Cold Morning Starting Problems Anyone ?

[craig79]

Bit of a funny one this ane ?? Cars been living in the

garage of late due to walking to work. A week had past

went to start it Saturday just there (very cold morning) and the

the swine barely turned over !! It did it a couple more times

during the course of the day but on the third start, it seemed fine -

normal quick turn over ?? Did take it for a wee warm up in between runs but nothing that

would fully charge a battery. Would these batteries be particularly suseptible to cold weather ?

Threw the optimate on it over night and as I suspected; started no probs ?

Just no sure wether to invest in another battery ??

Has anyone had similar simptoms during a cold snap ??

Craig.

[RS Grant]

Dunno if its cold weather related, but mine does tend to be a bit sluggish to crank when I leave it for over 7 days... think its the alarm/tracker draining the battery, nothing major to worry about, dont think.

Cheers,

Grant

[craig79]

Dunno if its cold weather related, but mine does tend to be a bit sluggish to crank when I leave it for over 7 days... think its the alarm/tracker draining the battery, nothing major to worry about, dont think.

Cheers,

Grant

Cheers Grant, do remember it being kinda slow when left for a week

during summer months but this was ridiculous. It was like the starter

was frozen solid

Prob keep an eye on the voltage with a meter, if it drops noticably then

I think a phone call to Dingbro will be in order

Craig.

[RS Grant]

Ah right, nah.. mine is just a bit slow to turn, doesnt sound as major as what you're describing... but then mine lives in a garage 24/7 in the tropical state of fife. Haha.

Cheers,

Grant

[dipsy]

Try double turn of the igntion ie so you hear when the fuel pump stops then do it again .It should start first go had this problem with my classic this what the service manger at Fiskins advised to do or its time for a new Battery is there any type of meter for checking for a dud cell in the battery

Edited January 14, 2008 by Dipsy

[craig79]

Try double turn of the igntion ie so you hear when the fuel pump stops then do it again .It should start first go had this problem with my classic this what the service manger at Fiskins advised to do or its time for a new Battery is there any type of meter for checking for a dud cell in the battery

No sure mate, I just use a multimeter, seems to tell

if the things on the way out or not. Like Grant said

the alarm / immob lights are just enough to drain the battery.

Why there is two lights is beyond me

Meant to say if the car's been sitting a while I do the

double prime thing anyway - it did seem to be a bit of a lower

sound pitch than normal ??

Craig.

[thefastone]

Allyb was just saying the other week(?) that he just changed his battery, think he might have been having similar problems to you, but perhaps not as bad, with the engine being slow to start, does the alarm blip every now and then when you start up the car?

Oh and is the alarm not an added extra... the immobiliser light on the dash I thought was designed in, the alarm was fitted after...? the alarm If I am right is an aftermarket one, rebadged for Subaru...? not sure about that though, but no one makes better alarms than alarm companies, why make them yourself...

Edited January 14, 2008 by thefastone

[the blue dragon]

I also have cold weather morning starting problems............... But the car is okay.

Iain

(actually thats no strictly true.. the car is fubar and may be getting punted very shortly )

Edited January 14, 2008 by the blue dragon

[colzo]

My 05 STI starts OK in the cold mornings but I had previous starting problems when left for a week or so. Got the Subaru Assistance out on 2 occasions and what I was told was its the Tracker that drains the battery and if it falls before at certain voltage the immobiliser kicks in. The best tip I was given (as I only do short journeys - 6 miles) was to drive with the side lights on as on the Newage Scoobs the alternator charges better under more strain. No probs since, but was thinking of buying one of those CTEK battery chargers as a back up.

[craig79]

Cheers lads, there was a wee blip from the alarm the first couple of

times it slowly turned over, but nothin since. Good tip about the

sidelight usage will try to remember that one. Got the motor hooked

up to an optimate the now, going to give it a good charge up to the

weekend then leave it a few days without it and then test the voltage again.

Wonder if it is the tracker thats doing the damage or the immobiliser ??

All this lecky stuff does my heed in Just need to do one test at a time

and then take it fae there I suppose ??

Craig.

[colzo]

there was a wee blip from the alarm...

Exactly the same as what my car done. Chirp from the alarm as you start is a sign of the voltage drop. Seemingly the newer models (hawkeyes) fitted with the RAC Trackstar have a 'sleep' mode on the tracking unit to stop the drain on the battery.

[thefastone]

Well to be fair, my one chirps on starting every now and then anyways, and I do a lot of miles, and some longer journeys regularly, I have the standard Alarm/Imobiliser and I have a tracker fitted (Tracker™)...

My car will NORMALLY sit for a month to 6 weeks at a time though... whilst I'm at work, and Ive never had a problem starting her when I get home... so I think perhaps a change of Battery might to you the power of good...

[the blue dragon]

Exactly the same as what my car done. Chirp from the alarm as you start is a sign of the voltage drop. Seemingly the newer models (hawkeyes) fitted with the RAC Trackstar have a 'sleep' mode on the tracking unit to stop the drain on the battery.

I have rac trackstar fitted on my classic and when i got it fitted at Ray Smiths in Edinburgh the guy told me that it does indeed have a 'sleep' mode which reduces the charge taken from the battery.

Iain

[colzo]

I have rac trackstar fitted on my classic and when i got it fitted at Ray Smiths in Edinburgh the guy told me that it does indeed have a 'sleep' mode which reduces the charge taken from the battery.

Iain

I presume they done this to the newer RAC Trackstar models because of the call outs that Subaru Assistance had. The technician that I got out (same guy twice) was really helpful and knowledgeable. He told me he would get called out to the same people several times and it was normally low mileage/weekend toys that the drain happened too. Also the Newage cars have different alternators from the Classics, as the Newage ones have a chip in them so they charge differently. A few years ago this was a popular topic over on ScoobyNet and everyone agreed it was down to the RAC Tracker.

[craig79]

I presume they done this to the newer RAC Trackstar models because of the call outs that Subaru Assistance had. The technician that I got out (same guy twice) was really helpful and knowledgeable. He told me he would get called out to the same people several times and it was normally low mileage/weekend toys that the drain happened too. Also the Newage cars have different alternators from the Classics, as the Newage ones have a chip in them so they charge differently. A few years ago this was a popular topic over on ScoobyNet and everyone agreed it was down to the RAC Tracker.

That would make sense then, I've got a 'Tracker Monitor' fitted and possibly don't

have this sleep function. I'm sure I've read quite a few posts about this RAC piece

of kit causing problems can't actually remember what exactly ?? Still charging the battery the

noo, so will unhook the optimate tonight (got to work on the brakes again) then test it

maybe on sat morning see what the story is. Like I said I certainly don't grudge puting

a battery on the motor, it's just one o those things eh

[st3ph3n]

If it's not the electrics then I'd go with kev's recommendation of turning the ignition to on and waiting a wee second or too for the fuel pump to get up prime. I always do that with mine now and even on a really cold morning I get a good quick start.

[dipsy]

Craig79 i have a tracker monitor fitted to mine if i don't touch the car for 3 weeks the battery goes flat

Edited January 16, 2008 by Dipsy

[craig79]

Craig79 i have a tracker monitor fitted to mine if i don't touch the car for 3 weeks the battery goes flat

To be honest mate if any car has a a wee flashy light fitted and left for three

weeks solid I would kinda expect that to happen especially in this colder

weather ? If my car ever has been sitting for a while I'll do a double prime

oot o habit. But do remember the fuel pump priming noise sounding sluggish ?

The battery's obviously charging ok, started no probs last night - just

a case of no touching it for a few days and see how the charge holds.