It's funny how you guys call 10 -12 degrees a cold freeze. 3 weeks ago in Chicago, we had a couple days in a row where the high was -10 and the low was -20!!!!

 

Yes. It ran fine before the cold set in. Perhaps the block was frozen. Expensive lesson, if it was!

 

I know. I was raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Cold weather here in Ga is nothing as compared to the Midwest. It's just extremely uncommon to get this cold here.

 

Yes, you turned the wrong way and loosened the bolt. That is suppose to be at a specific torque and then turned additonal. If you had got your engine running, that would have loosened more, leaked oil out the front seal and likely cause damage in the end.

Well, they are in the South, so yes 10-12*F is very cold. Especially for folks who rarely see the low 30's.

I've poked fun at Weedahoe a couple of times when he said 50 was cold...lol but to his defense. 50* and raining is a cold miserable time to be outside working...

Just for fun...
Yearly Averages:
Chicago
Georgia

 

Thats right dammit. Our winters are mild. We rarely see freezing temps and if we do it is maybe a day or two at the most

 

That kidding aside, 10 degrees will not freeze a block to the point it would do catastrophic damage to start it. Luckily, I have a heated garage, so I've never had to start my engine in those extremes. I'm sure it causes excessive wear to internals, as the oil has to be similar to tar. But to what extent over time, I don't know.
Keep warm!!!

 

I got my truck back today after being in the shop for a week and a half. Bottom line, a valve spring had broken, dropping the valve down into a cylinder of the engine. I asked the owner/mechanic of the shop if he thought that the cold morning exacerbated the issue, perhaps causing the spring to break. He didn't see that being the case. He indicated that Chrysler engines were notorious for doing that - his words not mine.

While I'm out big bucks for this, the silver lining is I have 3 years/unlimited mileage on the engine.

 

Thats true to an extent. Broken valve springs are seen more in 03 and a few 04s.