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Cold weather problems

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Old Feb 22, 2011, 06:28 PM
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Cold weather problems

I have searched and found nothing like i have happening. It has been cold here for a long time. 10-30 degrees and when i start my car it runs fine. High idle like a normal car would do(2k and a little higher) for warming up but if i try to go anywhere before its fully warm and kicks back down into normal idle it will shudder and not go anywhere at all. For the last two days i was trying to back out of my drive way and let out the clutch like normal and it almost died. Was idling so low it was barley running and lights on the dash where flashing. But if i gave it some gas slowly and it started to run normal....after that it runs perfectly fine.

My drive way is on hill when i back up its downhill so its not putting any stress on the car.

I had problems with my car when i bought it from the dealer. They bricked my ecu and had to replace it. I have no idea whats in the car for mods. Beside my Stage 1 clutch that i had put in when i got the car. The fuel pump whines like a mother f*%ker. so my guess is Walbro?

The previous owner had work done to the car. Bolts and stuff are missing from around the intake and i had to replace the boost control solenoid and lines with pills.(all was messed up and or gone when i got it)


Had the timing belt and serpentine belt done when the clutch was done. The shop had it break on them and get caught in the timing and jump time, So the vavles where also done at that time.

Thats all i can think about now. anything you guys can help me out with is awesome if i think of anything else i will add it
Old Feb 22, 2011, 07:15 PM
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In the cold I have some issues with mine, although very minor.

Basically I always warm up my car for a few minutes in the morning before I drive to work, so it's always warm before driving.

But when work is out 8 hours later it has almost the same issue you describe. I start it up, starts up just fine. Idles at 1900 revs briefly then drops to 1500 or so. If I don't wait at least 2 minutes roughly, the instant I even touch the throttle, it bogs down to 500-900rpm. The clutch can be 100% in the whole time, just tap the gas and it does this.

It will then start increasing revs slowly while stumbling back to 1500 rpm and proceed to run normal. This all happens within 5 seconds or so once the gas is touched.

Waiting any longer than 2 minutes, no issue at all. In slightly warmer weather waiting about 15 seconds is all that's required. Of course I don't drive right away and I do let my car warm up for a few minutes when it's below freezing.

The car otherwise drives perfectly fine, isn't choppy, isn't knocking, and gets nice mileage. I think it has something to do with the low coolant temp enrichment on the stock tune being overly rich at that low of a temp, a poorly warmed up O2 sensor, or too much timing retard.

Personally I just let mine warm up. Hopefully that helps regarding your situation.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 07:26 PM
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sounds like the same exact thing that happening...i normally let the car warm up but i was running late for work. Wanted to hop in and go. but my car wouldnt let me.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 07:30 PM
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Normal. It has been a really cold winter here in London, Canada and when its -12 or below, and the car has sat for the night.... the first 5 seconds after startup are a bit dodgy. Holding the gas steady for 3-4 seconds at 2krpm fixes the problem. It doesnt matter if you drive an Evo, a Taurus, or a Landrover.... combustion engines do not like extreme cold temps. Metal changes size, expanding and contracting and **** gets weird. As long as you arent a retard and go honkin on it right away.... peddle it a little when super cold out... then drive easy till at operating temp.

Are you getting an engine light after all this?


Last edited by brenner; Feb 22, 2011 at 07:36 PM.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 07:52 PM
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No engine light, but it does spudder low enough in the rpms that all the dash lights will flicker on and off. It hasnt been extremely cold here not negative in a long time. Right around the 20* mark.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:01 PM
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I wouldn't just accept this as normal. We've had a miserable winter here and my car hasn't done any of what you describe. I do baby it on the very cold days.

A DSM I used to own started doing this very thing and and the cause there turned out to be the vent hose from the valve cover having come off of the intake. So, it could be a vacuum hose off or maybe the your ISC doesn't like the cold weather.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by barneyb
I wouldn't just accept this as normal. We've had a miserable winter here and my car hasn't done any of what you describe. I do baby it on the very cold days.

A DSM I used to own started doing this very thing and and the cause there turned out to be the vent hose from the valve cover having come off of the intake. So, it could be a vacuum hose off or maybe the your ISC doesn't like the cold weather.

Check PCV and valvecover vent. Mine have been frozen before. Like frozen solid.

That sucked.

Also, totally depends on the tune. Depends on mods made to the ECU, cold starts can be affected.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:19 PM
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Is your heater on when it almost stalls?

Mine almost stalls with it on because my car is untuned, but drives normal when it's off.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:20 PM
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No tune stock ecu put in by the dealer when they tried to reset it from previous owner and bricked it
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:23 PM
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is the car modded? thats probably why then
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:38 PM
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no mods that i have done. Stock air box stock intercooler piping just put a stock boost control solenoid. Stage 1 clutch (that doesnt matter) Fuel pump is loud, never pulled it to see if its an upgrade.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Jrah2987
Is your heater on when it almost stalls?

Mine almost stalls with it on because my car is untuned, but drives normal when it's off.
It is on. but once the car gets up to normal temp its fine.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:42 PM
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try it with the heater off.

whats your mileage like? if the guy before you modded it and then put it back to stock, (fuel pump may be a hint) you may be running bigger injectors as well without knowing. this alone will eff up the idle esp on cold starts. do some investigating... hope you figure it out.

my car is not stock - im not worried about my problem when its super cold though.
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by brenner
try it with the heater off.

whats your mileage like? if the guy before you modded it and then put it back to stock, (fuel pump may be a hint) you may be running bigger injectors as well without knowing. this alone will eff up the idle esp on cold starts. do some investigating... hope you figure it out.

my car is not stock - im not worried about my problem when its super cold though.
Im right around 51k miles. How would i figure out about the bigger injectors? When it warms up im gunna pull the pump and check that. I know the previous owner modded it. And put it back to stock with zipties and ductape. Couldnt see this stuff when i looked at it at the dealer
Old Feb 22, 2011, 08:50 PM
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have a look at the injectors. if there are funny colors like red, blue, yellow or you can read a brand then they are not stock.

im betting its the tune.


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