Vehicle Radiator Anti Freeze

Hardrations wrote:

They still sell that sort of product over here. But new cars, better batteries are solving the problem. Also many out door parking lots here in Canada have plug in's for the block heater. I know, I know getting of topic here.

Chuckling a bit over the observations that -30C is "extreme conditions." Normal winter day in Alberta!!! LOL Okay, maybe not quite "normal" but certainly not unusual. Just went through a bout of that last week and,with wind chill, it dipped to the equivalent of -40C! Meh. This week not so bad, temps of +2C (t-shirt and shorts weather!!) due to a Chinook blowing through (warm dry wind blowing down through mountain passes and across the foothills; can raise the temp significantly in a matter of hours...seen it go from -30C to +2C or higher in, like, 3 or 4 hours. A bit mushy and the barometric pressure can affect those prone to headaches/migraines, but a small price to pay IMHO for WARM).

Anyway, Hardrations mentioning block heaters etc.....

Yes, this is standard practice in much of Canada, us being a 'winter country' and all and on par with lower Siberia! To us, naturally enough, it was natural and not at all unusual and many Canadian cars have a bright yellow or bright orange electrical cord and plug dangling out the front of the car (about 3 or 4 inches worth).

When our guys started bringing their own vehicles over from Canada for their German tour the vehicles, of course, still had the cord dangling out. The locals couldn't understand what that was about. We used to tell them that was how 'baby cars' were made!!! Crazy Canucks.....LOL

Since leaving Germany in '74, I periodically hear of odd weather occurring over there but to have a -30C winter in Germany....that was virtually unheard of when I lived there. -10C seemed to be the lowest it'd be and damp.

[quote="Stephen Lock"]

Hardrations wrote:

Anyway, Hardrations mentioning block heaters etc.....

Yes, this is standard practice in much of Canada, us being a 'winter country' and all and on par with lower Siberia! To us, naturally enough, it was natural and not at all unusual and many Canadian cars have a bright yellow or bright orange electrical cord and plug dangling out the front of the car (about 3 or 4 inches worth).

When our guys started bringing their own vehicles over from Canada for their German tour the vehicles, of course, still had the cord dangling out. The locals couldn't understand what that was about. We used to tell them that was how 'baby cars' were made!!! Crazy Canucks.....LOL

.

When you drive into the southern states, they think we have electric cars. And you can always tell a used car from the States. No block heater.

hehehehe...yeah, had some fun with that too!

"Can't drive too far because the plug comes unplugged...."

They're never quite sure whether to believe you or not....

Of course, when they come across the New York State/Ontario border in the sweltering heat of an Ontario summer with skis strapped to the roof of the car thinking, since it's Canada, we have snow year 'round and they can go skiing....electric cars aren't that far off the beam!! LOL

Or gazing at our Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and asking which room does the Queen live in?.....

or....

Gawd, don't even get me started LOL

in the '80s a few german & austrian wine makers were caught out puting antifreeze into wine to make it taste sweeter ,that is probably why you can only get dry tasting wine in germany today,still it had its advanages though you could use it in the windscreen washers in an emergency I 'spose

arbor wrote:

in the '80s a few german & austrian wine makers were caught out puting antifreeze into wine to make it taste sweeter ,that is probably why you can only get dry tasting wine in germany today,still it had its advanages though you could use it in the windscreen washers in an emergency I 'spose

Sometime in the '70's, in the UK two civvy mechanics working on a customers car , opened the boot,and had an early Chrismas when they found a couple bottles of 'Pernod'. Oops actually it was Anti Freeze and they drunk themselves to death.

Somewhere I recalled seeing a Bedford with a cab heater connected directly to the radiator where the cap is normally fitted.
On an exercise , far south Padderborn, we overnight in a German camp, sleeping in the back of our 434. During the night we kept bunging up the holes in the usual 434 makeshift canopy,blaming it for letting in the cold air. It was only next morning that we learned the temperature had dropped to -21degrees. The Boiling Vessel failed to operate as well, but worked fine when we later got back to home base.

gallahad wrote:

arbor wrote:

in the '80s a few german & austrian wine makers were caught out puting antifreeze into wine to make it taste sweeter ,that is probably why you can only get dry tasting wine in germany today,still it had its advanages though you could use it in the windscreen washers in an emergency I 'spose

Sometime in the '70's, in the UK two civvy mechanics working on a customers car , opened the boot,and had an early Chrismas when they found a couple bottles of 'Pernod'. Oops actually it was Anti Freeze and they drunk themselves to death.

If true -- and not an urban myth -- that is terrible! So did some moron store the anti-freeze in Pernod bottles? Yikes.....

We do periodically hear of some wino dying from drinking anti-freeze, but I'm not sure I believe it. Nobody can be that desperate for a high! Lysol spray...yeah, that's pretty common and I have seen evidence of that happening (punctured cans etc in back alleys).

What is not uncommon is the family pet finding a pool of it on the garage floor and because it smells and tastes sweet, proceeds to lap it up and of course goes into immediate renal failure. Seems to me the manufacturers have now produced anti-freeze that isn't 'sweet' in order to discourage this sort of thing. It would make sense to me to do so.....

It is not uncommon in eg. Germany for foxes or small creatures to bite into brake lines or washers to drink the sweet liquid.

On the subject of Anti Freeze.Approaching Christmas during a mild winter one year in Muenster,the LAD heating system packed up. It was bitterly cold,and production was at its lowest. The MPBW were called in. They marched into the boiler room and was back out in a few minutes. We were about to heap some praise on them for doing such a quick job,when one of them declared that they were unable to do the job...........because it was too cold in there. Our EME had to roll his sleeve up an repair the system himself.
MPBW....true to form. Make the Poor Bastards Wait.