Nissan Versa and Winter questions

[benzaza]

hey everyone,

just leased a versa 09 SL with CVT for a long-long time :-) and I am wondering on different tips on maintaining the car and other things during winter. I am in Montreal, Quebec.

e.g : How long should i run the engine before starting driving?

car wash?...

We park on the street but during bad storms I will rent a space in an indoor parking complex for a month per winter or two at the most to keep the car in good shape ,avoid the shovel two ton of snow and lack of parking in downtown (where i live)

thx

[Slither]

Forget pampering a leased car.

We need bun toasters - heated seats.

I'm parked outside at work and even longjohns & parka I wish Versa had heated seats.

Washing in the winter? It will just freeze up on you - gas flap etc.

[benzaza]

makes sense about not pampering it...

any good practices on warming up the engine...and other things like that..

[1_Sleek_Versa]

Hi,

I live in the Eastern Townships. This monday we got almost -30 degrees with the windchill.

I let the engine run idle for 3-4 minutes, just enough time for me to scrape the windows. Just enough in my opinion.

[matgaz]

Just wait for the blue temperature light to go off and be on your merry way.

[frankoV]

Some days we'd empty the tank waiting!

A coupla minutes, and away I go . . . doesn't take to long to get uncold . . . but to warm the car takes time in the frigid temps . . . lotsa noise from the fan but not lotsa heat!

[1_Sleek_Versa]

Monday we got -31 degrees Celcius here in Quebec.

I wonder how much time it would take for the little blue lght to go off only at idle.

[J. Reid]

Monday we got -31 degrees Celcius here in Quebec.

I wonder how much time it would take for the little blue lght to go off only at idle.

I let me 08 idle for 15 minutes on Sunday when it was about -28C in Calgary, and the light was still on. Within a minute of driving though it went off.

[VersaMG08]

I leave the car idle for 2 minutes or longer when it's below freezing outside. You have to stay in the car when idling. They call it a 'puffer' if you're not present in the car and you get ticketed at least in Denver city limits.

[motoguy128]

It's a lease...just drive it and get regular maintenance done per the owners manual. Nothing extra. If you drive mostly freeway, use the longer service intervals. If mostly city or on gravel roads, use the regular or shorter intervals.

You're not keeping it after the lease, so just use regular oil, regular gas and other fluids. Actually, engines are so well made these days that most will run 200k miles without issue even if abused.

[lordthygod]

Buffalo ny<- its gonna take about 20 mins for the blue light to go out at idle, jsut weight till it idles down to about 1k before you start out and very nice that first mile it takes the light to go out. All the chatter is generally gone before it idles down to 1000rpm but its always a good idea to be nice the first few miles you drive it while the temps equalize throughout the moter/drive train

[Driving Instructor]

Just wait for the blue temperature light to go off and be on your merry way.

Toooooooooo long................ wasting gas.

The general rule that I use is a 1 minute warm up time at any temperature. The best way to warm up your car is to drive it nice and easy for a few minutes.

Also, DO NOT turn on the heater blower to full. I keep it no higher then on the #1 setting until the hear start pumping. By turning it to full, you are taking away heat from the engine making the warm up period much later!

But that is all crap, I use my car starter! lol

[pindropsound]

Question:I've been snowed in for a couple of days, and haven't actually run my car for a week. I went out the other day to turn it on and move it forward in my drive way about a foot. Does it need to be turned on every so often, and brush the snow off, or is it okay to hunker down under the snow for a while?