Hi Everyone,
I live in PA and have a 2005 mazda 3s. Lately we have been having very cold weather. I noticed a few weeks ago when I would start my car in the morning it wouldn't start up right away. Like I had to hold the key in for a few seconds before it turned over. I took it to Pepboys(Mazda dealer was closed) and they put in a new battery. This week the temperatures dropped again, and I expierenced the same problem. I was wondering if anyone else experiences this problem? Does anyone have any solution to what it might be? I am just afraid that I am going to wake up one morning and my car won't start

 

Cars don't like the cold, especially extreme cold. That's going to happen. So long as it starts (even if it starts a little slower), you should be just fine. Oil thickens, fuel/water separate from each other....cold is hell on a car. If you can keep it in a garage, you'll notice it start much easier....

You could add an engine pre-heater (like a heating pad that attaches to the bottom of your oil pan on the engine) that keeps the oil somewhat warm so that your car doesn't have to experience a true cold start.

 

could sluggish oil be a result of changing oil on your own(as opposed to going to dealer). Last time i changed my oil and filter, i noticed that the oil filter was sucked in around the middle, like the shape of an hour glass. Could that be a result of tighting the filter to tight? Could that lead to sluggish oil, which would cause my car to start up slower in the cold?

 

Well....maybe....oil can thicken over time if you don't change it out (sounds like you did.) The filter being crushed in would be a sign of over tightening (or at least gripping the filter body with a tool that was too tight.) Neither of these causes what I am talking about.

Oil is simply thicker in colder temperatures, which means that your oil pump etc has to work a little harder to push that oil through the motor during start-up when the oil is cold/thick. All cars are slower to start in cold temps.....diesels are affected even more...typically on really cold mornings you'll see truckers adding Kerosene to their Diesel tanks to try to thin out the diesel fuel (which also thickens with low temps.)

I'm 99% sure the battery you changed was just fine (did they test it and say it was bad or simply swap it out? I'm surprised a battery would go bad that fast...even if it did, that should be a warranty return, not a Pep boys job.) When a battery goes bad, it won't take a charge and your car simply won't start. (Unless the battery is in the process of losing it's charge - either way a simple battery check would determine if the battery was OK or not.) I think you got ripped off on that one.

Not really anything you can do about it...sometimes it's just too damn cold out. (I assume you got the weather that moved through Michigan, there aren't many cars that start easily in -15F cold.)

 

Yeah im having the same problem. To be honest with you I didn't think anything of it. It has been very cold and i knew that was the problem.

 

I have an 05 3s also and whenever i turn thecar on and it is really cold all of the lights dim and basically do not show and the car sounds like it it is struggling hard to start. It always started up and it was only in the morning when that car was resting in the cold of the night. the rest of the day it would start fine so i knew it was normal.

 

One thing all you guys get to look foward to is better performance though. The engine performs the best in colder weather. It also depends of other factor like air density and mostiure in the air but generally in cold weather all of those are minimal. In an aircraft standard temperature is 15 degrees celcius or 59 F. This is the temp at which the engine best preforms at. For cars i belive its slightly lower. See here in central Florida our cars are significantly slower due to heat and humidity. This past month though however, its been cooler and i noticed a significant difference in performance and gas mileage!!

 

Greetings from Norway maybe its your dynamo check with a voltmeter on thecabels to the battery when engineis runningif your battery doesnt charge enoughwhen you drive in cold weather it wil get less an less effective.
especially if you have many short trips (many cold starts)

 

Its always harder for an engine to start in colder weather. If a battery is weak at all, it will definately show in the colder weather. As it gets colder the cranking amps a battery produces drops. Thats why you have Cranking Amp ratings and Cold Cranking amp ratings.


Josh
Http://www.BohannonBattery.com
"For All Your Battery Needs!"