Cold Start issues - thoughts/options ?

[shift8]

In cold weather the dashcam definitely made starts harder on my MS3.

Car at one point was also hesitating to turn over at all. Turned out to be corrosion on the starter terminals.

[sube]

Short trips killing the battery are only part of the equation, the car is not reaching full operating temperature on such short trips, so you should consider changing the oil more often because of condensation emulsifying the oil, as well you are drastically shortening the life of the exhaust, moisture accumulates in the exhaust then doesn't get burnt off because of short trips, result exhaust and muffler rot from the inside out.

Pat.

[S.F.W.]

Short trips killing the battery are only part of the equation, the car is not reaching full operating temperature on such short trips, so you should consider changing the oil more often because of condensation emulsifying the oil, as well you are drastically shortening the life of the exhaust, moisture accumulates in the exhaust then doesn't get burnt off because of short trips, result exhaust and muffler rot from the inside out.

Pat.

I change the oil at 5k, and run a catch can.

[sube]

I change the oil at 5k, and run a catch can.

That all helps, still it would be even better to increase your daily commute so the car reaches proper operating temps, plus I am sure it would also alleviate your starting issues. Maybe leave home a little earlier and give the car a decent run.

Pat.

[bubba1983]

stick to basics, get your battery tested after a good few days of run time on the weekend, so it has a good state of charge to test off, check your charging system, voltage drops, etc get a good baseline, then go from there...

[ecmirand]

Instead of creating another thread, my experience this past long weekend fits in here. Cold days and nights going -20C or lower. Clutch was at first "sticky" ie after releasing my foot after disengaging, the clutch pedal doesn't return its original position right away. After driving for 30 mins, it's back to how it was.

Door sensor was acting up too. While parked with all doors closed and locked, sensor says door is still open and my interior lights are on. Then went away. Started driving and the sensor would come back on and the lights would turn back on again. Freaked out my passengers lol. I said to not worry because this was only happening today.

Just want to share how COLD it was this weekend. And did a carwash to get rid of all that salt!

[Noobster12]

My clutch was also doing the same... But whenever its in gear it's very stiff.. And wen the car is warmed up it's back to normal...

[Raxor]

I replaced my battery on my 2010 MZ3 about a month ago. Before it would have issues starting in the cold on the stock battery. Now with the new battery (Kirkland 24F) i have 0 issues starting the car up even with the cold weather this past week.

-Car is parked outside day/night.
-Usually drive minimum 10kms a day
-No dashcam or other power leaching sources

[ecmirand]

Haven't replaced my 2012 MZ3 battery yet since I bought it used a year ago but I'm assuming it's stock lol. Maybe it's the battery as you say. I have a dashcam and recently it started saying "system is stopping to protect car battery...system is stopping" whenever I start my car. Still works and that line became my regular routine and doesn't annoy me anymore lol

[Noobster12]

What about the clutch and gear problem? Im assuming the tranny oil isn't good...?

[ecmirand]

Yea the gears were a bit stiff as you said but after warming up and driving, it was okay. Maybe I should check the oil then lol. But in this cold weather, I get lazy checking my car fluids and won't do anything until spring. They were fine though last summer lol.

[Noobster12]

Its only the really cold days that these stuff happens to my car.. Maybe its the type of trany oil that mazda dealerships that sucks?

[ecmirand]

I don't know lol. I'll treat it as a one time thing and hopefully it doesn't happen.

[S.F.W.]

My issue is related to my dash cam. If I turn it off the dash can at night, and when I park at the subway, the car starts fine. If I leave the dash can on, the battery drains and needs to be boosted.
At some point, I need to invest in a deep cycle battery.

[Flagrum_3]

Its only the really cold days that these stuff happens to my car.. Maybe its the type of trany oil that mazda dealerships that sucks?

You could always try switching to synthetic gear oil to alleviate the stiffness to a certain degree. I switched to Redline several years back and have no shifter stiffness issues after letting the vehicle warm up for approx. 3 minutes.

As far as the clutch goes, not much you can do as it's a hydraulic clutch. The fluid is shared with the brake system. Brake fluid will thicken also with this type of cold but it should warm up quickly in most cases.

_3

[Canadianbacon]

Same door open warning light last morning didn't go off, had to open/close door twice. Using dashcam and Subwoofer hooked up no issues at all. Im using a motomaster battery from crappytire for little over $100 its perfect dashcam turns off if battery below 50%
http://youtu.be/dJ0A-EQcTZw

[Cab0oze]

You could always try switching to synthetic gear oil to alleviate the stiffness to a certain degree. I switched to Redline several years back and have no shifter stiffness issues after letting the vehicle warm up for approx. 3 minutes.

As far as the clutch goes, not much you can do as it's a hydraulic clutch. The fluid is shared with the brake system. Brake fluid will thicken also with this type of cold but it should warm up quickly in most cases.

_3

I thought I remembered reading (mulitple times) that redline was actually worse than the stock ford(?) fluid in terms of cold performance?

Instead of creating another thread, my experience this past long weekend fits in here. Cold days and nights going -20C or lower. Clutch was at first "sticky" ie after releasing my foot after disengaging, the clutch pedal doesn't return its original position right away. After driving for 30 mins, it's back to how it was.

Door sensor was acting up too. While parked with all doors closed and locked, sensor says door is still open and my interior lights are on. Then went away. Started driving and the sensor would come back on and the lights would turn back on again. Freaked out my passengers lol. I said to not worry because this was only happening today.

Just want to share how COLD it was this weekend. And did a carwash to get rid of all that salt!

Washing your car can cause the door sensor problem... water gets places it shouldnt and then freezes.

[Flagrum_3]

I thought I remembered reading (mulitple times) that redline was actually worse than the stock ford(?) fluid in terms of cold performance?

I don't know how that can be! In my case it's like night and day compared to the OEM oil that was in there.

Pour point is -45C


_3

[gta_driver]

Isn't gearbox oil already synthetic? I'm pretty sure it is.

Also, a certain amount of stiffness is normal, i've had that with every manual car I've owned. Even automatics take longer to shift when temps drop low in most cars I had.

One just have to drive carefully at first, that's all.

[SomeGuy]

Fluid's will barely help transmission/clutch feel in the cold...cold is cold. The vehicle just needs to warm up.

[Flagrum_3]

Isn't gearbox oil already synthetic? I'm pretty sure it is.

Also, a certain amount of stiffness is normal, i've had that with every manual car I've owned. Even automatics take longer to shift when temps drop low in most cars I had.

One just have to drive carefully at first, that's all.

I'm not sure what the oem gear oil is, but I would not assume it's synthetic. Even if it were there are differences to synthetic oils depending on brand and make-up. You have so called semi-syns and full syns. The full syns being obviously the better choice for many reasons.

Fluid's will barely help transmission/clutch feel in the cold...cold is cold. The vehicle just needs to warm up.

That's a pretty general statement! I just finished stating "from experience", synthetic makes a difference. Seriously, How could it not?
It will not thicken like a conventional oil, therefore it will flow basically the same at -30C as it would at 2C, whereas a conventional oil will be literally like molasses at -30C. This has been tested and proven many times over....therefore it is not a myth and it will and does make a difference.

_3

[Squisher]

I don't know much about the 3 gearbox specifically but in general changing oils can certainly affect how a gearbox performs in different environments.

[SomeGuy]

I'm not sure what the oem gear oil is, but I would not assume it's synthetic. Even if it were there are differences to synthetic oils depending on brand and make-up. You have so called semi-syns and full syns. The full syns being obviously the better choice for many reasons.



That's a pretty general statement! I just finished stating "from experience", synthetic makes a difference. Seriously, How could it not?
It will not thicken like a conventional oil, therefore it will flow basically the same at -30C as it would at 2C, whereas a conventional oil will be literally like molasses at -30C. This has been tested and proven many times over....therefore it is not a myth and it will and does make a difference.

_3

There may very well be minor differences but I have never found a to spec gear oil that actually removes all cold weather issues. When shit is cold it's going to be cold, even synthetic oils thicken.

[zzz3]

Same door open warning light last morning didn't go off, had to open/close door twice. Using dashcam and Subwoofer hooked up no issues at all. Im using a motomaster battery from crappytire for little over $100 its perfect dashcam turns off if battery below 50%
http://youtu.be/dJ0A-EQcTZw

It was painful to watch that battery struggle to provide enough cca. It's pretty much destroyed if you've deep cycled it a bunch of times already. You need an agm battery.

[trulankan]

My issue is related to my dash cam. If I turn it off the dash can at night, and when I park at the subway, the car starts fine. If I leave the dash can on, the battery drains and needs to be boosted.
At some point, I need to invest in a deep cycle battery.

get the Eliminator Ultra AGM and call it a day you can pick it up on sale for $150 (reg $170) which is still much cheaper than the Optima (which is probably better if you want to spend the $). My battery fully drained recently, accelerated by the security system install and my dashcam which is always on with a voltage monitor -_- i'm hoping this battery will last but it comes with a 5-year warranty so I'm not worrying