Engine not cooperating on cold mornings?

[Lunchmoney]

It's time to crowd source information from the collective minds of the internet! (you guys )

It's been cold here for the last few mornings (sub zero) and my car has been giving me grief and take several attempts to start.

I turn the key, let the fuel pump prime (an Impreza thing), leave it for 6-7 seconds then crank. Engine starts, flutters and dies. Like it was starved of fuel.
After 3 or 4 more attempts it gets going and I start on the process of defrosting/scraping the windows.

A cursory search on the ol' Google brings back pages of everyone saying it is the battery. It must be the battery, it's winter and they don't like the cold; it must be failing. Get a new battery!

It isn't my battery. It's 3 months old.

Now I accept there is a drain on my battery with the tracker, alarm & immobiliser, dashcams, plus the usual car stuff. However when I had problems with the battery (which was 9 months old) a few months ago I had my mechanic run drain tests and there was no real significant drain that would cause a battery to die over night (they stated it would take a couple of weeks to lose enough charge to not be able to crank). This led us to testing the 9 month old battery and found it be a bit faulty and was replaced; hence 3 month old battery now. This battery was tested and is fine.

There is nothing wrong with my battery. Plus the starter motor is doing it's thing and the engine is turning over and trying to start.

Thoughts? Questions?

I could film it tomorrow (though sod's law says it will start first time tomorrow) and post if that would help?

 

[Lunchmoney]

I could film it tomorrow (though sod's law says it will start first time tomorrow) and post if that would help?

Though my dashcam should have recorded it. I'll just download that footage tonight and upload it here (via the tube).

 

[obi_waynne]

Have you changed the fuel filter?

 

[Lunchmoney]

Have you changed the fuel filter?

Not since last service, back in March. Could it be a fuel starved engine?

 

[T9 man]

It won't hurt to check the fuel filter buddy. I know you say it's NOT the battery because it is only 3 months old. But I can assure you that the moment the weather gets colder it starts to put an immense strain on the battery especially if you have a few toys running through the night.
The battery is 3 months old but was the battery bought with current capacity in mind or merely because the physical dimensions means it will fit the battery cradle? A fact that is sometimes overlooked my friend is that some people forget about the performance of the battery and just concentrate on making sure it will fit. Double check the current size of the battery to make sure it is powerful enough to do what you want first before you start delving into the starting issue of the car. If you are still having problems LM you could leave the car with that chap overnight to check the current drain at night and then again in the morning, not forgetting to leave the car outside off course if that is where you usually keep it.

 

[Lunchmoney]

Regarding the battery capacity I made sure it was more than ample (lots of crank power, though the exact figure I can't recall right now). I will check.

 

[T9 man]

Merely a suggestion buddy, now the other thing to check as I had a start/idle issue the other day is the sparkplugs. Mine was breaking down; (only 14 months old) and they were causing intermittent misfire according to the Tech II gadget that interrogates the engine ECU. Changed and gapped the new ones and order has now been restored.

 

[Yugguy]

It would be worth leaving the battery on trickle charge overnight, then seeing if you still have the same issue. if nothing else it would rule it out.

 

[Lunchmoney]

ooo, spark plugs... good call. Another point to check

 

[Lunchmoney]

Alrighty peeps, here's the dashcam recording from this morning. The last 10 seconds or so gets really noisy as I turned the blowers on full. But hopefully you can here what I hear.

 

[gladrags]

I'm getting an error message with the video so can't hear it and I don’t know anything about Subaru’s but could it be to do with the grade and type of spark plugs you’ve got fitted? They recommend fitting one grade colder plug for every 100 bhp over standard but colder grade plugs (ie plugs with extended insulator nose to dissipate heat better) don’t give the best cold starting performance. I’ve also heard that Platinum tip plugs can lead to misfiring, presumably not so the Iridium.

I had a Volvo S40 that had problems cold starting in winter, found it had Champion multi electrode cold range plugs so changed to a set of NGK warmer grade copper core plugs which solved the problem.
.

 

[gladrags]

OK managed to run the video and listen to it, sounds like fuel to me. It could be the Idle Air Control Valve not functioning correctly at low temperatures. I don't know the specific of your engine but here's a link that may be relevant http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=781242

 

[Lunchmoney]

I could film it tomorrow (though sod's law says it will start first time tomorrow) and post if that would help?

Just as well I did not rely on this - not as cold this morning, no ice, and car started on second attempt, no real grief at all.

 

[Lunchmoney]

It could be the Idle Air Control Valve not functioning correctly at low temperatures.

ooohhh... I think we may have a winner.
Having a read through that NASIOC post it also explains an issue with the idle not settling down (revs jumping up and down when stationary).

Time to get my hands dirty.