Cold starting problem questions

Last week when the temperature drop below 20 C plus wind chill, my car won't start, it does crank over but won't fire up. I left the car alone for several days outside at work then have it towed to a garage today. Well they got the car started but also said, there is no problem with the car? Battery is still good! This has happened twice to me this year. In general, what does garage typically do when they have solve a cold starting problem?

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You first have to have a long thorough talk with the service writer about the problem. Then, you have to leave it there, outside, overnight, possibly several days in a row. This, of course, totally sucks if the shop is in an area where vandalism is common. GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

I have an '88 6000, and it won't start when it gets about 5 F below or colder. The windchill was probably 15-20 F below. I don't think it's fuel injected, which would explain the problem *I think*. (Then again, I don't know much about cars.) It cranks very slow at that point, (about as slow as it would if the battery were dead) and if it does start, you feel lots of jolts from the engine, and within a second or two, it's dead. Try it again, and the same thing all over again. (Even trying 10 minutes or so won't make a difference. It still wouldn't get warm enough to start.)

Reply to
Travis King

IIRC, all 6000's by 88 were fuel injected. My family has owned 4 6000's. An '86, an '87 and we are now on our second '88. All have had the same 2.8L V6 and all have had absolutely no problems starting in the bitter cold. I always considered them to be great starting engines. However, a neighbor's '93 Chevy Corsica with the 2.2 4cyl does the whole 'start up, stay running for a little while, then quit and not start again until its damned good and ready' thing. I still have yet to figure out why either.

Reply to
80 Knight

Have you tried mixing something in with the gas to keep any moisture from freezing? I had this problem years ago when I lived up north.

Reply to
sarge

I will have to ask her about that. Thank you.

Reply to
80 Knight

I have the 2.5L 4-cylinder in my 6000. It has never since day one started in that kind of cold weather. When my brother bought it about 7 or 8 years ago with only 60,000, it had starting problems, but got those fixed, but it still would never start in the VERY, VERY cold weather. The colder it gets, the slower it cranks.

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Travis King

By the way, when you try starting it for 10 minutes, it gets flooded because when you get out of the car, you can smell gas. Yes, I've tried the gas pedal to the floor to try to start it. It cranks a little faster that way, but it still isn't enough in that cold weather.

Reply to
Travis King

Other than a few problems, the car's pretty reliable for an old car. The problems it has are typical for old cars - brakes, oil leaks, antifreeze leaks, no A/C compressor, dies once in a while.

Reply to
Travis King

If just getting it to turn over and fire is the issue you might try one of those Optima deep cycle batteries. Be warned though, they ain't cheap. Bought one for my Dads Blazer and it was $139.65 US with taxes at Advance Auto Parts. That and maybe add a higher performance ignition with hotter coils.

Reply to
FBR

I have a 2000 Grand Am that I purchased five years ago brand new. I used to work nights, when it was the coldest outside (I would leave around 11:20PM). However, that was years ago. I don't remember any problems back then. Last year, I got that old job back and again work the graveyard shift. Last winter, I didn't recall any problems. This winter, as soon as it got below freezing, the battery finally gave out. After five years, I wasn't surprised. I got a newer battery at AutoZone that was even more powerful than the old one. Well, when that artic air would come down from Canada and make the temp 20F or lower, the car took an extra second or so to start. At first I thought that maybe something else was going bad, but I just think that my car doesn't like the really cold weather.

Reply to
Ryan

Too bad you don't have the 2.8L V6. Starts like a dream, and has some pep to it as well. :)

Reply to
80 Knight

"Ryan" wrote in message news:w6KKd.33951$EG1.25170@attbi_s53...

It's only happened once this year where it wouldn't start because of the cold weather. (The windchill was around -25.) Is the 2.8L V6 quiet? My

2.5L's pretty loud - it sounds like a lawn mower. (Only quieter.) It isn't bad though. I think I've said this before, but my brother claims it can get up to about 95MPH. (I'm sure he's probably tested it.) You see, my brother originally bought it with 60k, then about four years ago, my mom got it, now, I have it. The main reason Mom got rid of it was because she wanted an SUV thinking that she'd have more room for boxes and things like that, but it turns out that her '94 S-10 Blazer doesn't have much more storage space than my car. (It has more power of course, but with that comes a very expensive price tag for gas.) It has had more problems than my car. In the past year and a half, my car's needed a muffler, (it eats them away about every two years) a valve cover gasket (which blew) so we used silicone, headliner, body work (the drivers door was wrecked, but we used body filler and sanded it down, then painted it, we also sanded down the trunk and hood and painted them, and also fixed a few rust spots) also pretty much the entire brakes. I now need to fix an antifreeze leak and I could use one new tire. Also, we replaced a battery. Mom's SUV - muffler, break pads, battery, (like $500 worth of other things when she bought it, she also needed a turn signal flasher. Now, this is what she still needs - fuel injectors or fuel pump (not sure which - it's running rich and won't start after it's already been started), her console broke, her left turn signal won't cancel. I guess mine and hers are equal as far as the amount of things needed to be fixed, but her things are more expensive that need to be fixed.
Reply to
Travis King

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