Cold weather

[Gavin80]

Has anyone experienced their car just giving up in this weather, i can get my car to start if i call the AA and get it jumpstarted, but unless i am running/driving the car a couple a times a day it won't start in the morning, the engine will turn over but it won't catch and start the car just turns over and over and its like the battery is draining. I had this problem last year with the cold snap and am now again experiencing the issue hence why i bought the new battery.

I'm driving a 2001 1.6 206cc.

Any help on this would be much appreciated the AA hooked the car up to a diagnostic last year and no errors were found, they said last time it was the battery but i have since changed that and i am currently waiting on them to arrive now to jump sart my car, its about -4 outside.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

[GrandadMonkey]

Sounds like battery, but what is the service history? What sort of use does the car get?

[Gavin80]

Thanks for getting back to me on this Grandadmonkey.

Had the AA out with me for about an hour today, i only bought a new battery 3 weeks ago.

We have narrowed it down to the earth strap and the connections to the battery, there seems to be a drain on the battery, i have the battery currently out of the car charging.

This seems to only happen to me in the winter though which is where i'm confused!

I had the car srviced in April, and theres about 65'000 miles on the clock i wouldn't use it for long journeys but it would be 40 minutes each way back and forth to work.

The timing belt is getting done on it soon so the mechanic doing that for me said hes gonna have a look and see if theres a loose wire somewhere that might be the cause also.

[Thar]

This seems to only happen to me in the winter though which is where i'm confused!

I wonder if it's down to the extra demands on the battery in Winter, lights, heater etc. being used excessively.

[GrandadMonkey]

Sounds as if your man is on the right track Gavin. Check all battery connections and leads. Particularly connections to starter motor - look for cracked/corroded terminals, and earth strap (known failure point). Any signs of deterioration in the leads, replace.

Battery drain? Check any after-market stereo to make sure it is switching off completely. Check boot light to make sure it goes off when boot is closed. Glovebox light?

If the car is not turning over ok, then the starter motor could be at fault.

If all the above are ok check that the alternator is charging ok.

The timing belt is due for replacement next year when the car is 10 years old.

Good luck.