Trouble Starting Car in Moderately Cold Weather

[expos4ever]

Hi, I have a 2015 Honda FIT with, I believe, about 110,000 km on it. My battery is about five years old. A couple of weeks ago, I attempted to start the car when the temperature was about - 12°C and the car had not been run for about 5 days. The engine “turned over” a few times, but did not start. The sounds were consistent with a cold battery problem, at least to me. I did notice repeated clicking as well. I let the car sit, and returned about 10 minutes later then tried again. Much to my surprise, the car started easily. The next few days were rather cold and I made sure to start and run the car each day. No problems. Today, the temperature is about -13°C and I had not run the car for a couple of days. I experienced the same problems as before - the engine some weak attempts to start followed by clicking noises. Based on what happened the first time, I assumed that somehow my efforts to start the car had warmed something up, and that is why it started successfully after a 10 minute wait. But this time, no such luck after a 10 minute wair. All I am getting now are clicking sounds when I turn the key. Any suggestions as to what is going on? I suspect I will need a new battery. Why would the car start so easily (i.e. a couple of weeks ago) after trying to start it and then waiting about 10 minutes? I was hoping the same pattern would repeat today but, alas, it did not. It is supposed to warm up to -7 in a couple of days. As I do not need the car in the meantime, I will try again then.

 

[Burnerman]

All symptoms of a battery that has had enough!
A motor factor can put a heavy discharge test on it, and will happily sell you a new one.
I don’t know what a Honda Fit is, but often the new battery has to be coded to the car so you’ll need to check that.
John

 

[Burnerman]

Aha it’s a Jazz with another name!
Likely to be a hybrid, have a word with a Honda dealer as the battery price is likely to be competitive.
John

 

[carmanmemoranda]

All symptoms of a battery that has had enough!
A motor factor can put a heavy discharge test on it, and will happily sell you a new one.
I don’t know what a Honda Fit is, but often the new battery has to be coded to the car so you’ll need to check that.
John

Some of the symptoms also could be starter motor, if it was able to start 1st time after some effort and then slight resting.

Get them both tested ideally

 

[expos4ever]

Some of the symptoms also could be starter motor, if it was able to start 1st time after some effort and then slight resting.

Get them both tested ideally

I am curious about this. To reiterate, the first scenario (two weeks ago) was this:

a. The car (with a 4 - 5 year old battery) had not been run for about 5 days.
b. During that time, it was relatively cold - average high of about -8, average low about -15.
c. On first attempt to start, the engine "turned over" very reluctantly (no sense that "it was about to start") followed by a series of clicks - I tried about 5 - 10 times.
d. Waited about 10 minutes
e. Car started easily

This surprised me - I would have thought that if the battery were the problem, the car would not have started.

Are you saying that the fact that it started, and easily at that, after 10 minutes "rest" suggests there may be a problem with the starter motor as well as with the battery? I would prefer to avoid unnecessary testing expense but I will defer to your expertise if you think there is a reasonable chance there is a starter problem. In case it is relevant, on the second time this problem occurred (2 days ago), I did indeed always get a series of "clicks" when I tried to start the car. Thanks again.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Really can't be more specific without testing.

But it sounds like it's worth testing battery and starter.

 

[Old Salt]

Charge the battery and see what happens. My merc battery was changed in the summer it was 8 years old and the original battery. My grandaughters battery was changed last week and was 5 years old. Unless the battery is OEM or has a guaranteed life exceeding 5 years it will get caught out at this time of year if over 5 years old.

All generalisations of course and greatly depends on how the battery has been treated, age, manufacturer and conditions of use. As a first step a good charge and making sure all connections are clean will help but if it subsequently struggles I would change it. Depending on how much use the vehicle gers. Modern cars with alarms, sensors, radio memories etc will potentially flatten a battery in a couple of weeks or so.

I would guess in Canada at this time of year and looking at your high day time temp of -8 it would soon kill a battery that is on its way out.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Charge the battery and see what happens. My merc battery was changed in the summer it was 8 years old and the original battery. My grandaughters battery was changed last week and was 5 years old. Unless the battery is OEM or has a guaranteed life exceeding 5 years it will get caught out at this time of year if over 5 years old.

All generalisations of course and greatly depends on how the battery has been treated, age, manufacturer and conditions of use. As a first step a good charge and making sure all connections are clean will help but if it subsequently struggles I would change it. Depending on how much use the vehicle gers. Modern cars with alarms, sensors, radio memories etc will potentially flatten a battery in a couple of weeks or so.

I would guess in Canada at this time of year and looking at your high day time temp of -8 it would soon kill a battery that is on its way out.

All true enough.

But if the starter is causing too much resistance it will make a weak (because of cold) but good battery look bad.

The battery may well be on its last legs, but it's by no means definite. Batteries are no longer cheap items just to replace and hope for the best.

But it does sound like it's about time to replace. Just cannot be more accurate remotely

 

[Old Salt]

Hence the advice to charge it first a see what happens. I’m sure my battery stop/start was about £120 and my granddaughters under £100 both with a 5 year warranty. Stealers would want £60 just to diagnose the problem

 

[carmanmemoranda]

No proper stop/start battery that I know of for around, or less than £100. More like £150 upwards, no idea of prices in Canada for batteries that are strong enough to cope with the extreme cold too.

Nothing wrong with charging it, it needs a charge to be tested fully. But a proper test IS the way forward. Or buy a new 1 because of it's age and hope that's all the issue is.

I stand by, get the battery and the starter tested, to identify the full issue.

Nothing worse than spending money on a new battery and then still having to stand out in the cold because there is still an issue.