Despite the arrival of ole' man winter, and cold temperatures in the midwest, I still find time to drive my 07 V8V, as long as the streets and highways are dry. I'm averaging 2 to 3 days a week, and the only time I anticipate the car being garaged for a lengthy period is when the snow, ice, and extreme cold temperatures arrive. I let my car warm up good in the garage before driving in the cold weather, but I've noticed a few things that didn't occur when the weather was warmer.

The last couple of times I've started my car, I've received numerous computer messages on the dash. The first message read "Snow/Icy Conditions", and displayed for about 20 seconds before going off. Then a second message read "Low Antifreeze", and displayed for about 20 seconds and went off. Then a third message displayed "Emissions Service Required," and periodically displayed during my entire drive.

I checked my antifreeze, and it was filled to the brim. I also received a low tire pressure message, but I checked the tires with an air gage, and they were aired up to the proper pressure. I bought the car about six months ago from an authorized Aston dealership with an extended warranty....and to date have had no problems. I've put about 2,5xx miles on it during this period, and changed the oil once, just for the sake of changing it. Despite all these computer messages, the car seems to be running flawlessly, as I'm closing in on 20,000 miles on the odometer. Have any of the very informed members of this forum experienced any of these computer messages. Thanks

 

I have never experienced the caution for the icy conditions, but saw that in the owners manual so it is normal when conditions are very cold. Here in TX, it stays a bit warmer

I have had an emmision service required after a spirited AM club drive but it went away after the next start never to return. The OBD readers at the dealer can read what the message was regards to or you can purchase a reader your self.

 

Funny, I got the low coolant level warning on my way home tonight. The car is going back to the dealer tomorrow so I'll have them check it out.

 

last spring i was getting all sorts of weird messages, emissions system service came up all the time. after a few misfirings i had some severe warnings show up. since ive been driving it regularly ive been noticing fewer and fewer random warnings, etc.
but once while driving high in the mountains i recieved 'icing warning' or some such thing. i thought the engine was running too cold but i guess it was just predicting dangerous driving conditions.?

 

I received low coolant....topped it off with a little distilled water, went away.
When I was driving in the mountains at 37 deg....the Icy Conditions warning came on but that is just a warning regarding external temperature....BMW's do that as well

 

i would just take it to dealership and get it checked, better safe than sorry

 

The Ice/Show msg is normal...I live in Montreal, Canada and see a lot of cold weather..The msg is simply a warning to you, that weather is cold outside so be careful..with this msg there is no fault if inded the weather is cold outside..if you get this msg and live in say TX or AZ where there si nowhere near freezing water temps..hehe there would be a possible concern with the ambient temp sensor..but this is not your case, in your case..car is working fine

If the low coolant light came on then a Emissions light, 1 cause is your coolant was low and flagged a "Low Level" for the dash to display..because of the low coolant level in resevoir the engine could not cool correctly which would flag a emissions fault for coolant flow and possibly flag the thermostat at fault..when really the faulty was low coolant...

But if your not driving the vehicle much lately, all these faults could have been from a low voltage of the battery, if the vehicle sat for awhile and then you started the vehicle with only 10v at battery present...all these faults/concerns will be flagged for the sensors involved in your concerns operate with resistance not voltage, low voltage = high resistance = possible open circuit = fault msg in dash ..after you drove the car, battery gained it's 12v required which turned off msg's next startup for 12v was more then likely present ..if your not driving 4 days a week, I would suggest using the battery conditioner to prevent further concerns like this..

 

The only thing I would avoid is driving in the snow. Thats doesnt work well unless you have a dedicated snow tire.

I do also experience the Ice warning, its just like the beep in BMW's.

The tire pressures will be triggered because of the cold temps. Its a very common issue, I just add a few PSI's and it ok. Happens all the time on the BMW's, haven't had that issue on the Aston yet.

 

For some reason that ice warning comes on at 39 degrees F. Have no idea why at such a high temp. Perhaps ice freezes at a different temperature in England.

 

No, waring is normal at that temp... it comes on at 4C here..which is 39F ..sry 39.2F ..hehe

 

I've seen the icy caution too. The freezing point is at 4C/38F

 

good to know, time for another road trip up to napa through the hills! woooooot

 

Confirm, 39f, ice warning on start up, plus low coolant level, resolved with less than a tea cup of anti freeze 50/50 mix.

 

Detomaso,
Just curious as a driver in Texas escpecially this past summer where it was over 100 degrees every day, were there any problems or error messages you encountered due to extreme heat or any other problems you had to address? Or any precautions you had to take to combat the heat?
Thanks

 

Hey guys,


I have a quick question about very cold weather driving and a guilty conscience. My '08 Vantage is sitting in the garage for past 2 months, but I didn't get a chance to get my 5YR service done yet. So I'm thinking of driving it the dealership for the service. Dealership is 10min away, through salted city streets. I've been waiting for last few weeks to warm up but temps keep sitting at -10C to -17C.


What do you guys think? Would everything be ok?