240's behavior in extreme cold: observations and questions...

[glitched]

ok, i just got home from about an hour & half drive, the temp on the bank's display read -15 degrees (thats 15 degrees below zero) and thats not including wind chill.

anyway. i let the car warm up in the drive way for 20 minutes. i get in and the inside isnt warm, but it isnt freezing. when ever i tried shifting gears, (even let rpm's fall all the way down) it would grind or clunk. this lasts for about 20 more minutes. now on the temp gauge: there is the big dash with the C next to it and then the little marks. on the highway hte needle wouldnt even get to the 2nd small mark, in town the needle would only be around the first small mark. in town if i put the heater on 1 i would get hot air but anything higher than the 1 it just blowed cool/warm air ( same thing on the highway)

also, when i got my oil change last they say my antifreeze is good to 10 below zero, however ive been checking the overfill for any ice or slush, and havent seen any yet. should i be more worried?

now my questions, is it normal for 240's to do these things when its colder than 10 below ( its been this cold for a couple of days now, and ive had these issues) or is it just my car, (ive only owned 2 other cars when it has gotten this cold in the past, but they both had 3.8 V6's auto's and i didnt really have these issues and they had grills on the front that i could put a piece of cardboard over which would help in extreme cold)

-is my heater core going out, or is it that it just cant keep up with this cold?-is there anything i can do to improve cold gear change performance?
Modified by glitched at 1:06 AM 1/16/2005

[D Money]

make sure your coolant doesnt'freeze. you could put cardboard in front of a 240 radiator too. sounds like your thermostat might be broken if the temp doesnt go all the way up to halfway though

[574-240sx]

For the shifting gears part. You can try redline MT90. Many people say that works really well in cold weather shifting. You can also try pushing the clutch in twice before shifting.

For the heating issue you may want to change you thermostat and get one from the deal if you haven't recently. I have been through 2 crappy local auto part store thermostats until I bought a genuine nissan parts thermostat. Its possible your heater core could be going out. I know its not the best time but if you can find a place you can work on your car. Take out the heater core and spray it out, it might be clogged with crap. But try the new thermostat first.

[glitched]

make sure your coolant doesnt'freeze. you could put cardboard in front of a 240 radiator too. sounds like your thermostat might be broken if the temp doesnt go all the way up to halfway though

it usually does go up to halfway. the only time it doesnt is when it gets colder than -10 (its been as cold as 20 below lately) which also makes me wonder if that has somthing to do with the coolant, if the coolant had less water & more antifreeze (make it good to temperature colder than -10)

[TachyonS14]

Most of the good info has already been said. So, my advice is don't drive when it's that cold outside! You got to be nuts.

[sanioll]

For the shifting gears part. You can try redline MT90. Many people say that works really well in cold weather shifting.

Woof!!

Should i say it shifts extremely well. And no more sound in the cold. here we may get 10F too.

here's a DIY on that:http://www.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=95826

[glitched]

tonight on my way to work the bank display said it was 1 degree Farenheith out. the heater worked better (still wouldnt be hot at full blast though) and the gauge staid just below the half way mark. double clutching also worked well when needed