottom part of the radiator.

Now I´m trying out an old winter driving trick thats quite popular here even with modern cars. The thing is to cover the front grille with something, most often with cardboard cut to shape, to keep the engine running warmer and also prevent icy air and snow getting in.

Sorry about me rambling on and on, but I´m getting sick and tired of this winter weather already! And for now I´m not even 100% sure its only the cold weather causing all these problems, because it could be that something is just broken. But this just goes to show, that modern cars are not that much better in winter conditions than their older counterparts.

-Ville