Cold Start Problem - common or anomaly?

[swc69]

Hey All,

When I went to start my MM yesterday morning it wouldn't. (??!!)

It was about 0 outside (the car said it was 1 degree). It had been sitting outside all night. (My wife and my 70 Charger get the garage for the winter...)

The engine would catch, and then die after about 2 seconds. It took six tries before it finally fired up.

Is this common? I haven't owned a car in 20 years that had cold starting problems. I thought all that went away with fuel injection and ECU's.

Could it be related to the SCMT programming I installed Friday night?

SWC
2003 300A

[schuvwj]

My MM did the same thing last week when I was at work and the outside temperature was also about zero. It took me 5 tries to get her started. When she finally started I had to pump and hold the gas pedal at 1/2 throttle or more.
She only had a 1/3 tank of gas, (never run her less than that), so I filled her up and added 2 bottles of HEET.
She never gave me any starting problems after that!

Just my $0.02

[67435animal]

I do not think this is normal. It may not fire immediately but it should it 2-3 tries.

Bob

[RF Overlord]

Was about 2°F here this morning...Blackbird started right up for Mary...this was after sitting outside since Friday night, and the temp hasn't gotten above 6°F the whole time...

[RedMM]

temperature here 4-20 degrees last 7-10 days. I've started MM twice over that time period by simply reaching in and turning key-no gas pedal at all. Fires right up first try and idles perfectly-about 1500rpm for 10 seconds or so then down to about 1000rpm. Couldn't start better. I have not touched anything-car is bone stock. I think(?) I've seen so other threads posted where some of the cold start problems came from mods of chips, etc, but can't say for sure???? Anyone else remember reading about this problem???

[jaywish]

Well I saw 1 car at the NE member meet in Yonkers yesterday have that problem in the parking lot and another owner said they had exacty the same problem a day earlier.

Additional fuel provided by feathering the throttle or holding the key a LITTLE long in start mode worked for both of these folks.

It was also suggested that turning the key to on waiting a few full seconds and then hitting start would also work.

[TripleTransAm]

You folks might have read the temperatures I've been quoting for the past few days. Coupled with the fact my MM hasn't been started in close to 3 weeks, I was expecting the worst.

Fired right up.

The cranking was a *little* slower, but it fired right up, even with the remote starter. Nice.

There's gotta be something with those early calibrations... but one would think the SCMT calibrations might fix this? Maybe they don't address cold-start values...

[junehhan]

I would also agree that something isn't normal, and may indeed be software related as suggested. The other morning when the temperature was in the simple digits, while it cranked just a tad longer and slower than usual, it fired right up and kept it's fast idle for about 30 seconds till it finally slowed down while I was outside scraping the frost off the windshield. It appears the it's the 03 300A's so far that are having this issue, from the people who are experiencing it in this thread.

[ap2003]

My car is completely stock... I have had the same starting issue two days in a row when it was ~2 degrees outside... The car was in the garage, where the temp, according to the Marauder was ~12.

Kinka had to keep my foot on the gas to maintain ~1000 RPMs for about 10 seconds. I took my foot off the gas. The engine stalled. Restarted the car... used my foot to maintain ~1000 RPMs for 45 seconds.... The car then idled fine.

I thought I was going to experience the same thing when going home from work. The car was outside all day. Outside temp ~2 degrees... Car started right up and idled fine.


Go figure..???


It almost seemed like the cold weather start circuits "forgot" to turn on.


Thinks that make you go HHhhmmmm.

ap

[CRUZTAKER]

Cold start? I dunno....cold run, there's a fix.

This did the trick for me (300a w/BMD0), software update available thru the dealer: 3U7A-12A650-AMA

I haven't started mine in weeks, but I'll bet it kicks just reachin' in thru the window at 11 degrees tonight.

Good luck, see your dealer.

[LincMercLover]

Mine does it too, but I always associated it with the new TB. Guess I need to get that tuned... :rolleyes:

[nexstar7]

mine hapened on saturday at the eastcoast meet. pissed me of

[KraziKid]

I was forced to leave it outside on Friday night (7 degrees, -24 with windchill), and I noticed it took it like 2 seconds longer to crank over, but I didn't have to stop and retry. Also, I noticed the gas pedal seemed delayed. As in I would tap it, and then around a quarter of a second later it would react. This is the first time i ever had to have my car outside (I'm only 17) this cold for that long, so I figured it's normal.

[Bowman9]

Today at lunch my car didn't want to start, it was about 19-20 degrees.
It took three tries to get it going.
I had heard that there was a reflash that would fix it like CRUZTAKER has posted.
But does the Superchip Microtuner have a setting to fix cold starts?
Because I am looking to buy a Microtuner or a chip in the near future.

[TooManyFords]

Three different times it has done exactly as described here. Would fire on 2-3 cylinders and then just die. Repeated starting 3-5 times and it would finally run. I've had mine reprogrammed by Dennis so I'm not running the factory BMD0 codes anymore. My guess is that there is a cold temp sensor that is not right.

John

[GarageMahal]

It was also suggested that turning the key to on waiting a few full seconds and then hitting start would also work.
I always turn the key to on and wait for a second or two for the fuel pressure to come up.

They only problem I have ever had with cold starting (sitting for hours below 10 degrees) is that it takes an extra half a second to fire and sometimes I didn't hold the key to start long enough. lol

jta

[Bowman9]

I always turn the key to on and wait for a second or two for the fuel pressure to come up.

I also tried this on the way home from work it it seemed to work fine.
I think GarageMahal might be right with the suggestion of letting the fuel pressure to come up before cranking it.

[TooManyFords]

After the 2nd or 3rd attempt and grinding it over and even leaving the key in the ON position, it has still taken 5 or 6 attepmts for it to stay running. No, this is something in the brain box doing this.

John

[TripleTransAm]

I think you're right, John. However, if folks start cranking before fuel pressure is up, the resultant dribble of fuel (instead of a nice powerful spray) might flood the engine somewhat, making the subsequent attempts hard to start as has been described.

However, if the car still behaves this way after 1 or 2 seconds of the key being ON, it's definitely the mixtures.

[ap2003]

In my case... I too, always wait 10 seconds... or whatever it takes for the fuel pump to pressurize the lines... Still have the "no-start" problem... However, I still haven't made it to the dealer to update the bmdo. Hopefully this week.

ap

[Krytin]

I drive mine every day. It has been record cold here in the north east - more than a few mornings in the low single digits! No problems starting - same as in warm weather. Mine is a bone stock '03 born 6-06-02 adopted 7-12-02. I always use 93 octane Mobile.

[Lidio]

I've seen this as well on a couple of MM's here in MI with the cold we've had lately. Try holding the throttle open about 1/4 of the way or so from the time you begin to crank until it actually fires and runs. This seems to help a little I noticed.

I'm not sure what it is. I was trying to determine if its not enough cranking fuel or to much in the programming, but holding the throttle open... if it helps tends to lead toward it possibly being a little rich and its actually flooding while cranking. Although to low of a throttle body idle setting can produce hard starting problems on its own, because an extremely cold motor is tougher to get started and get up into the revs because the oil is thick and every thing just being cold doesn’t want to run, rings, chambers, etc.

Even though today’s EFI motors and their Throttle-Body's are designed to be tamper proof so you don’t mess with the throttle stop screw... I bump them up a little all the time.

As long as you don’t exceed 1.0 volts at the TP, and as long as when the IAC (idle air control motor) is unplugged… it only needs to idle about 100rpm below what it would idle at when in drive when the IAC is hooked up. Most of the time they don’t stay running when the IAC is unplugged even in neutral. The OEM has their reasons for certain throttle body angles and air flow @ idle to contain or control sludging at the throttle body. I disregard this because I found over the years T/B sludging happens any way.

Here’s what I would do… If it idles stock or at a spec of let’s say 550rpm in Drive with all things hooked up and warmed up. I would unhook the IAC and adjust the throttle stop to idle at about 460-500 in drive fully warmed up. Then check the TP voltage. If after achieving the higher 460-500 drive idle and its not past 1.0 volts you should be OK. If it’s over 1.0 Volt, you’ll need to adjust it back down. If just loosening the TP screws and moving it a little doesn’t do the trick, it will need to be removed and have the holes drilled out for more adjustment. When done with it all unhook the negative battery cable for 5 minutes and restart and let it idle for about three minutes and then proceed to drive the car for a few minutes. This usually does the trick on modern EFI Ford’s.

Thanks

[gilby04]

Like Krytin, I drive mine every day, use only Mobil premium 93 octane, and use only 0W-20 Mobil 1, and have not had a single cold start problem.

[Murader03]

Ran into this problem when I went to go to work Sunday night. The car had sat in the garage from the time I got home Friday morning about 10AM, after the 45K service. Went out at 11PM Sunday to go to work, no start. Engine would crank and crank, but not start. Had to squirt some ether into the airbox in order for the car to start. No "Engine Check" light, no other indications, but all seems well now. Maybe Baby got lonely in the garage for almost 3 days without being started. Who knows! :burnout:

[mtnh]

That's a great help, Lidio. I will try this fix asap, since the LM dealer has now replaced my IAC twice and the car still dies intermittently when starting off, even with a warm engine.
It sounds like your advice will fix this problem in one try. Do we have to pierce the TPS wire to read that voltage following the idle stop screw adjustment, or is there a provision to read the TPS voltage non-destructively?

Thanks again.

Mike

[Lidio]

Yes you will have to pierce the middle wire of the TP conector to get the reading.

Do it while the car is runing at idle, other wise the readings can differ from the charging system not being up to speed.


Thanks

[Wags]

I had a "no start" problem when temps were under 20. It would start when 20, but very hard to. When the temps went to single digits, no start at all. When I removed the chip, no problem at all, cranked right up. Sent the chip back to Dennis, got reflashed, and cold start problem gone...so far. It's been around 4 to 6 degrees in the morn here lately, and leaving the car outside, it has been starting up fine, and the hesitation is gone also. I have the FDH2 coding in the PCM (have had the car since 6/02).

Wags

[ap2003]

I had the car into the dealer Monday.

They updated the software on the BMD0 version computer.
Installed a new IAC... The dealer stated that they have notice this problem in a few other Mercurys.

Three days of 8 degree weather... so far so good...

Temp tonight is suppose to get to -10 (thermometer setting!)... Although the car is in the garage... I would expect that Friday will also be "chilly". Let's keep the fingers crossed.

ap

[schuvwj]

What is a IAC?

[jgc61sr2002]

Idle Air Control

[schuvwj]

Idle Air Control


Thanks jgc61sr2002!!

[MERCMAN]

Three different times it has done exactly as described here. Would fire on 2-3 cylinders and then just die. Repeated starting 3-5 times and it would finally run. I've had mine reprogrammed by Dennis so I'm not running the factory BMD0 codes anymore. My guess is that there is a cold temp sensor that is not right.

John
I have had my chip flashed, the MM has not been started for a week with below 0 temps last few nights. I was concerned that I would have a problem, so I fired 'er up. No problem, cranked and started like it was 70 degrees. It was in an unheated garage. Hope this helps, I have a build date of 06/02 :burnout:

[Paul T. Casey]

Okay, I get the cold start problem and fixes, but, what I want to know is why you store your wife in the garage with the Charger, or was it Challenger. Either way, if I did that, I'd have a continual cold start problem with her.

[CRUZTAKER]

I've been on the road for weeks now. Today I went out to the barn, uncovered the front and the back of the MM, and decided to fire it up after 6 weeks. It's 12 degrees today. I had some nasty dirty boots, so I reached in, turned the key, and she fired right up.

Sweet!!! She sounded so good, I uncovered her and let her look out the door into the frozen tundra of south cleveland. Man o' man do I miss this awesome looking shiny beast!

After 20 minutes or so, I put her back to bed....:shake:

[Smokie]

Sweet!!! She sounded so good, I uncovered her and let her look out the door into the frozen tundra of south cleveland. Man o' man do I miss this awesome looking shiny beast!

After 20 minutes or so, I put her back to bed....:shake:
Barry, you sure know how to treat a lady. Javier. :lol:

[Bowman9]

I was talking about this with some co-workers and they felt it maybe condisation (SP) in the tank.
This morning the car started up just fine, at lunch it did not want to start till I gave it a little gas. Currently I only have a 1/4 tank of gas so maybe condisation is to blame.

[CRUZTAKER]

:nono: :nono:

Even the weather channel guy knows you never let your tank fall below 1/2 when the weather consistantly stays below freezing! At a 1/4 tank you're just asking for trouble.

BTW: Mine is stored with a full tank, and several ounces of 'fuel stabil'.

[jgc61sr2002]

As Barry stated always store your vehicle with a full tank of gas. A full tank leaves no room for condinsation. Fuel stabilizer can't hurt.

[Smokie]

Cold weather starts...uhmm, would 40 degrees qualify as cold ??? :eek:

[SergntMac]

Cold weather starts...uhmm, would 40 degrees qualify as cold ??? :eek:
Wearing a Kilt, yes. 40 degrees is cold, take my word for it.

But, if you really want to understand what "cold" is, try explaining two bowling nites in one week...