My friend's car won't start - she's in Montana where it's been

[Flaxbee]

really, really cold (last few days with high temps in the below-zero range). It seems to me there are some products that you can use to help get a car started in really cold weather ... anyone have any suggestions? She doesn't have a garage, so the car is in the elements all the time.

Thanks for any suggestions...

[KitchenWitch]

1. Heet. Put it in the gas tank

It evaporates the water out of the gas tank.

Start the car every two hours and run it for at least 10 minutes.

[Flaxbee]

3. thanks, KW - I'll mention it to her ...

the starting the car every two hours thing -- but what about at night?

[KitchenWitch]

7. especially at night. It is a pain

but it really assures that you will be able to start the car when you NEED to.

[carlyhippy]

2. She needs to get it jump started first....put some heet in the tank,

if she lives there, she needs to get an engine block heater installed in her car, about 150.00...otherwise it's going to be a long winter for her.

[Flaxbee]

4. yup, she lives there, has done so for about 15 years --

and I have no idea why she doesn't have either of those items handy. Thanks, carlyhippy - I'll mention them to her.

[backscatter712]

5. IIRC, there are those handheld jump-start gadgets that plug into the cigarette lighter.

One of those might help on a really cold day, especially if you keep the gadget warm. Lead-acid car batteries undergo a slow-down of their chemical reactions, which leads to them providing far less juice than they usually do when it's really cold outside. A warm battery to lend an assist might be helpful.

[blockhead]

6. remote car starter

you can even program it to start up when it gets to a certain temp.