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I know that two posts in a row is pretty bad but the topics are very different - I hope no one rolls their eyes.
This has been an unusually warm winter in minnesota. Only in the last two weeks has it gotten really cold and this being my first winter with a sweedish car I have an orientation question. In the time since the weather has gotton nippy the car will be hard to start. Its always been a little ornery, though a new starter this fall really helped.
In addition I've gotton used the rapidly oscillating tach when the car is first started in the morning. I find that just driving off is the best way to solve the erratic idle problem. The erratic idle doesn't really seem to go away until the temp gauge moves up a little - were I to wait for this I would be sitting in front of the house for 10 minutes with the engine revved at 2000 rpm - so instead I just start driving and hope for green traffic lights.
A new facet is that occasionally when the car is cold the starter won't respond at all. Tonight I went out to get groceries. I got in the car, put in the key, pushed in the clutch, turned it to start and got no response - almost as if the battery were not connected. I then turn the key to off, and then to run, wait for the mpg/tempgauge/voltage gauge LDC to light up and also wait to hear the veltillation ducts actuating. At this point I turn the key and maybe it starts. Its almost like I need to give the ignition system time to charge a capacitor before starting the car. Before the motor turns the voltage reading is ~11-13 volts. When in motion this reading is at ~12-13.6 volts.
So what gives? The starter is new as of october, and the alternator seems to work ok - I assume it is original (car has 120K miles). Spark plugs are NGK and are correctly gapped. This evening it was 25F ouside and I observed this problem. Battery appears to be not old - stickers are not faded and terminals are not corroded. Its not like the car doesn't start - when I turn the key there's no noise at all from the engine compartment for about 3 seconds... Is there a way to test the battery to see if that's the problem? What else would cause these symptoms? The car is an 87 and DOES NOT have direct ignition.
NT moore
posted by 128.101.2...
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