Engine Cold Start Problems | How to start a Car in Cold Weather? | Engine Cold Start Guide 2024

Cold weather is hard on almost everything, and the engine in your car is no exception to this rule. The most common problem with why your car will not start in cold weather is that batteries literally freeze up, causing the electrical charge in them to do the same. There is also air/fuel ratios that need to be addressed here. It takes more fuel to ignite cold air than it takes to ignite warm air. Then there is just the plain fact that the fluids in the engine can be frozen, seizing it from the inside. We are going address each of these situations and find out what can be done to prevent them from happening.

Engine Cold Start Problems caused due to Battery:

Lets discuss the battery first, battery acid loses its ability to hold charge when subjected to below freezing temperatures. Sometimes it discharges completely, in which case you will require a jump start. Also remember that when the charge drops below 10 volts it may cause permanent damage to your cars battery. This can be easily prevented by insulating the battery . If you are willing to spend money then invest in a 750 CCA (cold cranking amp). Diesel engine cold start problems can especially be averted with this solution.

Engine Cold Start Problems caused due to Air Intakes/Carburetors:

Older engines with carburetors had what is called a ‘choke’. The choke is designed to decrease the amount of air going into the engine, while cold, and gradually let more in as the engine warmed up. Today the choke has been replaced with sensors and a computer. Faulty temperature measuring sensors on your car will almost certainly cause cold weather starting problems. The Intake Air Temperature and Coolant Temperature Sensor are responsible for providing this information to the computer. Vacuum leaks may also cause too much air to enter the engine, to ignite the cold fuel mixture. Vacuum leaks are worse because they actually let unmeasured air into the engine which will eventually damage major components in your engine. One can stay on top of these problems if the engine check light is never ignored when it comes on.

Engine Cold Start Problems caused due to Freezing Fluids:

The likeliness of freezing all of the fluids is relatively low. However it can happen and is very possible. Try parking your vehicle in a garage, or installing oil, and coolant warmers on the engine. Oil warmers go on the oil pan, and coolant warmers (more often called block warmers), go into the engine block into a hole of one of the freeze plugs. You plug these warmers into a normal house electrical outlet and they warm your engine up after a few minutes usually. It is best to have them plugged in and working so that nothing is allowed to freeze up inside the engine anyways. This is because when fluids freeze they expand, and this expansion can actually crack the entire engine block, instantly rendering it useless. Another thing to keep in mind about freezing fluids is that brake fluids absorb water, and if your brake fluid has done this, then it can freeze in the lines causing you to not have any brakes!
That is it folks try to take this knowledge prevent engine cold start problems in the future.