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Mr Crowley
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Location: Suwon
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 Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:54 pm Post subject: Frozen car |
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| It snowed a lot last night. This morning I went outside and cleaned the snow off of my car. It won't crank, but it will turn over. The battery is dead because of the cold. Should I just wait until it warms up. What should I do ? |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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Try waiting until it warms up and then try again. You can also take out the battery and leave it indoors for a while.
Whatever you do, make sure that it HAS warmed up and has a good amount of power before you try starting again. Otherwise, you're going to drain the battery.
Last edited by Troglodyte on Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kberger
Joined: 22 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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When you turn the key, you hear a "click click click" noise?
If so, I'd say you need a new starter, about a $40 part.
If it more of a "voom voom voom" but the engine didn't start, maybe the engine wasn't getting enough gas, or I don't know.
If the battery is dead, nothing at all will happen. |
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Crockpot2001
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: Frozen car |
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| Mr Crowley wrote: |
| It snowed a lot last night. This morning I went outside and cleaned the snow off of my car. It won't crank, but it will turn over. The battery is dead because of the cold. Should I just wait until it warms up. What should I do ? |
Crank and turn over are the same in my neck of the woods. I've had quite a times when the battery would simply allow the starter to click but not crank the engine. This was usually due to the battery being old and no longer able to hold a full deep charge. If I recall, the voltage will still show as 12-14v but that does not actually indicate the depth of charge the battery has.
Tap out: This is the extent of my car "knowledge". I cannot provide links for the above statements as they are simply my experiences. |
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nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
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| Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: Frozen car |
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| Crockpot2001 wrote: |
| Mr Crowley wrote: |
| It snowed a lot last night. This morning I went outside and cleaned the snow off of my car. It won't crank, but it will turn over. The battery is dead because of the cold. Should I just wait until it warms up. What should I do ? |
Crank and turn over are the same in my neck of the woods. I've had quite a times when the battery would simply allow the starter to click but not crank the engine. This was usually due to the battery being old and no longer able to hold a full deep charge. If I recall, the voltage will still show as 12-14v but that does not actually indicate the depth of charge the battery has.
Tap out: This is the extent of my car "knowledge". I cannot provide links for the above statements as they are simply my experiences. |
Agreed, same thing.
If you turn the key and you're getting a slow sound of it turning over once, i'm going to assume that's what you mean by the phrase "turns over". There are two things that could happen here. One, the engine starts to turn over faster and faster until it starts. Or it could turn over a few times and then stop.
Either way, it's a battery problem. The cold weather makes it harder to start the car. The oil gets cold, it's gets thicker, it takes more force to start the engine. More force takes more power. If the battery is good, it may start slowly and then speed up as the engine overcomes the friction. If that's the case, you need a battery charger/booster.
If it starts and then dies, the battery is shot.
Now, if you think that this weather is cold/lots of snow, let me bring you in on a little secret - it isn't. A car battery should be fine in this weather. I've only had one car battery die on me in the winter, and it was probably 10 years old AND it was 4 below F. This weather can make a weak battery need some help, but it would have to be pretty weak to start with.
Check the battery. If it's one that can be serviced, open it up and check the levels. Low? Add distilled water to the line. Start the car, run it for a while to charge the battery.
If it cannot be serviced, or if the water level is fine, replace the battery.
Of course, all this is assuming that's what the problem is. Based on what you said, this is the obvious route. |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| You could check and clean the battery posts and connectors with a wire brush and then get a jump. Car batteries are extremely picky about the connections being good enough to send enough charge to the starter. |
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nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
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| Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| You could check and clean the battery posts and connectors with a wire brush and then get a jump. Car batteries are extremely picky about the connections being good enough to send enough charge to the starter. |
Always good advice, but I doubt it's the problem here. Remember, if you DO have to replace the battery though, make sure that you DO clean the connectors AND tighten them TIGHT. My first car, kept having troubles with the new battery - yeah, didn't tighten the connectors tight enough at all. |
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kiknkorea
Joined: 16 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:49 am Post subject: |
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Frozen fuel line would be my guess. In which case you may have to wait until at least early next week for the temperature to warm up enough for it to thaw.
Best of luck whatever the problem is. |
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v88
Joined: 28 Feb 2010
Location: here
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| Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:34 pm Post subject: Re: Frozen car |
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| Mr Crowley wrote: |
| It snowed a lot last night. This morning I went outside and cleaned the snow off of my car. It won't crank, but it will turn over. The battery is dead because of the cold. Should I just wait until it warms up. What should I do ? |
Depends, did you try starting it for more than a second of two? In cold weather some cars can be a little slow to start. Maybe you didn't give it enough time. If your car has a carb then you can pump the gas a bit while turning the key and letting the starter try and get the plugs to spark (but don't flood the engine). Make sure you've turned off all the lights and the radio to give the battery as much juice as you can.
The other solution is to get someone to jump start your car for you. If you have insurance your insurance people should be able to do this for you. Once they have jump started your car let your car warm up then check your battery. Probably needs to be changed if it's having a tough time in weather like this. The little window on the battery should be a nice bright green...if it's dark, get a new one. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 9:53 am Post subject: |
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| Strange! Cars shouldn't have any problem starting here. It's not cold enough. I'll tell you when you get a minus 40 windchill; that's whe cars don't start. Korea doesn't get that cold. But, it is a little cold this week. Maybe the beginning of winter in Canada but definately not during the peak. Sounds like a prob with your car. Maybe the wiring; maybe the starter, maybe the battery. Maybe it gets flooded easily. But just about any car will start when it's minus 10. Minus 40 is another story, but Korea will never drop that low. Get your mechanic to check your car over. If there is a prob there, maybe it won't start when it gets damp either. Better to head this prob off before it gets worse. |
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Mr Crowley
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:19 am Post subject: |
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| My wife called the insurance company, and a guy driving a wrecker came and charged my battery. I let the car idle for about 20 minutes. 3 hours later I tried to start my car and the battery was dead again. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:28 am Post subject: |
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| Mr Crowley wrote: |
| My wife called the insurance company, and a guy driving a wrecker came and charged my battery. I let the car idle for about 20 minutes. 3 hours later I tried to start my car and the battery was dead again. |
Generally you should drive the car around after the battery dies, not just let it idle. |
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IlIlNine
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Location: Gunpo, Gyonggi, SoKo
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| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:36 am Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| Mr Crowley wrote: |
| My wife called the insurance company, and a guy driving a wrecker came and charged my battery. I let the car idle for about 20 minutes. 3 hours later I tried to start my car and the battery was dead again. |
Generally you should drive the car around after the battery dies, not just let it idle. |
He didn't charge your battery, he used his car to start yours (bypassing your own battery). Then you're supposed to drive around as long as you can - if your battery's good, about 30 minutes.
It sounds like:
- Your battery is old and won't hold a charge
or
- Your alternator (the thing that charges your battery) is broken.
What you should have done is taken the opportunity to drive your car to the shop and had them check it.
A car batter should not be drained completely - this shortens its life considerably - so if your alternator is broken, I would spring for a new battery as well.
A rebuilt alternator should be less than 100 bucks (if you have a Korean car, of course) and a battery another 60 or so. Throw in a bit for labor and that should be about how much it'll cost. |
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nero
Joined: 11 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:39 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| Strange! Cars shouldn't have any problem starting here. It's not cold enough. I'll tell you when you get a minus 40 windchill; that's whe cars don't start. Korea doesn't get that cold. But, it is a little cold this week. Maybe the beginning of winter in Canada but definately not during the peak. Sounds like a prob with your car. Maybe the wiring; maybe the starter, maybe the battery. Maybe it gets flooded easily. But just about any car will start when it's minus 10. Minus 40 is another story, but Korea will never drop that low. Get your mechanic to check your car over. If there is a prob there, maybe it won't start when it gets damp either. Better to head this prob off before it gets worse. |
The inevitable 'Canadia is so much colder than Korea - in fact we go swimming in this kind of heat' comment.
God you guys crack me up. |
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sheriffadam
Joined: 10 May 2010
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| nero wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| Strange! Cars shouldn't have any problem starting here. It's not cold enough. I'll tell you when you get a minus 40 windchill; that's whe cars don't start. Korea doesn't get that cold. But, it is a little cold this week. Maybe the beginning of winter in Canada but definately not during the peak. Sounds like a prob with your car. Maybe the wiring; maybe the starter, maybe the battery. Maybe it gets flooded easily. But just about any car will start when it's minus 10. Minus 40 is another story, but Korea will never drop that low. Get your mechanic to check your car over. If there is a prob there, maybe it won't start when it gets damp either. Better to head this prob off before it gets worse. |
The inevitable 'Canadia is so much colder than Korea - in fact we go swimming in this kind of heat' comment.
God you guys crack me up. |
Basically, regardless of the country, a car that isn't maintained and run into the ground is going to show up starting issues when its cold, now its cold outside and your car has starting issues. Time to spend some W on it! |
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