I was wondering if anybody on here had some input to this. I was reading in the Vortech manual that you should not start the car in freezing conditions:

"In order to achieve the low noise level of Vortech superchargers, Vortech specifies manufacturing procedures that call for minimal internal clearance. These precise tolerances however are not conducive to temperatures below 25° F. Therefore, storing the vehicle in a heated garage and/or employing the use of an engine block heater/aftermarket engine blanket is required when the vehicle is subjected to a "cold startup" in ambient temperatures below 25° F. Failure to comply with this may result in immediate supercharger failure and invalidate the supercharger warranty."

I just saw this today, but have been starting up my car every morning to go to work when it is 5-10 degrees out. I obviously let it fully warm up for 10 minutes or more before I actually drive the car, and I don't rip on it or hit boost at all on my entire commute. Am I doing harm by even starting it in the morning?

 

That is a bit odd. Wonder how it would fair up here, -22deg F over night this weekend. I don't think they make a heater to compensate for that.

I would make sure that I have some very good synthetic oil.

 

I use Mobil-1 5w30, that's probably as good as any. Hopefully it should only be that cold for another couple weeks before things start to warm up a little.

 

Mobil = FAIL

Its getting much warmer out in PA now, so whatever damage is done is already done. You could always buy an aftermarket oil heater and install it, but that seems like a lot of work for just a few days of cold weather IMO.

 

Its a stock motor, and not a lot of boost, so I think the top notch oils such as Amsoil, RP, Motul, etc would be a little overkill. There's no doubt that they are superior to Mobil, but its still a nice quality oil and suits my setup well. I've been using it for years.

Back on the topic of cold weather; could I be the only person with a Vortech who starts it up in these conditions? I'm just wondering if what I am doing should be avoided like the plague, or if Vortech's instructions are just being overprotective.

 

Superior being an opinion?

I ran Mobil 1 in my fully built honda motor, sold the car and it was dragged raced with 570WHP damn near every weekend and the new owner gave up on waiting for the motor to blow before going with a bigger motor... he pulled the motor out and sold it as a working motor.

I run Mobil 1 in my Mercedes, 12K mile/1 year old changes and I run Mobil 1 0-40 in my boosted 350Z.

I plan on sending out my oil to test it later in the year, I'm wondering what it looks like at 12 months (low mile) use. Check out some write ups on the Euro Blend Mobil 1 0w40 oil.

I'm **** with my cars and personally wouldn't use anything else. 2 years in a 1.6L motor making 570WHP.... yeah. I'm sticking with it.

 

Hey if I didn't think it was good, I wouldn't use it. I'm just saying that after reading many of the in-depth oil threads on here, it sounds like those others scored higher more times than not. One thing that I think they do better is offer better protection for an extended period of time. I personally change my oil every 2k miles, which ends up being about twice a year. So the better protection over long intervals doesn't matter to me. I used to have a 2003 M3, and BMW recommends changing the oil every 15k using their oil, but I cut that in half and did it about every 7500. I don't know if I would have used Mobil for that.

I really didn't want this to turn into another oil thread though, as there are plenty of them on here. I'm trying to hear from somebody who may be able to offer up some knowledgeable information on that statement from Vortech.

 

...

 

The post I put up in the forced induction oil thread from Forced Performance and info relayed to me from Blouch Turbo reinforced my thoughts on using Mobil1.

I respect your opinion Jeffie, but am trying anything to not go BOOM again. Besides, you actually have to drive the car for the oil to really matter

OP, my point was that the weather is turning now, plus the language from Vortech is most likely just to CYOA and give them a reason to deny warranty rebuilds.

 

What grade mobil 1?

1.6L darton sleves, eagle rods, JE pistons. Nothing stock in the block outside of the stock honda B16 crank.

I had it for 1 year running in the 280-300WHP street level power and the guy after me who tracked it weekly and it was his street car got 2 more out of it at 570WHP. That alone is enough for me to have respect for Mobil 1.


I honestly don't think any brand of oil would have made a difference in any of your last 3 motors. Sometimes it's just not meant to be.



P.S are you going to Hills today?

 

If you are super concerned about it just disconnect your cog belt in the winter.

 

I did this many times for several reasons including winter driving ......if i had to drive it in the winter.

 

You're probably exactly right, I was just wondering if anybody knew for sure or not. I mean you read these kind of warnings on everything, hell even ipods say that you shouldn't use them below a certain temperature. The weather is definitely getting nicer, I'm more concerned with if I had actually already done damage or not. I mean the car still runs as great as always, so our idea of it just being to cover their asses may be just that.

Yea I could do that, I just never knew that I maybe should have been until now. I don't have to drive it in the winter, I kind of exaggerated when I said that I drive it every day. I have another car, but I take the Z about twice a week just because I enjoy driving it as long as its not rainy/snowy/icy.