Cold Starting

[m_hood]

Hi Guys,

This morning I tried to start my '91 Celica and it didnt turn at the first attempt. The voltmeter was showing as having plenty of charge so the Battery itself is fine, it just wasnt turning the engine over at all, the ignition didnt even click into effect.

I eventually got it going on the 4th attempt as I held the ignition on for around 1 to 2 seconds then it kicked in with a bit of a splutter but otherwise no problem.

I have heard that smearing the Battery terminals with Vaseline / Engine Grease will assist on cold morning startups. I can confirm that my terminals currently have very little, if anything, in the way of grease on them.

Will this assist me, and does anyone else have ideas to assist on cold morning startups - i.e. something that can be put under the bonnet ?

My car is not garaged overnight so is open to the elements.

Cheers !

[LORD_ED]

dpeending on milage of engine etc could be worth putting thinner oil in, as ehen it gets cold it starts to thicken, on my gen 6 gt it wa ssstruggling on start up put thinner oil in and wa sall good

[Karma Supra]

Yay my stem seals leak less!!!

[m_hood]

Has anyone got any ideas on the original query?

What about a Battery blanket, I have seen these on other cars in the past.....

And surely someone knows whether or not Greased Terminals are beneficial in cold weather ??!!

[Leeky]

Your terminals should be greased anyway. I dunno if it helps in cold weather specifically and dont see any additional benefit you may have in cold weather from the grease. But having the terminals grease full stop is a good idea.

I agree with Ed, you should use a thinner oil this time of year

Spraying a bit of cold start into the air box will help ;)

[mikeb]

Battery terminals are greased to prevent corrosion (which over time would cause a poor electrical connection). Unless your terminals/clamps are visibly corroded, they won't be the problem.

It's most likely that your Battery is tired. Forget the Battery guage on the dash, it doesn't tell you anything useful. The voltage will drop substantially when you are cranking the engine, and more so with a tired battery.

If it's completely dead, you may have a sticking solenoid in the starter. Try tapping the starter motor with a block of wood or a mallet.

It could also be caused by a poor earth connection (check the body to chassis earth), but then it would show all year round. A weak ignition system could also be the culprit (check plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm), now that there is so much moisture in the air.

I have found that if my car doesn't start on the first attempt, that it usually ends up flooded, so you might find that on the second attempt holding the throttle open while cranking helps (it will help anyway, because the engine will see less resistance and turn over faster).

[sotal]

If it's not even turning at all, it's got to be the starter as mike says a quick tap would prove this - if it keeps doing it you'll have to get it looked at.

Otherwise you can get some spray to coat your leads with which helps to stop them arc-ing in moist air - which may help

If you do need to hold the throttle open as mike suggests make sure you don't over rev the engine when it does start as you could cause damage revving the engine whilst cold

[GIDDLEPIN]

When you say the ignition didn’t even click, do you mean there was no noise at all?

Did the ignition lights come on when you turned the key to the first position then when you went over to the start position did the ignition light dim?

If the light didn’t dim then you may have a faulty starter motor, contacts can become furred up once the cold weather sets in and condensation starts.

It won’t hurt to use Vaseline or Battery terminal protector (not engine grease), this won’t help with cold starting but will prevent a build up of Verdi grease, which can cause corrosion then a shorting out of the terminals.

Les

[sotal]

Just another thought - has the car got an immobiliser?? I had a *cough*French*cough* car and that had an earth fault on the immobiliser which was worse when cold and it would sometimes refuse to start because of that. Once the earth fault was fixed it was fine