ungodly cold weather screwing my car
01-30-2008, 11:57 AM
#1
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ungodly cold weather screwing my car
i've had no starting probs before a few weeks ago. i'm in winnipeg where the temperature has been a pretty steady -40 to -45 for almost 2 weeks now. my 97 a4 wouldn't start for a week! i got it towed to my mechanic on sunday when the temp miraculously rose to -3. he called me a few hours later and told me that it was running fine with just a boost. i'm no idiot, i tried boosting the thing for 3 frickin days before i gave up. so i picked the car up and drove it home. started alright on tuesday, but this morning the same damn problem!!! it cranks and sounds like it wants to start but it just wont catch,even when boosting with my neighbors big truck battery. any thoughts? i'm gonna take my battery in to get it tested but i have the feeling that this problem might be bigger than the battery needing replacement. immediate help required!! i'm having to call in sick for work when this happens cause i need my car to get around on the job. it's embarrasing; i'm supposed to be drivign a luxury vehicle here!
01-30-2008, 04:20 PM
#4
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Re: ungodly cold weather screwing my car
okay, i just called my mechanic and he said that it wouldn't be the battery if it wouldn't even start with a boost. i guess it must be something other than the battery.
maybe an intermittantly working fuel pump???
do these models have any particular part that are prone to malfunction in extremely cold temperatures?
maybe an intermittantly working fuel pump???
do these models have any particular part that are prone to malfunction in extremely cold temperatures?
01-30-2008, 08:48 PM
#6
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Re: ungodly cold weather screwing my car
A car will start without an alternator and will run on the battery until the voltage is too low and it dies, so it's not the alternator. The battery is also partially out of the question because it wouldn't start with a boost.
The only things that stop an engine from firing is spark and fuel and proper ignition timing. You didn't change your timing belt or timing or your computer so there shouldn't be any way that the timing sequence is out of order.
Generally spark plugs will fire regardless of the temperature and the coil packs could possibly be effected by the cold but it's unlikely.
The last culprit is fuel. Gasoline will freeze in very cold climate. Many climates, people have to use gas line antifreeze to keep the gas from freezing in the lines under the car. The gas in the tank in large quantities wont freeze but in small amounts in a line exposed on the bottom of the car, it can. If the car started up in the warmer weather then that would be my guess. If now again it wont start even with boosting and it's very cold again, I would suggest you get some gas line anti freeze and put that in then fill up the tank. I used to have this problem on one of my other cars that had a small fuel feed line where it would freeze all the time.
Only other things could be something electrical that its intermittently not working. Porsches have a lot of problems in key cylinders and they are generally the biggest culprit that stops them from starting, I have changed one in my Boxster already. However thats not a big problem in the Audi line so I would say that would be unlikely to be honest.
A car will not start or work in extremely cold weather, eventually it just gets too cold for the electronics to work. The older the car the more likely this is the case. Your car is now 11 years old so a good dose of -45 it has never seen is sure to bring out problems you didn't know you had.
Regards,
The only things that stop an engine from firing is spark and fuel and proper ignition timing. You didn't change your timing belt or timing or your computer so there shouldn't be any way that the timing sequence is out of order.
Generally spark plugs will fire regardless of the temperature and the coil packs could possibly be effected by the cold but it's unlikely.
The last culprit is fuel. Gasoline will freeze in very cold climate. Many climates, people have to use gas line antifreeze to keep the gas from freezing in the lines under the car. The gas in the tank in large quantities wont freeze but in small amounts in a line exposed on the bottom of the car, it can. If the car started up in the warmer weather then that would be my guess. If now again it wont start even with boosting and it's very cold again, I would suggest you get some gas line anti freeze and put that in then fill up the tank. I used to have this problem on one of my other cars that had a small fuel feed line where it would freeze all the time.
Only other things could be something electrical that its intermittently not working. Porsches have a lot of problems in key cylinders and they are generally the biggest culprit that stops them from starting, I have changed one in my Boxster already. However thats not a big problem in the Audi line so I would say that would be unlikely to be honest.
A car will not start or work in extremely cold weather, eventually it just gets too cold for the electronics to work. The older the car the more likely this is the case. Your car is now 11 years old so a good dose of -45 it has never seen is sure to bring out problems you didn't know you had.
Regards,
01-31-2008, 12:40 PM
#8
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Re: ungodly cold weather screwing my car
during the first cold snap i thought that a frozen fuel line might be the problem. i had less than a 1/4 tank (usually leads to freezing with these temps) so i added $10 worth of gas and a bottle of fuel line antifreeze. still didn't start.
the first thing i did when it was running again was head off and fill the tank with 91 octane gas. with a full tank fuel lines don't usually freeze on me. as a matter of fact, i've never had one freeze up unless i've been stupidly low on gas. this makes me think it's not a frozen line. could be the fuel pump, though....
the first thing i did when it was running again was head off and fill the tank with 91 octane gas. with a full tank fuel lines don't usually freeze on me. as a matter of fact, i've never had one freeze up unless i've been stupidly low on gas. this makes me think it's not a frozen line. could be the fuel pump, though....
02-03-2008, 12:53 PM
#9
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 947
Re: ungodly cold weather screwing my car
hmmm maybe the fuel pump doesn't have enough to pressurize the fuel tank while it's low on gas? With it being near full it needs to work less to pressurize the system?
just guessing here...
just guessing here...
02-03-2008, 01:01 PM
#10
Re: ungodly cold weather screwing my car
A car will start without an alternator and will run on the battery until the voltage is too low and it dies, so it's not the alternator. The battery is also partially out of the question because it wouldn't start with a boost.
The only things that stop an engine from firing is spark and fuel and proper ignition timing. You didn't change your timing belt or timing or your computer so there shouldn't be any way that the timing sequence is out of order.
Generally spark plugs will fire regardless of the temperature and the coil packs could possibly be effected by the cold but it's unlikely.
The last culprit is fuel. Gasoline will freeze in very cold climate. Many climates, people have to use gas line antifreeze to keep the gas from freezing in the lines under the car. The gas in the tank in large quantities wont freeze but in small amounts in a line exposed on the bottom of the car, it can. If the car started up in the warmer weather then that would be my guess. If now again it wont start even with boosting and it's very cold again, I would suggest you get some gas line anti freeze and put that in then fill up the tank. I used to have this problem on one of my other cars that had a small fuel feed line where it would freeze all the time.
Only other things could be something electrical that its intermittently not working. Porsches have a lot of problems in key cylinders and they are generally the biggest culprit that stops them from starting, I have changed one in my Boxster already. However thats not a big problem in the Audi line so I would say that would be unlikely to be honest.
A car will not start or work in extremely cold weather, eventually it just gets too cold for the electronics to work. The older the car the more likely this is the case. Your car is now 11 years old so a good dose of -45 it has never seen is sure to bring out problems you didn't know you had.
Regards,
The only things that stop an engine from firing is spark and fuel and proper ignition timing. You didn't change your timing belt or timing or your computer so there shouldn't be any way that the timing sequence is out of order.
Generally spark plugs will fire regardless of the temperature and the coil packs could possibly be effected by the cold but it's unlikely.
The last culprit is fuel. Gasoline will freeze in very cold climate. Many climates, people have to use gas line antifreeze to keep the gas from freezing in the lines under the car. The gas in the tank in large quantities wont freeze but in small amounts in a line exposed on the bottom of the car, it can. If the car started up in the warmer weather then that would be my guess. If now again it wont start even with boosting and it's very cold again, I would suggest you get some gas line anti freeze and put that in then fill up the tank. I used to have this problem on one of my other cars that had a small fuel feed line where it would freeze all the time.
Only other things could be something electrical that its intermittently not working. Porsches have a lot of problems in key cylinders and they are generally the biggest culprit that stops them from starting, I have changed one in my Boxster already. However thats not a big problem in the Audi line so I would say that would be unlikely to be honest.
A car will not start or work in extremely cold weather, eventually it just gets too cold for the electronics to work. The older the car the more likely this is the case. Your car is now 11 years old so a good dose of -45 it has never seen is sure to bring out problems you didn't know you had.
Regards,
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