Mine made a weird stretchy noise starting it while it was at -12° yesterday that I have never heard, and my heater fan now has a high pitched whine in the two low settings since yesterday. Other than that it seems ok.

 

This weather is miserable! It's pathetic when I have to get excited to hear it's going to be I'm the 20's tomorrow and 40's by the weekend... What am I doing here.

On a side note, my main fear is the oil and coolant inside the engine block freezing and expanding causing an engine block crack. What would the symptoms be if that happened? Also, IF that ever did happen would that be covered by insurance since it's an act of nature? Or under warranty since it's their coolant from purchase? Just curious how that would play out??

Did I mention I'm not sure why I'm living in a cold weather climate?!? Haha! Anyone hiring on the south

 

You won't see temps low enough to freeze the oil and your properly mixed anti-freeze.

My JK has been fine with temps down to -30°F.

 

Most coolants are good to -67ish , fuel is like -150 or something crazy and not sure about oil. But oil will turn to honey at about -15 celsius.

 

Nope, it would be on you, for lack of maintenance. Don't worry, if your maintenance is up to date, this weather won't even stress your Jeep. Run synthetic oil for peace of mind. For absolute overkill, go with Mobil 1 0w20. I'm not sure how low it will go, but it would be a ridiculously low temp. My guess is that regular 5w20 will handle temps down to at least -20 below zero (ambient).

You'll hear noises and everything will be stiff, but get in, start it, and start driving. I'd be gentle for the first 5 miles, but it will handle anything you throw at it, and once it warms up, it will feel and sound normal again.

On a side note, be thankful for the JK heater. Mine starts blowing warm air just a minute or two after starting. I'm not sure why, but none of my four other vehicles even comes close when it comes to quick and hot heat. I'm running my soft top, and the heat will darned near run me out even when it is 11 below outside.

 

I have gone down to -20 (not counting wind chill) on hikes and the jeep started no problem in the mountains. Just spent a week hiking below zero and it started no problem. Agree on the washer fluid. I always buy -20 when I am up north. Tell oil change place not to touch it. Had to spray the nozzle where fluid comes out with Prestone Ice Melt this morning and let the engine warm for 10 minutes (to run the defroster and heat up the windshield)... but drove like a champ.

Reddit has multiple Jeep posts this week saying that Jeeps are putting all the other vehicles to shame up north. Nothing but the Jeep is still kicking for many.

 

With these cold temps, will that affect the way the auto tranny shifts? I had a little issue yesterday and today. I put it in drive and try and go and it revs like its in neutral then it catches. Tonight it also was going to shift out of first to go to second and got hung up for a moment.

 

Putting it in drive and having it rev then catch isn't normal. Delayed 1st to 2nd shift isn't normal, either.
Have you checked the fluid level lately?

Delayed shifting once moving is normal for cold temps. What was the temperature when you had your symptoms?

Here is the low temperature portion of the 42RLE shift schedule:

Extreme Cold
Oil temperature at start-up below -27° C (-16° F)
-Park, Reverse, Neutral and 2nd gear only (prevents shifting which may
fail a clutch with frequent shifts)

Cold
Oil temperature at start-up above -25° C (-12° F) and below 2° C (36°F)
- Delayed 2-3 upshift (approximately 22-31 mph)
- Delayed 3-4 upshift (45-53 mph)
- Early 4-3 costdown shift (approximately 30 mph)
- Early 3-2 coastdown shift (approximately 17 mph)
- High speed 4-2, 3-2, 2-1 kickdown shifts are prevented
- No EMCC

 

Awesome info

 

I have noticed lately that I have a "weird stretchy sound" coming from my stearing wheel column when turning the wheel when the Jeep is first driven on very cold mornings. Goes away after the interior warms up.

Pretty sure that is the clock spring I am listening to, and expect problems will occur eventually.

Other than that I have had no problems with my JK during the cold weather.