Hey,

I've got a 2000 XJ Sport, totally stock, with just over 125k on her. I love her dearly and do my best to take care of her the best I can, to the point where my wife get jealous

I'm also a volunteer firefighter, which is the cause of my problem. When I normally drive her (I haven't named her yet) I warm her up and go easy on her. But when my pager goes off, it's time to go, not much I can do about that. I'm talking about a cold start in freezing conditions and 1.5 miles at 50mph before being shut down.

My question is, what can I do to make the cold starts and immediate high speed driving easier on my Jeep???

Thanks.

 

Been there done that for a few years. Totally sucks wanting to race down the highway with ice all over the windshield. Really dont know what you could other than maybe install a electric block heater and keep it plugged in in the winter. Probably not gonna hurt it driving it cold like that but I know what you mean.

 

Maybe a install a keyless start thingy, or is it a remote start, I know it isnt much of a head start, but im sure a few mins can help, from the time that pager goes off and u get urself out the door it gives her a few moments of a warm up? Just a thought

 

Wonder if block heaters have thermostats..I would hope so. Also my dad use to use infrared heat lamps, here and there......

You might consider going synthetic oil. Something runny!

Watch out for that 0331 head in that 2000 Btw. One overheat might crack it.

 

x2 on a block heater. I generally leave mine plugged in overnight, and when I hop in to start it I'm sitting at ~80-90 degrees. Your engine will still be a little cold, but it will definitely help.

If you take off your intake and exhaust manifolds it is very easy to access the freeze plugs to install.

 

Yep, block heater would be the only real option. Ewww those situations suck. Thats when the most wear is put upon the engine. Everything has not expanded to its minimum clearances (notice how the jeep starts and runs the best after driving 50mph for 1 hour +? also, cold conditions cause condensation in the engine, oil resivour, and gas tank. when the car is driven short distances without reaching masx temp, the condensation and large clearances can do dameage in the long run.

 

I thought about a block heater, but there would be so much wasted energy, and money, for all those nights I'd leave her plugged in and we do not have a call.

I'm thinking about going with a remote start. It takes me about 45 seconds from when my pager goes off to when I get to the car, if I hit the remote start as soon as my pager goes off, my car would have close to a minute to run before I abuse her.

A minute of warmup is MUCH better than a cold start and taking off, right???

 

Oh ya, Big time. I used to work on Briggs and Stratton small engines, and if you run them for like 5 seconds, certain parts are very hot. Thousands of combustions would take place in that 45 s

 

I would go with a remote start. Love mine

 

Yeah, same problem here, I finally got a bulldog security remote starter for mine. Has the key bypass built in too. Should be an easy install. I'm probably installing mine this weekend.

 

I would suggest letting it run a MINIMUM of 15 seconds before you put it in gear and go. You have to let the oil start flowing and lubricate all the internals before you put a load on it. I believe the owners manual even says something to the same affect.

 

X2 on the energy. That's why I mentioned a (300W) heat lamp. Also if a block heater had a thermostat and you could set it low it might not be too bad.

DEFIANTLY let it run a minute if at all possible. You want the oil to at least get up into the head and cylinders.