Yellowknife

[Airgonzo]

I just got a job in Yellowknife and will be moving up there mid-March. I've read a fair bit about keeping our L400 happy in the cold weather but admitedly I'm still a bit nervous about how it will hold up, starting in the winter etc. I plan to get a block heater installed before we leave, a battery blanket, bigger battery and a CVI Delica tune done. I may change the oil to 5W40 enroute if need be but I figure temps should be OK by that time, until next winter. Anyone have any other advice?

Also wondering if anyone knows anything about RHD insurance there? It sounds like there's at least one other Delica up there so I figure its doable, just hoping its not too expensive. A friend of mine just insured his Ford truck up there and he said it cost almost 2x what it cost in Victoria.

Cheers,

Z

[sub-arctic]

I believe you will be the first L400 in town! I am the second L300! I just brought it up to town today, Norland insurance insures RHDs with full coverage, TD is cheaper but they only offer liability. You will need to get your van inspected by a highway officer before you can register it. I am about to go through that process so I will let you know how that goes, I have a couple of things I need to take care of before I get it inspected. That inspection is free I believe.


Are you going to be working in aviation? I noticed your avatar is DH. I am an apprentice AME up here. PM me if you have any questions about town!

[Airgonzo]

Also wondering if anybody has any tire advice. I currently have BFG All-Terrains on the van and for our purposes so far they've been great. They have the snowflake symbol and we've done many a ski-trip in crappy weather and a couple drives over the Coq in blizzard conditions and I've got no complaints. I'm wondering how they'll perform in the extreme cold however when that rubber gets really hard.

I have an extra set of rims so it would be easy to put winters on them and swap back and forth with the BFGs, but the costs of moving to Yellowknife are mounting and I don't want to spend money that I don't need to.

[Big-Bird]

Sub artic....Don't suppose you recently rambled through Calgary and met up with Mr. Bishi in Airdrie?
He was telling me about an L300 that came to visit before it headed north to Y.K. If you are that same fellow tell Sam that Big-Bird said YO!

I believe you will be the first L400 in town! I am the second L300! I just brought it up to town today, Norland insurance insures RHDs with full coverage, TD is cheaper but they only offer liability. You will need to get your van inspected by a highway officer before you can register it. I am about to go through that process so I will let you know how that goes, I have a couple of things I need to take care of before I get it inspected. That inspection is free I believe.


Are you going to be working in aviation? I noticed your avatar is DH. I am an apprentice AME up here. PM me if you have any questions about town!

[FredVenne]

One more thing to consider, an oil pan heater!

Over there you might also be able to find a cheap water coolant heater Espar. There is a lot of drilling companies that use those little gems.

Enjoy Yellowknife! Stop by T-Bo Jewelry to say hello! Real nice guy!

Cheers,

Fred

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

Sub artic....Don't suppose you recently rambled through Calgary and met up with Mr. Bishi in Airdrie?
He was telling me about an L300 that came to visit before it headed north to Y.K. If you are that same fellow tell Sam that Big-Bird said YO!

I believe you will be the first L400 in town! I am the second L300! I just brought it up to town today, Norland insurance insures RHDs with full coverage, TD is cheaper but they only offer liability. You will need to get your van inspected by a highway officer before you can register it. I am about to go through that process so I will let you know how that goes, I have a couple of things I need to take care of before I get it inspected. That inspection is free I believe.


Are you going to be working in aviation? I noticed your avatar is DH. I am an apprentice AME up here. PM me if you have any questions about town!

Yes, it was him.
He was there last Wednesday.

Steven

[sub-arctic]

sure was me apparently I am more connected than I think haha

[Airgonzo]

I'm thinking about getting a remote starter installed in the van for those frigid mornings in Yellowknife. In my experience though it seems the van takes a long time to warm up at idle... Any idea if it would be worthwhile or a waste of money? Would the van and heater warm up appreciably sitting in the driveway at -30?

[sub-arctic]

Remote starters are nice, but not needed if you are willing to run out and start your van 15-20 mins before you leave in the mornings. I don't have one, and the van seems to warm up relatively fast for a diesel engine. It will never be totally warm on the inside, but you usually get used to it. My temp gauges usually say -5 to -10 inside most of the time, when I am driving around town, sometimes I get lucky and itll warm up to 0 inside haha. I have also started to experiment with the hand throttle and high idling the van for a bit, I am a bit leery of cranking the idle right after I start it in the morning though, so I just let it idle normally. I am not sure if the L400s have a hand throttle, but the high idle gives your van a bit of a fighting chance of warming up inside.

For now I would save the money on a remote starter, and just make sure you have a block heater, battery blanket, winter oil, possibly an oil pan heater, or even a trans oil pan heater. I have heard those are really nice to have. For the time being all I have is the block heater and battery blanket, and it does ok. I am thinking in the future a Webasto heater or other diesel fired coolant heater will be in order. Thats $$ though.

I hope this helps!

[RichD]

Also wondering if anybody has any tire advice. I currently have BFG All-Terrains on the van

Get winter tires. Recommend Goodyear Duratracs for great grip in winter, surprisingly short wear (in our size; the 33s are a whole other story), and moderate noise for a knobby tread.

[Airgonzo]

We made it to Yellowknife and, Wow, what a trek it was. I bought a hitch and receiver from Maximum Overdrive and rented a 12' Uhaul trailer which we pulled all the way up from Vancouver. The trailer was loaded to the gunnels and the van handled the load, incredibly, although i wouldn't highly recommend it and would preferably not repeat the trip. Getting through BC was obviously the hardest part of the trip. We took highway 3 all the way to the Crowsnest as we had to stop and leave some things with my parents in Creston. We were down to 30km per hour over the steepest parts of some of the summits but for the most part were able to maintain 50-60 km over the hills. Headwinds in the prairies were a real bitch as well. Slow and steady would be the operative descriptor of the drive. The Pyro gauge that I installed last year was invaluable and was my primary reference for speed and power at all times.

The Van survived (despite a less than ideal loading of the trailer which resulted in a higher than ideal tongue weight) but not completely unscathed. On the last day of the 4-day trip it developed an intermittent rubbing sort of sound from the front left wheel area. It only does it at very slow speeds. Once you accelerate over 15-20 km it goes away and seems unrelated to breaking or turning. I recently replaced the pads and and the callipers on that side. It's a Wah . . . wah. . . wah kind of thing. It doesn't do it all the time but most of the time, and as stated, only at low speeds, ie. in parking lots and starting and stoping. I'm thinking wheel bearing or CV joint or something but haven't had a chance yet to lift it up and check it out.

Any advice? In terms of parts, if it is a bearing or CV or something along those lines, would I be able to use Montero parts? Or would I need to get Delica parts shipped up from Vancouver?

Cheers.

Kevin.

[jessef]

Glad to see you guys made it up.

Wah wah sound. Does it do it when you press the brake pedal as well?

[Airgonzo]

As far as I can tell its unrelated to braking, although sometimes if you step on the brake it will stop. It's usually not continuous though. It comes and goes.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I sometimes get a sound like what your describing when I'm backing into a parking space whilst turning the steering wheel. Are you turning your wheel when the sound occurs?

Falco.

[Airgonzo]

Negative.