Some of you may have heard that recently we here in AK. were hit with a super strong high front over most of the state. At this time of year, what that means is sub zero temps. Believe it or not, where I live is actually called "the bananna belt". I kinda live down on a creek which means a low spot, ie...a sink hole. We are usually at least 10 degrees colder than it is in town. In the mornings it was between -30 and -40 for over a week. Anyway....you can imagaine that some pretty strange things start to happen at -40 below.

I have to say that at least the JK was starting in the morning...of course with the aid of the freeze block heater which came with it when I bought it. It even started up one morning at -30 without being plugged in.... that's a good thing!!! The first odd thing I noticed was that my gas milage was going way down. I figured it was probably due to me warming it up for a half hour every morning. But then on two of the coldest mornings, when I started out the driveway, it felt like I was actually pushing the front end.....meaning, the front end felt so stiff that the rear tires would spin out (on the snow) real easy, just pulling out slowly. They'd spin...I'd let off the pedal...try and start out slowly again...and again they'd break loose. I did this the whole way down the drive. I imagine I probably wouldn't have even noticed it had I been in 4wd. The further I went on my way, the more things felt "normal"...???

Up until now.....no problems other than the loss of mpgs. Last Thurs. I drove home from work and parked it in the drive like normal. Got up the next morn, started her up and went back inside. When I got in to leave I noticed the ABS, ESP/BAS lights were on. I looked at the left sensor and it was still plugged in. Disconnected the bat and hooked it up again....lights still on. I'll be taking it in to fix the wheel sensor.....which I hope is the only problem. I have no idea if the wheel sensor problem is any way related to the cold.

Anyway......I know there's a good chance that none of you have "exposed" your JK to such an extreme temp. I can imagine that the dif oil and all the greese in the front end must have been like half set up concrete at that temp. I guess I should be lucky the wheels even turned at all...!!! There again, just another reason why I always liked locking hubs. I can only guess that my loss of mpg was solely due to the extra effort of pushing the front end down the road. Now that it's warmed up a little outside the mpgs seem to be somewhat back to normal.

So I was wondering what the coldest any of you have had your JK in? Have you noticed any strange things going on?

Just curious....

All the Best from the Great Whilte North...!!!

PS.....tonight when I checked it was 28 degrees....ABOVE!!! Just a mere 68 degree change in a day or so. Not too extreme.....

 

I dont think I have any cold temps like you, but it has been below freezing here for over 3 weeks. Usually it is in the 0 to 10 range with the occasional drop to -10 to -15. The biggest issues I have noted are a little hesitance when starting and the front end being sluggish like yours. I have always just chalked it up to the cold near freezing the diff fluids. Also it doesnt like to shift until warmed up, I believe this is due to the out rubber shift boot freezing up. Anyways they are just small inconvienences and go away once warm. Good luck with your wheel sensor, i really hope it is something simple and fixed easily!

 

Great to hear that the JK stood up to the cold. I work up in Kuparuk on the North Slope, and we have similar problems with diff oil in the cold. The pumping unit I drive is a Kenworth W900 with a 650 Cat that has been turned up, an Eaton 18 spd, and really low gearing - it tops out at about 45 mph. The whole rig weighs 285,000 lbs. When the unit is warmed up, I can skip gears. After sitting at -40F it will not shift from 1st to 2nd, it slows down too much before you can grab 2nd, clutch or no clutch. It takes 2 or 3 minutes at 2 mph before the rear ends warm up enough to shift. At -40F 15-40 engine oil will pile up when poured from a drum - it looks like a coiled turd in the bottom of a bucket. You can not pump a grease gun at that temp. Lots of resistance!! We go 500 hrs (21 days) between oil changes, and only shut the trucks off long enough to check fluids and belt tension. Otherwise, they are idling at 1200 rpm. Stuff to think about when starting out cold in the morning.

 

My wife was talking about the cold front that rolled through there. She's in Anchorage so I think she said the lowest was -24 for her. Only issue she had was a dead battery. Of course she waits till now to run all over Anchorage looking for a battery blanket....what do you think the chances are she had any luck? Needless to say I had to order one online for her and pay just as much in shipping charges.

 

Oh I know what you mean about cold..... It was almost 50 this morning.

 

It was 20 below and 25 below a few mornings a couple of weeks ago. The Jeep is kept in our attached (to the house) garage so no problems starting it. It is our DD, the trip to work was uneventful. While at work, it is parked in a lot between a couple of buildings so the sun warmed it up during the day. Yes, we did notice a decrease in m.p.g. but that is normal in the winter, we expected it.

 

Were getting our first blast of low temps, single digits. Can't imagine 30 or 40 below.

 

Almost 60 here, I almost put on long pants, the horror!

 

- 30

And I thought that 33 was cold this mornig! Man was I wrong

 

Are you talking -40 F? This morning it was -30C with the wind chill -25C And yes, it sucked.