any car experts?

[cocoa_pleco]

ive got a 1992 nissan maxima automatic V6 3 litre car. the last few weeks ive had trouble starting it but after a while it gave in if i pushed the gas pedal halfway. today it was only -8c and it wouldnt start. i plugged in the block heater for 5 hours and tried it and it makes the same churning noise but it wont start for some reason. i need the car the 2nd so i have to get it going by then. its in immaculate condition, 399xxxkm but the original owner said the aout 350,000km he put on it was almost all highway km and he has all service record since '92 and nothing major was ever done. i had a mechanic look at it and he said the car will last to around 550,000km or more

whats up with it not starting? the gas line isnt frozen, ive got some gas antifreeze in it. this sunday it was about -25c and i had to fight it a bit but it got going so -8c it should have started today

[Ty]

Im going to say its a old battery, eventually the cells in the battery will wear out and stop holding a charge.

take the car into a local auto store, and have them test the cold cranking amps of the battery (most will do this for free) and if it is much lower than what the specs on the battery are, I would look into getting a new one.

[cocoa_pleco]

i'll have to do that tomorrow. i'll leave it plugged in all night and see if it will start, else i guess a new battery

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I think the easiest thing to check is the battery. Any good battery store would be able to check the cells to see if it's strong enough.
Cold weather will just suck the power right out of them. If you want an even easier fix try charging it for a few hours....maybe it's just low.

From there you might need to look at the fuel filter or spark plugs. They may be plugged or fouled and not working properly.

Gas now a days with the 10% ethanol shouldn't freeze. No need for any additives like they used to use as its basically already got what it needs.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

don't leave the charger on all night as that might hurt the battery.
My charger has an auto shut off mode when it's done charging.

If your charger doesn't have that then I'd check on it ever hour or so to see if it's still taking a charge.

[Ty]

you shouldnt have to charge that battery in a well working car because that alternator will do that when is running.

if your battery is not holding a charge, its that battery or a a wire that is grounding out. If your battery is not getting a charge, its something to do with the alternator.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

you shouldnt have to charge that battery in a well working car because that alternator will do that when is running.

if your battery is not holding a charge, its that battery or a a wire that is grounding out. If your battery is not getting a charge, its something to do with the alternator.

It takes about 20min of driving at highway speeds to charge a battery for 1 start.

For me and i'm sure most people short trips almost never fully charge your battery back to before you started it. Occasional charging may be a necessary unless you drive long distances...and in those cases alternators tend to overcharge batteries which damages them slightly.

Also batteries get old. They don't hold the charge they used to when the material they were made out of was fresh and new. build up of sulfides on the plates happen. If that's the case you'll probably need new a new battery.

Even if your battery is good and it's cold it won't work as well as the exact battery in warm weather.

[Northernguy]

Have you cleaned the battery terminals lately?Cleaning the connection at the starter may be neccesary as well.Disconnect the battery first.
Is there any lights staying on in the car that may be draining the battery?
There may be a short somewhere drawing off the battery when its parked.
Its winter and its cold.Get yourself a battery blanket,they do help.
If you can afford the new style battery.I can't remember what its called right now,it looks like a 6pack. It does not freeze,there is no liquid inside it.

[cocoa_pleco]

i never leave the lights on. i have the inside roof light set on off, and the car has a alarm for everything and if i leave the headlights on when the cars off it has a annoying dinging noise til you shut them off

[PUNISHER VETTE]

i never leave the lights on. i have the inside roof light set on off, and the car has a alarm for everything and if i leave the headlights on when the cars off it has a annoying dinging noise til you shut them off


I had 2 problems in different cars with this. 1 the radio was faulty the the clock never turned off. Always thought that's what it was supposed to be like but it wasn't. My battery would die every few months.

Another car had a bad sensor that would draw on the battery causing it to drain slightly.

Problem is that most repair shops charge a minimum of 4hours labor to search for electrical problems. Not very fair since it takes them seconds for the computer to find the problem...:scry:

I'm sure if this was a problem you would have known long ago about it.

[MCHRKiller]

Have you had just your starter looked at? Could just be the cold making it rough for it...mine sits in a heated garage all the time and when its really cold out and it has to start not in the garage it puts up a bit of a fight because its spoiled. Try turning your ignition on halfway like let the battery power up your clock and make sure everything else is off and wait like 10sec and then start it. I have to do that when mines been frozen up :)

[cocoa_pleco]

stupid thing was closer to starting this morning, but after a few seconds of trying it had no juice left. im on the phone with AMA now and they'll send a guy over in a bit to test the battery and probably install a new one

[cocoa_pleco]

dont know what brought it on but it just started, ive still got AMA coming in a couple hours though to test to battery because i cant be fighting with it to start when im at work or parked somewhere

[cocoa_pleco]

the guy came and took a look. the battery is fine. the extention cord i was using didnt let me plug the block heater in all the way and he said for it to work it has to be fully plugged in. that was the problem, after getting a new extention cord and plugging it in it starts now, lucky i got this figured out before the 2nd

[MCHRKiller]

Glad to hear it wasnt anything serious then :)

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, i would have been ticked if it died on me for good

[Northernguy]

Thats pretty cool Cocoa and a lot cheaper as well.Winter hits us pretty dam hard and I have gone through loads of batteries.I bought myself a battery blanket at Can tire and it really made a difference.

[labnjab]

There might still be something wrong. A fuel injected gas vehicle shouldn't even need a block heater to start, even in below zero F temps. Whens the last time its had plugs, wires, cap, rotor? This time a year we get tons of no starts at the shop I work at because the cars flooded due to worn tune up components.

[cocoa_pleco]

all maintenance is done on time always, and i had a full inspection for anything bad on it not too long ago and it came out clear

[rageybug]

Simple way to get an answer. Take your car to Canadian Tire and have them take a look. They will hook the car up to the computer and get all the codes for anything that is wrong with the car. They will test the battery and even the fuel system for you. They should only charge you for an hour of shop time, about $80 I think. Don't waste your time and money throwing new parts into the car until you know the exact problem.

Also, you will still want to use gas line anti-freeze every few fill ups. Winter in Edmonton can be brutal as you know and if you get any moisture in your gas tank it will freeze and you won't be going anywhere. Keeping at least a 1/4 tank of gas will help prevent frozen lines too.

[labnjab]

On a fuel injected car, dry gas isn't necessary, even in sub 0 temps. Gas usually has 10-15% ethanol which is a form of alcohol, (the main ingredient in drygas is alcohol), so all moisture will be removed anyways (plus it greatly reduces gas mileage). Plus most fuel injected cars have 40-60 lbs fuel pressure which will make it next to impossible to freeze the line. The only thing I would put dry gas in is 2 stroke engines (snowmobiles, snow blowers, ect) as there isn't much fuel pressure

[cocoa_pleco]

its been running fine the last few days, no problems starting it

[cocoa_pleco]

it was -45c today and it started alright, it started then killed off twice then it ran

the reason i needed my car running yesterday is Alberta made some stupid @$$ law 5 years ago. before 2003, all you had to do to get your full license is pass your learners which is just a written test, then do the in car and youre done. i failed my learners the first few times because i never read the book too in depth, and i never got my learners til i was 16 when the earliest age is 14. you have to wait a year after you get your learners to take the in car test, and i aced that when i was 17 (even with a 60 year old chinese guy grading me). however, that was after 2003, and the new law makes you have to go for ANOTHER in car test 2 years after your first in car test. for passing the first in car, you can drive alone, but you cant drink any alcohol and drive and you can only get 8 demerits. im on that now, and i still have to take the 3rd stupid test. my 1st in car was 10 minutes long, this one is a hour long and apparently crazy tough. sounds to me like the gov.t just wants another way to make money.

anyways i have to take that 3rd test soon even though its so stupid. i can actually get 11 demerits now since i took a safe driving course to get my insurance down and they will let 3 slide. i dont drink so that part doesnt affect me, but if you get caught street racing its 6 demerits and that would wipe out over half of mine, while after my 3rd licence i would still have 12/18 left.

[Northernguy]

It sure has changed here as well.
When I turned 16 I wrote my test and scheduled the in car on the way out the door.It was the next week and I passed no problem.I think it takes a lot longer now.

[cocoa_pleco]

It sure has changed here as well.
When I turned 16 I wrote my test and scheduled the in car on the way out the door.It was the next week and I passed no problem.I think it takes a lot longer now.


my in car was easy too. the guy just made me go for a few minutes down a few blocks and thats it, i aced it.

one thing though was he was the most stereotypical chinese guy. he would say stuff like "turn reft at one tirty tird street", i could barely understand him

[tropfish]

Simple way to get an answer. Take your car to Canadian Tire and have them take a look. They will hook the car up to the computer and get all the codes for anything that is wrong with the car. They will test the battery and even the fuel system for you. They should only charge you for an hour of shop time, about $80 I think. Don't waste your time and money throwing new parts into the car until you know the exact problem.

Also, you will still want to use gas line anti-freeze every few fill ups. Winter in Edmonton can be brutal as you know and if you get any moisture in your gas tank it will freeze and you won't be going anywhere. Keeping at least a 1/4 tank of gas will help prevent frozen lines too.

That only works if the car throws a CEL ( a code) when somethings wrong. in this situation the car may have not thrown one, but it would be good to get it checked out. Has the fuel pump been checked out? the cold temps could have caused cracking in it which would suck in air and kill the engine.

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, fuel pump has been checked out and its fine

it drove really good today, i drove it fairly hard and it handled fine. after all this time i bothered to crack open the owners manual and its actually got a mode if you want to race it. i want to try out the mode but i dont think i will til summer

this car has by far been my favorite and it'll suck when it dies, i remember in high school with it i was the only person with a luxury car. the only other people that had cars in the school had a crappy rusted up honda prelude that by now probably fell apart, a saab, some kind of volkswagen, and a VW golf. my car was the bomb, having anti-lock brakes, automatic seat and mirror movers, heated seats, cornering lights, outside temperature reader, and a V6. was the best car to drift in too

[mac]

I managed to get my learners in the first attempt. And my restricted in the first attempt.

I had to or I would have lost my job.

Hope all goes well with your car.

mac

[Northernguy]

Cocoa did you leave the power amp on in your car?
That'll kill a battery no matter what time of year it is!

[cocoa_pleco]

nope, i didnt

[Northernguy]

Just a thought! I have!lol