Blue badge and car windscreen covers

only_mee

Yeah we had a volvo many years a go and that was warm very quick too.

markmarkmark

adouglasmhor wrote: »

, as the oil heats up it becomes thinner so is less shock absorbing (though it is slippier),

Engine oil only provides the designed protection against friction when it is at temperature. I used to design engine management systems. The engine designers at Ford, Jaguar, Volvo etc always said that from cold you should start the car, adjust seat belt, radio etc, drive off after 30 secs or so and then gentle revs until the temp gauge starts to move up. This will get the engine to design temp much faster than idling, which is not recommended for minimum wear. In some European countries idling without driving is now actually illegal, and will probably be the case here too in the future, being it is so pointless and environmentally unfriendly.
e.g.
http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=40858&sID=12717

adouglasmhor

markmarkmark wrote: »

Engine oil only provides the designed protection against friction when it is at temperature. I used to design engine management systems. The engine designers at Ford, Jaguar, Volvo etc always said that from cold you should start the car, adjust seat belt, radio etc, drive off after 30 secs or so and then gentle revs until the temp gauge starts to move up. This will get the engine to design temp much faster than idling, which is not recommended for minimum wear. In some European countries idling without driving is now actually illegal, and will probably be the case here too in the future, being it is so pointless and environmentally unfriendly.
e.g.
http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=40858&sID=12717

slippier = less friction.
thicker = less shock.

I only idle while I wipe or scrape the windows then as I say drive gently, probably around 45 seconds unless it is hard frozen on ice.

speedyturtle

dori2o wrote: »

With the very cold weather on its way my wife bought me a car windscreen cover to try and stop the windscreen from freezing over, and meaning I have to spend 20 -30 minutes, in pain, trying to de-ice the windscreen.

One obvious problem has raised its head.

With the windscreen cover on you cannot see my BB and I must display it to park in the disabled bay on the street.

So, I'm looking for ideas to get around this problem.

I've been told that the badge MUST be displayed in the front of the car as my initial idea was to display it on the parcel shelf in the back window.

The annoying thing is, if the dashboard cannot be seen because of ice/snow then a ticket cannot be issued even if the badge is not displayed.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Back to the topic after the engine and oil and cold starting ETC ETC.

Now they might not be as cheap as me I am sure you would have an empty spray bottle of those home cleaners. Fill that bottle up with 3 quarters vinegar and 1 quarter water and when there is ice on the windscreen, just spray a bit on it. This should clear the ice from the windscreen.:T

adouglasmhor

Why not just invest in a night before deicer spray?

adouglasmhor

I might even try making some
http://www.instructables.com/id/Windshield-De-Icer-And-Ice-Prevention-Spray/

which seems to be the same as the de-icer recipe above!

markmarkmark

adouglasmhor wrote: »

slippier = less friction.
thicker = less shock.

Meaningless if the criteria under discussion is engine wear when cold. The only way to minimise wear is get to operating temperature as fast as possible which is not done by idling, any engine designer will tell you this.

Fergie76

How do you see the BB through a frozen window?

AS others have said, a car shouldn't frees up if left for a couple of hours during the day.

Also, if you live on a private estate, the BB is not valid, and I would just put up protective screen and not worry about BB.

dori2o

Fergie76 wrote: »

How do you see the BB through a frozen window?

AS others have said, a car shouldn't frees up if left for a couple of hours during the day.

Also, if you live on a private estate, the BB is not valid, and I would just put up protective screen and not worry about BB.

Th car isn't being left for a couple of hours, it's being left overnight.

Sorted it now though. I just leave the lower part of the window uncovered enough so the badge can be seen.

adouglasmhor

markmarkmark wrote: »

Meaningless if the criteria under discussion is engine wear when cold. The only way to minimise wear is get to operating temperature as fast as possible which is not done by idling, any engine designer will tell you this.

Wear is based on load as well,and if you are driving before the oil is fully fluid as on a very cold day, load is going on unprotected high points. Any mechanical engineer will tell you that. The fastest way to get you engine hot is to drive like fury, surely you did no just recommend that?