Cold morning starts

[Burrcold]

I have an auto with push start, and a few times the tach has had to do 2 "sweeps" before it started. Strange thing is that it was not on days that were very cold at all (hovering around +1).

Never had it not start though. I think I'm going to look into a better battery in the future.

[gmookher]

try this, may help?
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/LubroMoly-MoS2-Anti-Friction-Engine-Treatment/dp/B003U4O414"]LubroMoly MoS2 Anti-Friction Engine Treatment (300 ML) (LM2009) : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]

[JSUB]

Originally Posted by gmookher

try this, may help?
LubroMoly MoS2 Anti-Friction Engine Treatment (300 ML) (LM2009) : Amazon.com : Automotive

Don't see why this may help at all? Guys don't say that engine doesn't crank. Seems related to fuel mixture on cold days (electronic choke mixture?). Not sure...

[grodenglaive]

Originally Posted by JSUB

-13 C this morning (1st real cold morning) and not problem at all to start. Have a battery warmer thought. Also notice some weird noise coming out of engine bay/under the car once engine running (1s 10 sec). Like a clunk noise. Could it be some kind of vaccum/trap closing because of cold weather (just had the dealer service guy on the phone while typing this and he had no clue about potential cause...)

I had that happen too. It was -11 out yesterday morning (coldest morning so far in Ottawa). It started up right away, but the clunking sound was a little disconcerting. Ran fine afterwards though.

[wparsons]

Not pushing in the clutch enough, blaming the battery, or lubrication are all not going to help when the engine is cranking easily, just not wanting to fire.

Mine did it this morning, but might have been partially self inflicted. My hand slipped off the key after it started cranking but before it fired, when I tried to start it again it had to crank for a couple seconds before it fired. Now it's entirely possible that it flooded slightly after slipping off the key before it fired and just needed a second or two to clear out.

[SkAsphalt]

People are starting their's without problems in Saskatchewan (as cold as -28 without windchill lately)

[grodenglaive]

Originally Posted by grodenglaive

I had that happen too. It was -11 out yesterday morning (coldest morning so far in Ottawa). It started up right away, but the clunking sound was a little disconcerting. Ran fine afterwards though.

update: no strange noises today at -12, started up just fine. Yesterday was a sudden cold snap after a warm day of rain, so perhaps something had frozen up.

[silvercar]

From Montreal too, happened to me once, but oddly it was about 0 degrees. Took like 15 seconds to start up. Otherwise, in the cold I haven't had any issues, always park outside, and I leave for work at 3am, so it's colder then.

[whitejdm]

Another update, haven't had the long crank sinse the first instance. -30 the last couple of nights and -21 this morning no problems.

[kchkwan]

Question at mind, on cold start ups, do you guys leave the engine on for like 10mins before driving? Seems like it takes a while for the engine to pass the minimum C line =/

[thorlius]

Originally Posted by kchkwan

Question at mind, on cold start ups, do you guys leave the engine on for like 10mins before driving? Seems like it takes a while for the engine to pass the minimum C line =/

I wait until the idle RPMs drop down to normal idle, which seems to take quite a while.

[JSUB]

Originally Posted by kchkwan

Question at mind, on cold start ups, do you guys leave the engine on for like 10mins before driving? Seems like it takes a while for the engine to pass the minimum C line =/

Making the engine idle for too long isn't good for it (lower oil pressure) and won't make it warm up fast enough. Take off and drive it gently after 1-2 min is the best way to warm up everything (engine, tranny, diff).

[JDMenrique]

For the first time mine didn't turn over on the first start. Worked fine on the 2nd try, it was about 13F. Caught me a little off guard.

[titan_rw]

As has been said, idling a vehicle is the slowest way to warm it up.

On the other hand, when it's really cold, I wouldn't start driving it right away, even if you are driving it conservatively.

Around 0 and up I wouldn't worry too much. Start it, do your seat belt up, and go. Take it easy the first few minutes.

Around -20, hopefully it's plugged in. Start it, scrape windows / clear snow off. By then, I'd just drive it carefully. If there's no windows / snow to clear, I'd let it idle a few minutes before driving.

At -30 to -40, it better be plugged in. I'd leave it run for probably more like 5 minutes before driving. Then I'd still be very careful in how you drive it. The diff doesn't get a change to warm up until you start moving it, so it'll still be cold. I'd even be careful the first time you let the clutch out after starting it. Let it out slow. You'll notice the rpm's drop a bit. This is because of the 'load' of spinning up the input to the transmission. Allow 3-4 times as long between shifts until everything warms up.