Brandon Adams

Hi Guys,

I've been trying to diagnose this for some time but it seems as if it keeps getting worse and I can't seem to figure out what it is.

My car has been hard starting really bad when its cold out (in Ontario, it's been about -10 every day for the past week) and it has only given me this problem in the winter.

The car will crank for a few seconds but sometimes has a hard time turning over and sometimes it will turn over at a really low RPM under 1000 and then after a second it will either catch and fire up to 1800 - 2000 RPM or it will just die.

Sometimes when I'm cranking it looks like its juicing the battery because the dash will start to flicker and slowly look like its dying out.

Not sure if its a fuel pump issue or if there is any issue with a valve.

Hoping someone here can help me out.

Thanks.

Colin42

Check all your connections, load test the battery, test the starter. Doubt it's fuel related.

Brandon Adams

Kind of a rookie with this stuff.
I swapped out my battery recently with a used one and it didn't make a difference.
The battery I had prior to swapping it out was only 2 years old as well so maybe something was draining it?

How do I test the starter?

Colin42

You could have a parasitic draw, youtube has videos on how to test that, same with the starter. Is it the original one? Have you checked your connections yet? My old truck the starter cable actually rotted off and then one day it wouldn't start

Brandon Adams

Thanks, I'll check it out. As far as I know its the original. I have about 205K on the car now and I bought it with 160K 3 years ago so it might be due

Colin42

I've got a used starter you can have for $30 if you feel like driving to Barrie.
I don't have a manual car anymore

Brandon Adams

haha I'd take you up on the offer if Barrie wasn't almost 2 hours away..

Colin42

Totally understand, I saw Toronto in your details so I thought you weren't that far