My Tribute is a 2003 with 76,000 miles. This morning, when I tried to crank it, the engine turned over many times before it finally cranked. The problem is not the battery. The engine was spinning normally. There were no other indications of the problem. When it finally cranked, it ran perfectly.

Last night was the coldest night we have had this year. My mechanic does not have a clue except that the choke something might be sticking. If I take it to him to investigate, what suggestions should I offer him? Are there any cold-cranking peculiarities with the 2003 Tribute?

 

i am wondering the same thing. Ever since i have had the 2005 tribute v-6 it take 1-2 seconds to start. i have replaced the spark plugs (all six) and made little difference... anyone know?

 

Mazdas won't supply fuel until the "brane thing" has decided that the spark is good to go.
The spark detect is very fussy; it looks at both the coil pack primary and secondary voltage waveforms, and if they are deficient, your fuel pump won't kick in.
I wrote a piece for Adam S who was having Protege problems back in April this year; it contains some very simple tips on what you can do yourself for the air induction, ignition system and MAF.
Over and above that, when plug change time comes, you should also consider the HT wiring harness and its associated insulating spreaders and posts. The resistive core in the HT harness has a normal resistance range of around 3000 to 8000 ohms (depending on wire length) and cracks and muck can cause "spark theft" if the wiring or accessories have deteriorated.
Another Mazda feature is the EVAP canister purge on the cold startup cycle. It's purpose is to drain excess fuel condensate from the bottom of the charcoal canister so the charcoal element doesn't get saturated.
If there's any plumbing leakage there, or if the purge valve "hangs up" open, unwanted air will be sucked into a cold engine, leaning the mixture and making it stubborn to start. A sticking Idle Air Control valve will also do this, as will a crudded up EGR valve which is not seating properly.
The general rule then is first, make sure your whole ignition system is good (and clean), then go looking for "sneak air" which is getting into the motor on the downstream (engine) side of the MAF.

 

i recieved a call from my wife saying the starting is getting worse and that her engine is turning slower. I know that is the battery. Now the question is could that be the issue even tho the engine turned over quickly before?

 

Time to use you people as guinea pigs. First thing is that especially if you do a lot of driving on a low tank, the pollution control system puts warmish air which can carry a lot of water vapor, into the tank. When you stop overnight, things cool down and you have the chance for condensation to form in the tank Starting up, the first thing your engine does is it sucks air out of a catch tank whose purpose is to collect any gas condensate which has accumulated in the charcoal filter unit; but that condensate is water rich. Now if that condensate has water in it, the purge cycle on start will use that "fuel" as the very first dose for the cold engine; if the plugs don't like this, the abnormal ignition condition is detected by the PCM, which until it's happy with the spark situation, prevents the electric fuel pump from switching on; that adds low fuel pressure just to make things worse.
To deal with this, try dumping a couple of bottles of gas line deicer (or the same amount of methyl [wood ] alcohol) into the tank to scoop up any water in the fuel system, and keep the tank topped to near full for a week.
Another couple of things happen with the onset of fall. The cars runs normally hot during the days, but chills down deeper, especially on clear nights, so it shrinks!
This has an impact on battery connections (chassis/ engine grounds especially); it also affects belt driven accessories (the belts are cold, damp, and stiff, hence prone to slip and polish).
Going over the heavy duty wiring, and checking your alternator drive belt condition and tension can make quite a difference.
If your battery is a reputable one and less than four years old, it's probably not the culprit.
Here's something I noticed with my '99 1.8L Protege cold starting (Canadian winter mornings at -30 something C). Sometimes I crank for a few seconds and decide bugger it, I'll try another start, but then the instant I back the key off the start position, the engine fires up and continues to run happily. The reason for this is that the starter motor battery drain drags the voltage down so far it weakens the spark, but the instant I back off the key, the starter drain is gone, the battery volts leap back up, the spark gets healthy, and there's enough inertia that the engine is still turning, so off it goes.
If you have a stubborn starter, try limiting the cranking to a few seconds, back the key off start, wait a few more seconds, then go for a restart, rather than just continuing to crank endlessly. Most of the time ignition will occur the instant you release the key from the start position.