Van DIED in ARCTIC cold temperatures | Extreme Winter Vanlife
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- A Good overnight solar system and a bad start to the day to winter van camping in my built campervan in this arctic trip in Sweden. Freezing winter cold -25c overnight temperatures started freeze the engine coolant and I couldn’t get the engine going for hours. However I survived this ordeal and was able to avoid a disaster to get the engine running.
Turns out the glycol mix in my engine coolant was a lot more diluted than I had originally thought, so it’s freezing point was a lot higher than I thought. Whilst it did not freeze solid it started to ice up in the coolant lines, The slushy coolant was too much resistance for the webasto engine preheater to move so it kept shutting down.
After cold starting the engine in -25c, it sounded horrific so I shut it down in the process flatted the starter battery. ( whilst it might of been fine cold starting it I didn’t have the skill set a knowledge to be able to make that judgement so I thought it was a safe to shut it down )
After seven hours and mix of temperature increasing and pouring pure glycol down one of the coolant pipes into the engine preheater I finally got it to start. After the engine preheater had preheated and I had rewired the Victron battery to battery chargers to charge the starter battery in the engine started the day.
Check out my cold weather & winter van life upgrade videos to see what changes I made to the van for this trip.
#breakdown #wintervanlife #Mispronouncedadventures
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Hello from Finland. Enjoying your videos a lot! Regarding engine coolant mix, I'm always using 50/50 water-glycol mix as it should be the optimum mix ratio. Never had any freezing issues even below -30C.
I think you should've just left the engine running there when you got it first started. Sure, it sounded "bad", but then again, diesels usually do, especially when cold, but it won't damage it. You probably have modern fully synthetic engine oil in there which retains it's lubricating properties even in the cold temperatures. Surely the preheater's usually a good thing to use as it's gentler for the engine. Just my thoughts on the matter.
You got a nice van build there, I must say. Very nice and sophisticated electrical system and the van seems very cozy all in all. Just found your channel and looking forward to watching all your content!
Thank you for finding my channel. Yes, I originally thought I had a 50-50 Mix, but I was mistaken ( given the wrong information ) , and it was a lot more diluted with water than I thought, ( I did a coolant swap a few days later and rectified this issue ).
As for the engine, I have subsequently learnt, it would probably be fine, stressful on it but fine. But not having that knowledge at the time and knowing it would warm to -15 later on in the day, so the coolant would thaw again. I thought it was better to wait it out to play it safe.
As for oil, lucky for me, it’s Euro6 engine and runs a thin oil ( 0w30 ) so pretty ideal for cold temperature.
Thank you very much, I do really like my van build and electrical system, works perfectly for me. Enjoy the rest of videos
Hello from northern Alberta, Canada. I concur with everything you said, especially regarding the antifreeze mix. 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water. VERY IMPORTANT. If the coolant freezes, you run the risk of cracking the engine block, or at least blowing out the freeze-out plugs. I've had no problems with gasoline engines in my vehicles down to -45, or so. Ideally I'll plug in the block heater at anything lower than -20 and it will start right up.
I had no issues with the block heater ( it’s just couldn’t pump frozen coolant. The problem was the current was definitely not the mix I thought it was. It all got taken care of, and the next trip will be checked before.
He DEFINITELY did the right thing by not running the vehicle! You have thermal shock potential where you are basically overheating yoyr engine with little to no coolant flow then BAM! -20C slushy coolant lets loose and fills the hot engine. Could crack the block and/or warp the head. Also a chunk of ice could hit the water pump impeller and shear it off. So NO he did everything right here in this predicament.
@@gmctech Engines are not made out of glass.
I can't believe you had such a weak mix. Its a miracle the water pump worked as they are plastic. At these latitudes the oils have a much lower viscosity.
Yeah, they mix was not what I thought it was or told it’s. But not a massive issues, I swapped it out a few days later. Oil wise not a issue as my van already uses a very thin oil
Bro only recently came across your videos, respect for the way you engage with the viewers!! Great stuff!!! Stay humble and stay blessed!!
Thank you, I do my best, I think I’ve got better at it over the years
@MispronouncedAdventures I got loads more to watch lol 😆. Keep going and entertaining the viewers!!
@@anserkhan9430 lots more to enjoy! a few weeks and I leave for my third winter in the arctic
@MispronouncedAdventures good luck bro !! Stay blessed and enjoy!!
As someone who loves problem solving this is such a satisfying watch! Great job as always.
Thank you very much! Problem-solving is always fun and I also rather captured the mistake on video and showed other people how not to make it or if they run into a similar issue had a fix it!
Should have kept the motor running at lowest revs that it would keep going until it got some heat in it. Chances are it would have started to run better. You can use that heat gun to heat the intake air which is a big help for diesels in the cold. You sorted it in the end though which was good👍
Subsequently learn it would’ve probably been alright running diesel even with semi frozen coolant for a few minutes but at the time didn’t have the knowledge. Not a bad decision if the engine sounds horrific and it’s -25 to turn it off.
The heat gun trick I learned from some other people who have spent time up here using it to thaw out individual parts
@@MispronouncedAdventures You did the right thing. The pre-heater is there to protect the engine. It was making a noise because it could not pick up the oil fast enough.
Agreed. So annoying to watch.
Exactly. Much better to pay for a new engine then to freeze to death. And the engine will heat up fast. Never shut down a running engine in extreme cold. Common sense survival 101
Nice adventure, glad you could sort it out on your own. Shows the value of understanding your electrical system and adapting to the situation! And most importantly not to stress out and just work the problem.
Definitely stressing and panicking doesn’t fix the issue normally makes the overall situation worse.
Yeah for me building your own van and electrical system means you understand how that works and adapt it
living in a extreme cold country -30c during the day ...a good tip if you can not plug in the car ...run it every 4-5 hours for at least 10 minutes....keeps everything from freezing up (oil,coolant,etc)
The webasto engine preheater can left on thermostat, it’s overnight was gonna be colder than -30 is that will be my plan to leave on mode., that night was only about -25 max unfortunately the coolant was the wrong mix and froze that was rectified the following day
Love the calmness man BRAVO SIR bravo . And it’s a massive lesson for any one wanting to travel to places like that . Also a lot of learning about this kind of stuff as well . Well done buddy can’t wait to see the next videos . And I know what’s coming
Thank you very much! It’s a massive learning process out here and if the video is going to help some people prepare better for their potential trips all the better!
@@MispronouncedAdventures yer man a TOTALY agree . Propel need to learn lots off this
Tip: In such situations I have a small stand alone petrol stove (normally used for cooking). I light it and place it under the sump (12" below) and close the bonnet shut. The heat rises and is trapped in the engine bay. Heat initially (and importantly) goes into the sump but also spreads into the block by convection. After about 30 mins the entire engine bay would be > 0 degrees. The only other issue might be frozen/sludgy diesel in your tank. As I expect you already know, starting your engine in these seriously cold conditions puts many many times (perhaps 100 to 500 times) more wear on your engine than a warm summers day. Things like cylinders/rings/bearings can see metal to metal contact for many seconds and leads to short engine life. Your preheater is an excellent choice, but if it fails I'd use the petrol stove technique. Good to have a backup stove anyway, incase your electrics fail (for your induction stove) and you are in the arse end of nowhere without rescue. Another pre-emptive thing you can do is use thinner oil than OEM recommendation for these ultra cold trips (and higher concentrates of glycol in the coolant as you know). HTH. :)
great comment. I always have back ups. I did have a gas stove with me just incase and we’ll aa a complete spare engine pre heater unit and air heating unit with me. I didn’t thing of using a gas stove like that. More indirect heat over direct.
The following day I sorted the coolant , and for the rest of the trip, the engine pre heater worked in colder conditions, and it started like a summer day.
60% glycol is the optimum eutectic mix for ethylene glycol, giving minus 50 deg C protection. Winter grade Diesel is obviously another can of worms.....
Good day to you and absolutely great video. On my bus with the diesel air heater, I used 7/8 inch copper tubing and two brass valves to redirect the exhaust of the heater directly to blow on my engine block, on the exhaust side. At 0'F and with the diesel air heater on, it will keep the engine at 15/32'F. I gave it a try with the extra parts I had lying around. I figured the exhaust heat was wasted energy. My profile pis is my bus.
Thank you
60107 USA
Thanks for watching. That a great way of using some waste heat when you need it, I like the valve idea. I normally don’t like extending heater exhausts when they don’t need to be all the time and it can give sooting issues with increased back pressure from a restricted exhaust effect the burn
@@MispronouncedAdventures interesting you mention the sooting. Here is what I did discover between that flexible exhaust tubing and seamless copper. The copper tube has micro flakes that can be seen in the snow. The thin flex tube has larger than sand chunks. I did take my copper exhaust tube off for some.engine work I did this last summer. Only some very small flakes came out in bottom of rinse bucket. The primary exhaust had lots of chunkage. Probably caught in the ribs. Wow! I never thought my crazy observation would ever be used.
On another note, I do find the sound of the copper tubing to be more air rush sound than actual exhaust sound. Sound like a very low level air hand dryer from a distance.
Also as someone else mentioned, using a portable fuel cook stove. But pile snow all around the front of van to prevent wind and help contain heat
Aye anything to heater the engine bay is a good option. I did have a gas stove with me as well
-25……!! Coldest I ever had was -19 in Berlin years ago,always makes me laugh when people say “ it’s to cold to snow” well it was snowing in Berlin at -19.Another excellent Vlog fella,keep um coming👌
Definitely fun when you get start getting down to the cold temperatures! It’s gonna get even colder on this trip!
@@MispronouncedAdventures glad to see you finally got everything warmed up and got going,makes me laugh how you always seem so relaxed🤣🤣
Having had an engine freeze, it usually blows out some sacrificial core plugs, rather than damaging the block itself. Still bloody inconvenient, and debilitating but not the end of the engine.
Loving your adventures, you’ve done a cracking job with that van.
Yeah I’m very glad it was only slushy and not fully frozen.
I hate to burst your bubble but these holes in the block are not frost plugs. They are where the foundry supports the water jacket cores through those holes during the casting process. While yes some people have gotten lucky and their block didn't crack when the fluids inside froze, but man many an engine block has crack even when these casting plugs have popped out.
Wow can't believe how calm you stayed. I would of been panicking like mad great vlog very interesting stay safe 👍🏻🏴👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it definitely interesting situation to be in when your vehicle won’t start and it’s rather very cold
Hi, used to do testing in the USA, coldest we gir to was -44c started ok but pumps sound noisy due to oil viscosity.
Once you have it going just let it warm up!
Might be worth running the diesel heater on a timer to automate it’s starting when it’s so cold.
Take care M.
Hey, this video is from my first winter, now on my third. lots of different changes. Generally, I find down about -35 I can engine preheater and start it with no issue.
North American engines are very different than European engines. I believe yours are far easier to brute force starting in the cold.
Don't forget to use antifreeze in the door locks and rubber lubricant on the door seals so you dont get locked out of frozen out 50/50 is a good idea .
So far locks and doors seals have been all good! Yeah the mix should now be at 50-50
Suck ungodly preoccupation with temperature!
And the coolant is back!
it’s reasonable to be occupied by what’s cause an temporary issue, like the coolant or temperature.
Cold as that temperature for a Brit is a novelty, because we don’t get that cold in our country.
Love sorting out these sorts of problems, it’s these challenges that make memories 👍👍 you could run the Webasto periodically to keep the engine warm. Some just leave the engine running in those cold temps. Brilliant video.
Problem-solving definitely adds to the experience.
There would be a few options yea, the webasto heater automatically will switch back on again when the coolant drop below a certain temperature ( and I kept the heater turned to “on” mode ) . However generally I don’t need the coolant temperature throughout the night, only before I drive off in the morning. So normally turning the engine preheater on before I leave is absolutely fine unfortunately because the coolant mix I had was more diluted than I thought it froze preventing it from working
@@MispronouncedAdventures Demon Tweeks supply an electric oil pan heating pad by a company called Wolverine, I was going to fit one to our van to preheat the engine when on hook up. They come in 12v and 240v in various sizes. Less than £100. Just a thought.
My nephew used to live up there and ran a petrol Hyundai Coupé without issues. Apart from sliding off the road on one occasion!
I’m not surprised most of the Nordic vehicles are a different spec.
Quality episode. You could consider a few thermal/reflective blankets - to put around the engine and close the bonnet - so the engine block would heat up too a little bit from the heater system - do like the fact you have some gear there man - and know how to get out of a pickle. Nice one!
Thank you very much for watching. this is probably the first cold night of the first trip. So lessons were learnt about to go up with my third winter. The main fix I needed to do in this case make sure the coolant mix was correct ( as it wasn’t what I thought it was ) . This was fixed I few days later when I swapped the coolant out in a layby.
Proper anti-freeze should not be slushy at a mere -19*C. Biggest concern is a frozen battery, so once engine was initially started, regardless of running rough, should not have been turned off as once the engine ran a bit it would smooth out.
Coolant freezing level all depends on the glycol vs water mix. There was way to much water in / Diluted and the freezing level was way off what garage told me ( should of tested it myself ) but did a full swap a day later and put never had the issues again.
Battery wise on the transit there are inside the cab in the seat base so a lot water than in the engine way.
As for the engine running, at the time I didn’t know if that was ok or not. So I thought best to shut it down to be safe which seems reasonable to me, I know it was going to warm to -15c in a few hours . But I know it would of been fine now
Well done figuring that one out! 👏I would have panicked very quickly.
Cheers man!
It might be an idea to have a spare exhaust pipe from the diesel heater to run into the engine bay, i know it will be a bit fummie, but it would heat all the pipes up???
Just a suggestion for future trips??
Great vids by the way 👍
Part of me isn’t such a fan of the idea of pumping exhaust gases into the engine bay from a corrosion point of view.
But the coolant mix was fixed a few days after this, and I’ve subsequently done another winter and even colder conditions without issue
A stunning opening scene 🤩. What an adventure. Glad you got it started … eventually! ATB, Sue.
Thank you very much! It was nice to see the lights! I get to see them some more on this trip
2liter 4 cylinder engine in that big truck?? Dumb purchase dobby!!!
It’s a normal engine in the uk and Europe transit’s , mine has the higher map on it anyway. We don’t use large engines like that or need them.
My chinese diesel heater would not start when I was near Yakselv in -30deg c.........The heater exhaust pipe under the van was blocked with ice.I had to drill the ice out then it started straight away and pumped out the heat.My Sprinter 314 started up every time no probs in the mornings I let the engine tickover for 30 minutes everyday before I moved off.I hope you are safe and warm
I’ve seen that issue have with heater before Chinese or western brands. Even in scotland I’ve seen slush from the road kick up and block the exhaust which then what is the heat going to shut down. Happened to me once on a trip with snow blocking the exhaust.
Engine preheater on the other hand was the coolant froze therefore wasn’t able to pump which caused the pre heater to overheat it was actually starting fine every time
Get an electric water heater element for a small electric water heater. Attach the male end of a small extension cord fir a wall outlet. Plug it into your inverter and insert in radiator cap or coolant overflow for 30 min..
I've used this trick on big semi truck engines, took about 30 minutes, and it fired right up.
I have a more powerful 5kw engine pre heater over a electric block heater. But the coolant froze which was the issues.
Phew ! You had me worried for a while ! Glad you sorted out the problem..a lesson we'll learnt 👍
Lesson learnt for sure!
Ohh my goodness good job you know your stuff, i would have panicked and assumed it needed a new battery 😂
I guess it’s the advantage of building your own van and doing work on it you get to understand more and more home things work so it issues crop up it’s easier to diagnose
Wow you did well there Alex, we were shivering just watching it! 😅 good effort👍🏼
Thank you! That was one of the more chilly days
Sorry this will be of no use too you know but vans get a very hard life and generally the things that gets missed are the fluids so I would always change the antifreeze no matter what the service history says. I do hope you changed the oil for the correct grade for those extreme conditions, as I said no help know. That said I just love the series and really look forward to the next instalment. All the best.
No need to apologise. As for coolant, yes it was an oversight as I was under the impression it was a lot more concentrated than turns out it actually was, that’s all been sorted now correct Concentration used and a lesson for the future.
Oil for my van is already 0W30 which is designed for a cold weather performance, my Nordic friends said need to change that, already plenty thin enough for those conditions
Excellent video Alex. Nice electrical setup too.
Thank you and I have some videos about the electrical set up coming out in a few weeks
Maybe get a cheap stand alone diesal heater to give heat under the engine..
Years ago I brought a Norwegian army G wagon from up north it had silicon brake fluid and hard core coolant..
Also a webasto pre heater and an fitments for an external preheated like a blowlamp sort of thing ..
Snow chains as standard..
Pull up blind over the radiator..
As you say it's a lot of prep.
Fantastic stuff
Definitely lots of different Solutions out there. Hydraulic air matrix in the engine bay attached the webasto heater could’ve been a good solution
I have a radiator cover / grille cover which I use when it’s even colder and I’m driving. It makes a massive difference
Every day's a school day. Great vlog, lots to think about. 🤙
Definitely always learning!
love your videos…Im in Chicago and we have temps ranging between -25 to -30 C every year. Ive never seen antifreeze gel like that at those temps…most likely you are having geling problems with the fuel.
Gelling is pretty much eliminated in all the Nordic countries as the diesel from the pumps comes pre-treated with additives/winter grade.
I think my coolant issue was just it was way more diluted with water than I thought it was
wow glad you got it sorted Alex...... my backside would have been twitching...... you remained cool (no pun intended) and for it resolved..... well done
Thank you! I’m pretty glad I got it sorted as well! Panicking wouldn’t have helped the situation!
I used to live in Boston and it was quite often -20c. I never did any of this and my car ran fine.
Different parts of the world, have different norms. you’ll pretty much see every car plugged in with pre heaters in urban places, and diesel fired ones in off grid locations.
It might also be North America and European engines are completely different
How scary that must have been…glad you got van going
It wasn’t too scary as I understood what the issue was and how to solve it I think if I was completely stumped on what was causing the problem I’ll be a lot more worried!
Probibly wouldn't hurt to take a peice of cardboard in front of the radiator so it don't slush up driving down the road before the thermostat opens. Been their before . Best to add more antifreeze so it doesn't freeze up make Shure to put a few holes so it cools it and watch your gages so it doesn't over heat I do this here in Maine during the winters just be careful to not bend the fins to mutch . Best of luck . On cold days it helps you will no if you lose heat in your heater that's stock for your van I've had em ice up againe but if your heat starts to seem it's not working out of the dash it may be it's freezing up before the thermostat stat has time to open. Your a smart guy you seem to be mechanically inclined you know it's bad if the belt start scwealing she's real cold you never want to pop a freeze plug in the block. Best to put good coolent that's not gonna freeze. Is the cure.
I did a coolant swap the following day in the layby in the Finnish wilderness, sorted the right mix which was good because it was the coldest night of the trip that night, and I do actually have a grille cover which I use later on the trip during colder temperatures whilst driving as I did have the Problem of the cold air cooling the coolant down so much I was no heat left in the engine for cabin heaters or the engine
You should have added enough engine coolant to make it at -45 degrees C. An antifreeze tester would be helpful.. I live in Lethbridge Canada and every year we have -30 degree C so getting your vehicle properly winterized would be a good thing.
I believed it was at the time, don’t listen to ford. Swapped it out a few days later
if you had a 1990 ford this it wouldn't be happened :) adblue is big mess with artic temperature also... but good job and it's also very cool your van.. claps !!
Thank you, old engine just lite a fire under it, to many wires in model engines. Adblue freezes around -11c I think. It was probably frozen most of the trip. But the engine doesn’t need adblue to run. It’s just meant to have it to reach it emissions standards
Glad you got sorted, stay safe
Me too! a none starting engine is definitely not good!
Well done, Alex. A real A team moment there.
Thank you, it was a great moment hearing the preheater staying on
Knows nothing about engines but hella entertaining! Keep it up 😂 this is how my engine sounds every day in Canada at minus 48 😂
First time in that cold on that trip, cold starts like that are not great engines, not all season. The following winter from this trip on the different morning 6 out of 7 foreign vehicles in a car park couldn’t get started at -30c
Definetly something else when you never dealt with it 😂 when I moved to Canada from Germany I’d never thought winters like here are possible 😂
@V4NLIFE_CANADA got to learn somehow.
Loving your videos! Pure glycol actually freezes at a higher temp than when its 50 50 mixed with water so this may have been part of your problem if the coolant hadn't mixed properly when you added the few litres of concentrate. Just a thought!
Could will well be in one of the issues. I didn’t realise that was the case with pure glycol, I also understand that pure glycol isn’t a very effective coolant either
As a maintenance engineer I have a army camp stove that I put under frozen cold store pipes it runs on any fuel have a fan for ventilation two one in and one out air. Are other things fixing cold engines gearboxes on big machine's and industrial boilers it heats up the pipes inside the burner chambers you can climb into you just need above freezing 🥶 to get going .lights 🔥 under lorrys sump and have a tarporline over engine area helps.one last thing put deinonisized water in to your antifreeze with anti freeze down to - 40 plus there is oats anti freeze ie blue or red for metal in your engine very important as corrosion in engine as you are in a lonely place I would put some engine cylinder head sealant in for any leaks it does not have beads in it or aluminium bits like some stop leaks it runs enert around your engine it only does its job when it gets to a leak it goes out leak and it is a chemical that is like sheets of glass it build's up the layers and it goes out leak like building Lego and make a solid plug that is hard as metal this does work permanent fix . hope this helps.cheers Russell Hutchison engine from chirnside Scottish borders Scotland UK engineer 38 + years
Just found the channel.
I liked, subscribed and commented 👍
Well I’m glad you found it. thank you very much for subscribing and commenting!
"Don't eat yellow snow" is another top tip in the frozen regions
Or pink snow under your engine
Brilliant work top marks cheers
Thank you!
Get that sorted asap! Good mix of 50/50 should work in -40. Starting a frozen engine is very dangerous. Coolant pump could be destroyed, or even worse, if the pump is powered by the cam belt you can destroy the engine!
Yeah it’s all sorted now. The only reason I started it cold, was I knew it wasn’t frozen solid, just slushy. I wouldn’t of never even tried to start it if I knew it was frozen solid for the reason you mentioned above.
Good Job... whew. I wish I understood more how you reversed the dc to dc to charge the start.
Thank you, more or less it was just swapping the wires between input and output
@@MispronouncedAdventures Thanks... Looking forward to seeing other parts of the world... thanks.
3 things to consider when well below freezing..
1) your coolants anti-freeze properties......
2) your batteries hate the cold and often 'crap out' in those conditions....
3) be sure that your diesel fuel has the cold weather additive suitable for your temperatures.... if not your diesel will turn into a margarine like substance and won't flow to your heater or your engine
Where I live, at minus 15 degrees C, a major worldwide fuel company forgot to add the cold weather additive to the diesel on sale, and hundreds of diesel vehicles had fuel tanks, lines, filters, and fuel distributors full of gunk/'margarine'. And the only way to fix it was to heat things up with a blow torch... where possible!!!
If more than one of those things happen to you, you have a 'cluster' situation on your hands.
(And, strangely, solar panels are more efficient and work better in the cold.... but nothing else works that way!!)
I have told a coolant was a lower ranted than it was, which is not a surprise, as no one measure it in the uk. I fixed it a few days later.
Never had a issue later on on the trip with the starter, there are feed with a trickle charger normally to keep them topped up, but this case I could didn’t want to wait for a 1amp trickle changer so I a rewired the 30amp charger.
All Nordic fuel is pretreated so it’s not issues and made sure I ran all of the old diesel out of the engine pre-heater and air heaters lines when I first got into the cold.
And you are correct solar panels work more efficiently when they are colder. However, the bonus is a kind of negated in the Arctic as there’s no sun anyway.
@@MispronouncedAdventures well, you did do your best about sorting the diesel situation out (gelling)
as you bled, drained and changed diesel when up there.... and the anti freeze, well you did your best, in your own country. But I always do as the Romans do, when I'm over there!!! So as well as the diesel change, the antifreeze update would have been important...
But you know that now. It's all experience, and you've done it. What really freaks me out, is that you have little control of a main battery going 'off' on the cold. Personally, in those conditions, you really need a group (at least 3 or 4) of other vehicles travelling with you for safety. Otherwise it can end rather badly.
@@colonelfustercluck486 changing diesel isn’t too important as it’s a 2000 miles up there from the uk. So you work it all thought pretty quickly.
I had other back up systems and even satellite comms as well if problems solving
@@MispronouncedAdventures OK.... the comment wasn't so much for you, as you have "been there, done that" and you are now experienced.... I made the comment for more the inexperienced adventurers amongst us, who may be viewing this channel. And who may be tempted by your awesome adventure, to 'have a go' at it, without properly thinking all contingencies though. You know, all the little things that can trip you up, when you go a'travelling out of your normal climatic zone, the little but important things that can really stuff your trip up, or be dangerous. Thats all I meant, no criticism towards you and your channel.... I enjoyed it.
Yeah they're pretty robust it shouldn't hurt anything if you start it and let it warm up. With the proper mix I think you'd be just fine, no need to leave anything on.
Swapped the coolant two days later. No issues for the rest of the winter or the next.
Mix was not what I thought it was at the start of this trip
I remember coming up from California and it was FROZEN here in Portland. I forgot to add Antifreeze.
I blew out my water pump on my minivan. Never again will I ever make that mistake again.
When I was lucky it only turned it to slush and didn’t break anything
Brilliant video!
Thank you very much I thought it was important to capture the good and the bad points of the trip
Wow, what a set up! Rob recommended you to us and he was right, you are a genius!
We wish you a great trip to scandinavia this winter ❤
Cheers
Thank you very much! Rob is a great guy! I’m looking forward to seeing him before I head off on this winters trip
Fun times!! I was thinking a reflecting surface on the underside of the bonnet would have nudged things along a bit? (P.S. Bonjour from Provence where it is T-shirt weather, hehe.)
Might have helped a little bit but I think the majority of the coolant pipes were ones lower down in the engine
You should just let the engine run when it first started, the rough idle would normalise in about 20-60 seconds. revving a bit is ok, until it runs on all cylinders. let it run for about 5 minutes if you drive carefully, og 15 minutes if you strain the engine. About your coolant, did you drain the whole engine when changing it? if not, it wont help. usually there is a drain plug in the bottom of the radiator. and recommending that you check a video on how to bleed the system on your car.
Greetings from Norway, -27 c at the moment. But great videos :-) thinking of building a van from scratch myself, thanks for great inspiration.
This video was my first coldest night of my first Arctic winter. I’m now currently in Finland for my third Arctic winter and used to the different noises the engine can make at times but at the time of this video I was not. I’m not used to as a Brit starting in that temperature, and it sounded like a dying tractor, so I thought it be reasonable to shut it down better to play it safe at the time with my lack knowledge then.
As for the coolant, I replaced it in a few days afterwards. I used an online calculator to tell me how much I needed to remove of the current volume and replace it with concentrate to get it to the higher, percentage and desired.
Don’t need to drain the entire volume, the next time the engine thermostat opens it would mix the new stuff I put in via the reservoir with the older stuff I drained out of the engine side.
@@MispronouncedAdventures I didn`t notice the age of the video before now, but totally understandable first time experiencing it.
i might have missunderstood something, i was thinking of degradation of the coolant, but your car looks to new for that to be an issue.
but other than that, really liked your setup, going to use some of the same solutions myself, on budget thoug.
how is your trip to Finland? guessing you have had some real low temperatures lately? we have had -27 in East Norway on several occations lately, and heard about around -44 in Kautokeino
@djtesla87 yes, it was more of a too diluted coolant mix than degraded. But I see you point coming from that point of view,
Going well! I left the uk 4 days ago and now in Rovaniemi. Coldest so far has been -26c for me this winter
@MispronouncedAdventures i understand :-)
Sound Nice, looking forward to getting mine finishes as well :-)
-26 is cold enough as well, I wondering, how much fuel do you use from UK, and til you reach Finland? (Estimated)
Hope you'll have a great trip, recommending lofoten, and Senja if you haven't been there
It’s not that cold. Coolant shouldn’t be frozen!!!!
Uk coolant doesn’t normally need a freezing temperature down that low as it’s not needed. average winter temperatures probably is above freezing in the uk. but I thought the coolant mix was lower than it was.
The electrical cabinet looks so great.
There are two videos already finished and queued up about the electrical cabinet upgrades which will be posted when this series is finished
Shoulda kept it running. Not that you did any but there was more potential for Damage turning it on and off… keeping it on generates heat and keeps fluids moving… there’s diesels all over the internet doing cold starts… because it’s rough. It was gona be rough. Far worse to turn it off and on than to just keep it running
I worked with the information and knowledge I had at time. It sounded horrifically and struggling to keep idle. So a reasonable step will be to shut it down when I don’t know what’s gonna happen. after all there is no problem waiting out for the coolant thaw out to the engine, so the pre heater work later on in the day.
Fantastic but not for me, that snow n coooooold...I remember back in the Sixties .in the UK.a small Paraffin heater was placed under the Sump of every car on Cold nights .. Can't ever remember experiencng anything like those Ttemperatures ..good work getting it Started ...Without the Usual PANIC and DRAMA..👍😎 🇨🇮
I can definitely see how the cold isn’t everyone cup of tea!
Yeah heating the sump does also work, you can get sump heaters as well. My engine pre here does mostly the same job. Just in this situation i coolant mix was wrong
I'm screaming at the tv nooo leave it running your guna kill the battery and leave yourself stranded. I'm in -4 and I don't even use diesel I use waste oil and veg oil 1.9tdi really hard to start and sounds like a washing machine full of spanners but she goes after a few mins, just have to persevere. I use a fuel tank heater and a inline fuel heater before the injectors and have been working on cars for years, rebuilding this engine too at 89000 and she was spotless and she's approaching at 180000 now 👍
I didn’t know what I didn’t know at the time but it all worked out in the end. My thought process being I knew it would warm up to -14c in the afternoon and I had the ability to charge the starter. So wait it out
That's fair man glad you got it sorted! was an entertaining video for sure haha had me on the edge of my seat. recently found your channel and look forward to your future adventures mate, stay safe out there!
Glad you are enjoying the channel next time. I will check the coolant myself before I leave for the trip. additionally, with my second trip up there, I’ll be armed with a little bit more knowledge
The engine has freeze plugs in the coolant chanels. If the have popped out you will loose youre coolant. Watch the coolant level closely!
I haven’t heard of engine freeze plugs before but I’ve just looked them up. This event was a few thousand miles ago now, coolant level looks good so hopefully all good there! But thanks for the heads up.
We always have at least a 50-50 % mix in the coolant system here in Sweden.
Yes the issue was that’s what I thought it, unfortunately it turned out to be for more diluted, subsequently had local garage test it and mix is no 50/50
@@MispronouncedAdventures Yeah I thought so. I would also have the engines preheather wired to the leisure batteries to avoid draining the starter batteri. Good luck.
Preheater is wired up to the leisure battery, The cranks of the engine when cold is what flatten the starter. there are no issues starting the pre-heater because Attached to the leisure system
15:11 I get same symptom when I used my webasto to pre-warm my car. Happens when its very cold. I also run my Webasto on auxiliary battery. Completely isolated from starter battery. Not sure why it happens….anyway was a pleasure to watch the entire series.
The Webasto runs of the leisure systems so there is never any issue starting it from a power point of view, just in this case because the coolant was blocked being semifrozen.
The fuel gauge one is pretty common when the power runs out in my van too.
Thanks for watching!
I wonder if all people of Scandinavia have to spend an hour preheating their cars in the morning. Seems to me that as long as it starts on its own it's fine right?
They generally all have pre heaters, in urban setting it’s mostly electric ones which they leave turned on overnight. You see all the cars parked up and plug in to the electric sockets. You might be able to start the engine in the cold, but it’s an extreme amount of wear on the engine doing so it’s doing it every day would be a great way to knacker in engine pretty quick
Heat gun. On the oil pan and radiator and if you can reach it. the water pump. Also need whiskey
I did have plenty whisky 🥃 the amount of energy needed with a heat gun might of been a bit much to thaw out larger things, definitely should work for individual, smaller components
What an amazing place to have a non starting van! 🤩
Nice to see you keeping calm about it, we’d be tearing our hair out 😂
Very true definitely worse places visually to be stuck!
Because it’s a FORD!!!!
I’m sure if you turned the coolant splash in most bottles engine you struggle to get it to start
A bottle of HEET is always good for the vehicle in those frigid temperatures.
Not familiar with HEET, but looking it up is it Necessary as All the fuel out here is already treated for cold temperatures at the pump?
You need to keep the engine pre heater running or fit a timer on it to engage every few hours to stop the temps reducing so much . Fitting under trays and grill blankets also help alot .
Make sure your using a 0w20 while in them temps as well. It would be rough sounding due to the oil not circulating. Pretty sure ford also do a sump blanket for these to help reduce wind chill cooling the oil
The coolant now is sorted and running down to -36c.
I’ve been using a grille cover / blanket later on in the trip when I got down to -27c and driving. I was so surprised how much of a difference it made.
As for Oil my van uses 5W30, I did speak to some people about this Oil, they did say 0w20 or 5w30. Since my van already uses 5w30 I’d thought I’d stick with that.
@@MispronouncedAdventures I'd definitely drop it to 0w20 while in the lower temps . 5w30 is fine over here and down to -10 but you're pushing it below -20 , damage will only show its face further down the line . Leave the grill blanket on , wind chill is an issue even when engine at full temps as the thermostat will close so the radiator will cool fast and potentially freeze and split even at -36 strength
@@MispronouncedAdventures Interestingly 0W30 recommended for my transit. Not a particularly cheap option though!
Ah, my mistake. You mentioning it not being a cheap option reminded me of something, well the garage who did the service originally charging me more! I just looked up the manual for my van and I was mistaken it is 0W30 I have in the van and not 5W30
Since you also have a diesel air heater installed, I wonder if an external port and some extra ducting would be useful to get heat to a frozen component?
Potentially in an option however, I would just need another 4-5m of exhaust to reach the engine bay
Wow, good job sorting that one out, what would you do if you could't start it? Will the AA come out to you there?
Cheers, learning process as that was the first cold night of my first winter trip. I’m now on my third winter trip. Recovery companies for the Nordic countries are just as normal as in the UK. My European breakdown cover would’ve sorted a local recovery company.
Why don't you let the engine running all night when its below -20? It doesn't use much fuel in idle and you avoid all the issues in the morning. In case of an emergency you dont have 40 min or more to waste.
It’s really not needed to leave it running overnight. Idle is my van uses around 0.8L to 1.2L per hour. Long idling also didn’t great for modern engines with there filters. So I’d run not leave it for idling for 10 hours overnight.
this only issue really was the coolant mix was t what I thought it was.
Woow that's alot of consumption for idle! My sprinter uses around 0,5l/h. This also heats the van inside. When its below -20 C I always keep the engine running. I made just over 680.000 km and only had to change the high pressure pump 1 time. No other engine issues.
I've noticed that you have a manual switch to enable charging from the Victron DC-DC chargers. As I remember correctly those can detect the voltage increase and turn on automatically, I also remember that this was the idea when you installed it in the past. What made you change it to the way it works now? Is your smart alternator voltage too low to trigger it? BTW what is your charging voltage with the engine on(the voltage you get from the alternator)? I also have transit MK7 though, and still trying to figure out how the smart charge work exactly, tend to have 14.8V constant, when the engine is on, sometimes dropping to below 13V without any apparent logic to it.
So without being too confusing I have a Video coming out in a couple weeks which shows the process of installing both of the Victron DC-DC charger is running in parallel.
The Switch on the dash doesn’t necessarily turn the chargers on or off ( as in manual control to make them charge or not ) as they’re still on the automatic engine detection modes however that switch controls if I want two charges to run ( winter time ), only one of them ( summer time ) or none at all. It also means the fans turn on and off for the correct charger as well.
The smart alternators vary the voltage for a number of reasons what are those is alternator temperature also effect voltage output I think I have my engine detection voltage currently at 13.8c
Interesting Vlog you did well to overcome the issue in such a remote location thinking outside the box💯 👍 I'm looking at planning a trip to Scandinavia next winter I want to be fully prepared your trip has given me some useful tips and ideas Alex with regards to a pre heater for the Fiat Ducato 2017 can you point me in the right direction to the best one to purchase?
Glad you enjoyed video. In the future after this trip I’ll be making a Video about tips and tricks on things I learnt to help others. There are already a few videos on my channel about the upgrades are made to the van including the preheater for this trip
@@MispronouncedAdventures that will be a good one to watch 👍 Enjoy the rest of your adventure and road trip in 🇸🇪 keep the Vlogs coming 👌
Plenty more videos to come!
Get a hair blow dryer for next time there dobby??.
I literally had a 2000w heat gun in the video which is more powerful than a hair dryer. But they’re not really great at thawing out engine blocks better at thawing out individual components.
Buy a suitcase generator for your next adventures, you won't get caught out then dude 👍
I wasn’t caught out with lack of power ( well apart from the starter ) . I have a large battery bank and portable battery back. More of my issues with power was not having something to recharge my start with easily
I will now pack a tube in my van so I can heat the engine bay with my cabin heater in case the waterheater freezes. If that doesn´t work, I´ll use my Optimus 111T or 55 to preheat the engine.
I´ve been living in the south west of Sweden for nearly a decade, almost forgot how cold it can get inland and north.
A few people had also recommended and thought of that ideas I could definitely see it could help in a way
To me, that sounded like a normal cold weather diesel start up. I think yo worry to much lol
It may well have been, although it did sound worse in the cab that sounded on camera, but in the UK, we rarely have conditions below -5c, and if so is the engine sounds horrific and out of the ordinary from one’s owns experience, and it could hardly maintain idle, seemed reasonable enough to shut it down
@@MispronouncedAdventures I can see why you did shut it down though. Enjoying your vids. Currently watching the build, last winters travels and the fresh vids your putting out. Love my Transits, use one for my job.
May I ask how much roughly did it cost to buy and kit out your van? Thinking of doing it with a transit, have a Ford car which I’ve had for 9 years, great model fords 👍
My transit when I got it was 2 years old ( 2018 ), 78k miles, air con, rare colour and high Spec model for £16k pre-Covid prices probably a lot more now.
I’ve probably put 15k+ into it. However, that’s because I have a substantial electrical system and a bit of a nerd. I would say the actual material costs for cabinetry insulation, so I, were average.
Shouldn't rev the engine from cold like that. With the coolant being just a little bit slushy I would have let it tick over when you first started it. That electrical system of yours look really neat but a bit complex, to me at least. How come you don't have a switch that allows you to use the leisure battery to boost the starter battery? Would save you rewiring your board. One more thing, is that van all wheel drive?
I didn’t really rev the engine hard ( sounds loud on camera ) , it was more of small rev as the it sounded like it was struggling to idle. But it was only for a few seconds anyway and because at the time I didn’t know if that was good or bad nosies . All I knew was it didn’t sound right/ normal. Which i why I shut it down.
As for the electric system, it’s can definitely look complex to someone but as I built it myself it quite simple. Those style of B2B chargers don’t have a reverse charged feature. I do actually have a small trickle charger but I wasn’t gonna wait for that to charge a flat starter battery as that would take hours. For me, it was a pretty quick to swap the wires around.
The Van is only RWD drive and not AWD ( I’d love a AWD ) but with all the weight over the rear axle and those tires, plenty of grip, even in deep snow
If it is a work van / company car, you can rev / thrash the engine more at low temperatures, travel faster, launch the boat deeper and carry heavier loads that it is designed for etc..... if you personally own the van, definately be cautious with revving when cold.
Do you actually have a diagnostic tool in case something really goes wrong with your engine?
From own workshop experience, those Transits like to block the DPF e.g.
I have a unit which can read codes which sits on my dash and displays my coolant temp and other things. Never had a issues with the DPF
Said it before and I'll say it again. Aim the exhaust from diesel heater and engine block or run the exhaust through a radiator under the van to extract the waste heat 🤔
The diesel heater in about 4 meters away so no possible and I really don’t think pumping exhaust gasses into the engine bay is a good idea. I also don’t think it will have much effect. coolant heaters heat the core of the block. warm air just going to heat a very small outside part of the engine block
I don’t think extracting waste heat from diesel heaters in worth the effort, ( unless you maybe did that direct to the engine coolant loop )
Surely neat antifreeze avoids all freezing up issues ?? Cant understand why you didnt make it neat .
Neat antifreeze or 100% glycol would seem like a think to do but it is a terrible idea. The reason it’s not done is Glycol / antifreeze is a terrible coolant.
Water is a great coolant but has the issue of freezing at zero and boiling at 100c.
50/50 or for colder 60/40 of glycol/water gives you the best of both
Well , I have learnt something today, Cheers.@@MispronouncedAdventures
Cool adventures 👍
Cold adventures :)
@@MispronouncedAdventures 😄👍
Loving the series and adventure! I have a webasto engine heater (not sure if exact term) in my van. Been told it warms the engine quicker when cold so it stops damage to the engine. But I can't manually start it like yours and I've never heard it make the noise like yours. Guess this is a different thing to your engine pre heater?
Glad you are enjoying the series.
Id imagine it’s the same thing if it’s a Webasto engine preheater. I’m not familiar how they’re often installed in vehicles in the factory. I think it can be a variety of ways from automatic turn on to manual.
Covering up your radiator grill with an insulated cover could have prevented this problem and having a duct from your Chinese diesel heater to your engine bay could have resolved this issue.
I do use a grill cover for later in that winter and subsequent winters, but grill covers are really only effective when driving, not stationary, I don’t really prevent heat loss in the grand scheme of things, especially being stationary for overnight, they just prevent air hitting the radiator cooling the coolant when driving.
Ducting of Chinese diesel heater into the engine bay. Also it isn’t really that effective. Unless you wanted to run it for hours and you’ll get only marginal results at best. Sure you will slightly warm some of the outside parts of the engine, but you won’t really warm the core of it. That’s why an engine preheater is superior
Neither of those solutions would’ve eliminated the issue In this case it was the coolant mix which was wrong, which caused it to slash up in the pipe to me in the engine preheater couldn’t pump it. Which was changed the following days, and subsequently have had no issues even down to -35 and other years.
@@MispronouncedAdventures From previous experience you would be surprised how effective using an insulated grill cover is on a stationary vehicle. Sub zero winds flowing through your radiator is effectively turning your radiator into a freezer.
@eddiethompson4179 I use a grill cover all the time, it stays on for the entirety of the last two winters, but I’m just saying it’s not particularly effective stationary. Any windspeed, unless it’s a storm is going to be minor hitting the radiator when stationary, unlike when driving at 50 mph. and even if there was wind hitting the radiator in stationary, there is no coolant flow due to the engine being off so no pump, and no access to the block of the engine via the radiator coolant anyway, because the engine thermostat would be closed.
Your coolant header tank (which was frozen) is connected to the bottom of your radiator. The thermostat is positioned in the top of your radiator. You do not need water flow for it to freeze.
@@eddiethompson4179 that because the ambient temperature was below the freezing temperature of the coolant everything was frozen.
You bring up wind affecting the
radiator and cooling it when stationary , the effects of windchill are going to different to the effects of ambient temperature
Windchill if stationary, and without a grow would certainly drop the temperature of the coolant in the radiator which would be minor( or any surface the wind hits ) , but with no flow, there isn’t gonna make it through the rest of the engine.
Is it really basic but can't you just poor hot water into the water tank ??
You don’t really want to pour just water it as it would dilute my coolant. Hot water in -25c would say hot for long and with no flow as it frozen you wouldn’t get the hot water to the problem areas
I THINK KINGING IT NEED TO WATCH THIS VIDEO
Up in Alaska if you can’t plug in you don’t switch off. Well in the 70’s that was the case.
Most everyday cars in the Nordic have an electric preheater so you see most plugged in when parked. However many of the van have a option a Diesel fired engine preheater like a use for use when plug in is not available.
Whilst my preheater worked flawlessly, at the beginning of my trip coolant mix was wrong, I drained and refilled the coolant a few days later with the correct mix
@@MispronouncedAdventures we are talking -35 it was brutal. Don’t think pre heaters were about then. One guy had a log burner where the passenger seat should have been to supplement the cab heater, made coffee on it too. 😂.
What is the antifreezer/water ratio? I think the best ratio for extreme cold is 69/31
At the time when it frozen I wasn’t right what ever it was. The rest of that Winter I used 50/50, that following winter I used 60/40
@@MispronouncedAdventures best of luck. I like ur channel so much, keep it up
Thank you
Canadian here, when you get the slushies we just use the glycol after filtering out the ice. pro tip- carry a hydrometer so you can test what's actually there.
I now own a hydrometer, I would rather now test it myself
Hi I have the same van as you but 2017 can you tell me do you use LED headlights or the standard ones I’m from uk?thanks love the vids aswell good job 😁
I use standard headlights, and auxiliary led light bars when up in the Arctic ( my bars can be used on uk roads )
From my understanding, I think you can retrofit the modern transits LED headlights unit into the older our model. You’re not meant to swap the bulbs to LED bulbs because the units have different projections.
@@MispronouncedAdventures hi thanks for quick reply I’m just wanting brighter low beam for night driving I guess I will try the brightest halogens I can find looking at the Philips racing vision gt200 h7 maybe my best option instead of messing around with LED and risking error codes etc 🙋🏽♂️keep up the vids really interesting thankyou 😁
No problem I hope you get it sorted
Never rev your cold engine worst thing to do. Just let it idle until it warms up
For example here, I didn’t rev it as an anything above probably 1500-2000. Just I revved it enough to stop it from stalling as that’s how it sounded
@@MispronouncedAdventures 👍👍
And when going out someplace like this. Spend the extra $200 for a spare battery
Not just coolant that gets slushy and thick the fuel can aswell and engine oil it's probably best to run a small heater pipe off your inside diesel heater into engine bay to keep it warm over night while you're keeping yourself warm lol
All the fuel out here is pre-treated at the pumps so no worries about the fuel gelling up.
That’s actually a pretty cool idea doing a small heat vent into the engine bay, logistically a pain in the arse for me to physically do it but I do like the idea
@@MispronouncedAdventures 😂
@@MispronouncedAdventures didn't know that about fuel that's pretty cool that. I've seen vids we're truckers in canada put a heat pad on the sumps on the engines to heat up the oil before starting
Yeah I can imagine on truck specially larger ones sump heaters would be quite important. Whilst I might be wrong it seems the engine preheaters mostly in the Nordic countries heat just the coolant. I haven’t seen many options which heat the sump as well
Where did you get the clips holding the Wago connectors to the door, in between the Orion smart charger units?
The came with a box of wago connectors I was given by a friend. I’ve searched high and low for them separately, they are like some sort of mythical unicorn. I’m yet to find them for sale anywhere. Sorry that doesn’t help you. I’m still looking myself.
@@MispronouncedAdventures Cheers for the reply, i've just been introduced to your channel by a friend, enjoying it too, hoping to get up to Norway ourselves one day.
Well thank you to your friend as well! Norway is lovely ( Sweden and Finland too ) in both summer and winter
How do the artic countries like Norway , Sweden , Finland stop their fuel from freezing in their vehicles
All the fuel available at the pumps during the winter is there “winter grade” fuel. it’s got extra additives or something to stop diesel gel up and so on.
during the winter the fuel companies sell 'winter diesel'...it has an additive in it to prevent it from thickening or setting........ except once about 10 years ago when a major worldwide fuel company forgot to add it in my area.
Next day was a cluster fk, every diesel vehicle that had refueled with that brand of fuel was sitting, unable to be started.... unless the owner had a propane torch and thawed out the fuel tanks, fuel line, fuel filter, injector pump.... and that isn't possible in many cases.