[Project89]

ive tried everyting i can possibly do right now and i can only get the car to try to start

3 days ago the weather strted going below 0 at night , and during the days about 10*

2 days ago my dodge wouldnt start and i killed the battery, so today i got a ride from a friend and picked up a battery charger, a bottle of heet and a can of starting fluid


when i hit the key i can hear the pump kick on and i can hear fuel circulating threw the fuel rail


the staring fluid hasnt really made a difference , i can crank the car and it will psutter but thats it.

unfortunatly i do not have a garage so i opened the hood of the car and put a space heater under the hood and layed tarps over the hood trying to keep the heat in

i just tried starting it and its sputtering more and more but i keep killing the battery

the 2 hours the heater has been under the hood has made it try to start more but it still wont stay running , and now thats its getting later the temp is dropping, before i put the heater under the hood it would sputter once every say 8-10 times the engine turned over. now witht he heater on it for about 2-3 hours it will sputter a few times out of every 4-5 times the motor turns ove rbut nothing more


any tips guys?

should i add another bottle of heet? theres only about 5-7 gallons of fuel in the tank right now

[LATECH]

Stick a hair dryer in the air cleaner air intake, then crank it over. Just a wild and crazy thought.

[69 widetrack]

What kind of vehicle is it? What type of fuel injection does it have? I assume it doesn't have a block heater? Are you pumping the gas pedal to try and start it?

If your killing the battery quickly, how quickly? Do you know how many cold cranking amps your battery has?

Seeing that you just bought a battery charger and it's getting colder, take the battery out of the car and charge it over night...inside your house where it's warm.

[Project89]

Originally Posted by 69 widetrack

What kind of vehicle is it? What type of fuel injection does it have? I assume it doesn't have a block heater? Are you pumping the gas pedal to try and start it?

If your killing the battery quickly, how quickly? Do you know how many cold cranking amps your battery has?

Seeing that you just bought a battery charger and it's getting colder, take the battery out of the car and charge it over night...inside your house where it's warm.

96 dodge intrepid , 3.5L v6 mpfi , no block heater but im going to order one of those oil pan heaters from summit since its not going to get any warmer anytime soon

i only have a lil napa 6 amp battery charger
with it charging for 20 mins i can crank the engine for around 30-45 seconds before it kills the battery again


touching the gas pedal on the car while cranking puts the ecm in flood clear mode and shuts off the injectors


i just did run outside and try to start it again and it damn near started so im going to leave the charger and heater on it for another hour and try again

im thinking the fuel may be frozen up in the fuel rail by the injectors so i pointed the heater right at the intake/fuel rail

not sure on the battery its a big interstate battery iirc its 650 cca ill dbl check next time i run outside though, the battery is getting weak though as i have notices some slow cranking at first on really cold days but it could have been just cause i had 20-40 oil in the car at the time , i did switchover to 5-30 once it started getting really cold though

[LATECH]

When was the last time it had new spark plugs?

[69 widetrack]

Yes, get the oil pan heater on it, it'll make a big difference. I've lived in Canada my whole life and understand the frustration of trying to get a car running in cold temperatures. I recently purchased a 1000 CCA battery for my wife's Eldorado...it does make a difference, I haven't had to use the block heater at all this year and it hit minus 9 F last night...fired right up.

[timothale]

When I was in Logan it stayed 40 below for one week straight, engine Must be in good tune, good plugs and wires, . you don't say what year dodge you have . We used to swap in a 6 V starter, only crank it for 30 seconds max or you could cook the starter, My old Fe Ford was 11-1 Cr, isky cam, 3 2's, pump the gas one time then hit the switch and it was running in 3 seconds. in the winter I run 5 w 20 oil. A heater under the hood or an old trouble light helps, and a blanket over the hood. they make heaters that you can install in the radiator hose, easier to install than a block heater. they also make battery heaters like an old in home heating pad. UP here it's going to be at least 10 below tonight. I have to have the block heater on my case backhoe plugged in for at least 3 hours before it will start, and sometimes have to use starting fluid. My 7.3 ford diesel is hard to start any time it even gets close to freezing. I used to take the big battery charger to work with me and some times have to use the boost- starting settings to get it to start, 2 batteries were about 4 years old.

[Project89]

Originally Posted by LATECH

When was the last time it had new spark plugs?

about 14 months ago, and its not getting a new set anytime soon.on the 3.5L dodge engine u have to pull the intake manifold off to get to them and the plug wires , i did both right before last winter

Originally Posted by 69 widetrack

Yes, get the oil pan heater on it, it'll make a big difference. I've lived in Canada my whole life and understand the frustration of trying to get a car running in cold temperatures. I recently purchased a 1000 CCA battery for my wife's Eldorado...it does make a difference, I haven't had to use the block heater at all this year and it hit minus 9 F last night...fired right up.

this is the first time ive ever had a place without a garage were i could keep a car warm when its so cold out, and the only other car me and my gf have right now is my twin turbo camaro, well im deff not driving that in the snow.
really need to get off my butt and install the new clutch in the silverado so we have that to drive, that alredy has a block heater on it so i know that thing would start up

[69 widetrack]

If it almost started last time, keep the heaters on the fuel line and give it the good 1 to 2 hour charge and try again. The starting fluid I wouldn't recommend for fuel injection, even hesitant to recommend it for anything except a diesel.

The joys of cold weather climates...been here for 57 years and hate it more each year.

[timothale]

If you run down your battery and it freezes it will damage it. I need to pull the batterty out of the farm forklift tomorrow. charge it and keep it in the heated garage until we need it again. Ford 7.3 owners manual says not to use starting fluid. our John deere tractor mechanic said he used to pour gasoline on a rag and put it in front of the air filter on his 7.3 truck to get it to start.

[Project89]

Originally Posted by timothale

When I was in Logan it stayed 40 below for one week straight, engine Must be in good tune, good plugs and wires, . you don't say what year dodge you have . We used to swap in a 6 V starter, only crank it for 30 seconds max or you could cook the starter, My old Fe Ford was 11-1 Cr, isky cam, 3 2's, pump the gas one time then hit the switch and it was running in 3 seconds. in the winter I run 5 w 20 oil. A heater under the hood or an old trouble light helps, and a blanket over the hood. they make heaters that you can install in the radiator hose, easier to install than a block heater. they also make battery heaters like an old in home heating pad. UP here it's going to be at least 10 below tonight. I have to have the block heater on my case backhoe plugged in for at least 3 hours before it will start, and sometimes have to use starting fluid. My 7.3 ford diesel is hard to start any time it even gets close to freezing. I used to take the big battery charger to work with me and some times have to use the boost- starting settings to get it to start, 2 batteries were about 4 years old.

its supposed ot get to -6* tongiht right now my thermometer is reading 7*

its a 96 dodge intrepid

[Project89]

Originally Posted by 69 widetrack

If it almost started last time, keep the heaters on the fuel line and give it the good 1 to 2 hour charge and try again. The starting fluid I wouldn't recommend for fuel injection, even hesitant to recommend it for anything except a diesel.

The joys of cold weather climates...been here for 57 years and hate it more each year.

yeah ima give it one more shot in about an hour if it dosent start ill yank the battery and bring ti in and charge it over night. i hate useing starting fluid on anything , ive only tried it once on the dodge so far , but its kind o pointless since it has dual throttle bodys and they face the firewall i can only get the hose off one side and spray into the driver side tb , so it only makes it to 3 cyls anyways.

ven if i could get the hose off the pasenger side tb theres no room to get the can down there to spray it in anyways

[69 widetrack]

If it doesn't start after your 1 to 2 hour charge, do bring the battery in over night or at least leave the charger on overnight, timothale is correct, a battery can freeze quickly when not charged. If you do get it running, let it run for quite some time, not just to get the car good and warm but to put a good charge in the battery...may not be a bad idea to put some gas line antifreeze in it. I don't know how full your tank is but in this cold weather if it's below 1/4 tank that's when gas lines freeze up. Water is lighter than gasoline and has a tendency to hang around the top of the tank, when your tank gets low, your sucking more moisture into your engine and can freeze up easier.

Ray

[timothale]

all the stations should be selling winter formula fuel by now. Old summer gas can be hard starting. I only Buy fuel at a station that is Busy so you most likely will have fresh gas.

[Project89]

Originally Posted by 69 widetrack

If it doesn't start after your 1 to 2 hour charge, do bring the battery in over night or at least leave the charger on overnight, timothale is correct, a battery can freeze quickly when not charged. If you do get it running, let it run for quite some time, not just to get the car good and warm but to put a good charge in the battery...may not be a bad idea to put some gas line antifreeze in it. I don't know how full your tank is but in this cold weather if it's below 1/4 tank that's when gas lines freeze up. Water is lighter than gasoline and has a tendency to hang around the top of the tank, when your tank gets low, your sucking more moisture into your engine and can freeze up easier.

Ray

im just a touch below a 1/4 tank, had a late night at work the other night ( didnt get home till 3am) so i didnt stop to put gas in the car.

i already added one full bottle of heet gasline antifreeze to it today, first thing i was going to do if i got it running was drive it over to the gas station and fill it up

leaving the battery on the charger outside in the car overnight ok? i have a few curious pet cats who would be all over the charger and battery if i brought it inside over night so if i dont have to id much rather leave it outside on 2 amp charge overnight