Cold weather thing

Resistance in the power steering system? My 92 has stiffer steering when its very cold for the first few minutes, especially if I've got the clutch in and the engine at idle, then it almost feels like no power steering. When it is very cold (10 degrees this morning) the whole car feels strange for the first few miles until the shock oil warms up, bushings get a little looser, fluids start to flow properly. I wouldn't worry about it but it's a bummer for those of us with plastic rear windows - can't put the top down when it's that cold or goodbye plastic window.

Tom

No, it wasn't stiff steering. The best I can describe it is it felt like both front tires were totally flat. I had to stop and get out of the car to check - I was SURE both tires were gonna be toast. Think this is something unique to the low profile tires?? Weird.

-Jay

Jay, I guess I'm glad I'm not alone .....my 03 on first steering input when cold emits a real groan from the front end....after that no more noises till I let it sit over night or all day in the cold then again that groaning squawk which seems to be mostly on the front left??? anyone have any thoughts...don't want to let it sit at a dealer to try and duplicate it so will probably wait till it's more obvious.....any thoughts any one??? tom

Have you checked the tire pressure?? Remember, tires loose about 1 PSI per 10' F drop in temp. [ 30 PSI @ 70'F ==> 24.5 PSI @ 15'F ]

power steering pump? maybe something in there freezes so it produces unwanted noises?

It's been -20F here in Montreal, and the Rollerskate was parked in a public lot for 12 hours. Usually it's plugged in but there was no chance of doing that in a public lot.

Surprisingly, on a 4-year-old OEM battery, it started! It took 3 sec to catch, and the following day it took 5 sec, but both times it did start. We have bought the Excide AGM replacement battery from our local Mazda dealer, charged it up, and will be installing it this evening.

But enough of all that. This reply is just to say that the steering was very stiff for the first 15 min or so, so it could have been the cold that affected your car. Unless it was me. I was also very stiff for the first 5 min or so...

Haven't checked the pressure lately...don't have an accurate guage, but the LOOK normal - for what that's worth. I'll definitely have to check them.

-Jay.

I was checking the weather over lunch time and I was surprised. It was listed as 67 sunny here (I did some top down driving later and it felt like 70 to me), but places in Maine were as low as -20 at the same time.

Leon

Funny you post this. I'm scheduled to make an overnight trip to Montreal in a week, the 22nd. The forecast is for a balmy daytime high of 11F! I won't be spending much time outside, I am certain. It's chilly here at 45F and misting at the moment but this past weekend I went for two drives in the canyons, top down with a light jacket.

Dana

Dana!

Pack your woolies. It was -31C on Wednesday night, and I plugged the Rollerskate in at both ends as usual but in the morning it took a long and grinding 7 sec to start! DMAN!

Shortly after that, the power went off and we spent the time until noon keeping the house warm with strategically spaced heaters running off our trusty generator. Under further investigation later that night, we discovered that both those sockets for the block heater and the battery warmer were dead of unknown causes. DMAN again!

I'm proud of my baby! With a new Excide Mazda replacement battery and having been parked in -31C from 19:00 to 07:00 without the usual amenities, it started!