Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance Grrrr...difficult cold weather starts...

Hi all. I've now been in North Dakota for a grand total of 2 months and I'm freezing my @ss off!! (The car and I just came from central California.) I guess my baby is too since she won't start when it's colder than about -10 or so. I did an oil change about two months ago and put 5W30 in it hoping that would help. Then I put in a block heater hoping that would help. Well, after two days of it not starting I finally had it towed in to my local Ford dealer. They were stumped. $200 later all they could say was "We don't know why it won't start." They had it in a heated garage for over three hours and still nothing. They checked the fuel pump, alternator, battery, block heater (just for grins) and nothing. They thought perhaps it was flooded and took the plugs out, but it wasn't flooded. As soon as they put them back in it fired right up. Hmm... Well, now that I've got it back, it still pitches a fit every morning. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Sorry for the novel!
Stephanie

Most important things for cold weather starting:

• Clean injectors (good atomization & fuel pressure)
• Good spark (plugs, wires, coil, battery)
• Proper mixture (MAF, ECT, no intake system leaks)
• IAC must not get stuck

Clean and properly gapped spark plugs and spark plug wires are essential for making good hot sparks. I'll agree with you that when its -10 degrees your engine needs all the help it can get.

clean fuel injectors are also very important to atomize the fuel to coax it into evaporating when its that cold.

My suggestion, change the spark plugs and wires and add a bottle of fuel injector cleaner at the next fill up. You may even want to try adding a bottle of dry gas on a regular basis too.

Alot of people say good things about injector cleaners such as Chevron's Techron, or Gumout's Regain.