I replaced my battery with a 51R a few days ago. This morning it was -40. Car would not start. Well it would just wouldn't catch. At times it would catch and then automatically stall out. So I go inside to call CAA. Huge waiting time. Go back to car. Start it up and this time it caught and stayed running. My battery was just replaced so I'm curious if my starter is going. I don't think it is but I'm a dummy. Was this due to temperatures and car sitting outside over night in -40 weather?

 

-40 ? Cars don't feel windchill.Just be sure your alt is charging and your battery will be fine.you can get a battery wrap if you wish to keep it warm.Was it windy? Was prob snow got blown in around motor. Starter spins, starter works.

 

Yeah it was nippy. Alternator is fine I believe. My old stock 151R battery finally died on me. Alternator I know works strong and fine. Battery is brand new and yes I heard the starter turning or however you would say it. Just never caught and stayed on. Second attempt after 30 minutes and she turned on and stayed on. So I'm going to assume everything was fine with my car beside the fact that she slept in -40 degree weather.

 

throw in some gas line antifreeze and keep your tank above half to be sure the line not freezing.

 

Gas tank is always kept above half in the winter. Rule I live by. Will do the antifreeze for gas lines. Won't be -40 tonight so I'm thinking I should be good. I'm glad to see that by the sounds of it I'm not due for a serious/decent repair and that it's just the cold weather. Rather not take to a mechanic get charged $300 for things I don't need.

Maybe check my antifreeze levels in the front rad as well? Make sure she's topped up. In this weather it'll cool down real quick lol.

 

I just checked the 6AM temp at Toronto airport yesterday and it was -11 F or -24 C. Wind chill was -37 F which is -38 C

So I'm thinking he is talking wind chill because it was only -11 F there.
Wind chill has no effect on cars it only affects exposed skin. That said a good wind will cool down a parked car more rapidly. But after a hour or two the entire vehicle wind or not will be down to the ambient temperature.

I'm thinking he has nothing wrong. If he routinely had temps in the below zero F he ought to look into an 120 volt engine and / or battery heater.

 

Thank you for the replies. I wouldn't be able to afford to fix the car. Poor paralegal in ontario lol. Temperatures have been nasty here. Car sleeps outside in a wind tunnel due to the buildings. This morning it was -25. She started first try. A little struggle, but not much. Turned the battery on first and then started the car. Giving battery time to warm a bit.

I tried to buy anti freeze for the gas line. Did not find it. I bought fuel injector cleaner instead. Not nearly the same. I know. But putting that in last night a full tank from half a tank of gas and allowing the battery to run a little bit, I had no issue.

 

When your engine wouldn't start the first time, did you try again with the accelerator pressed halfway down, as page 148 of the owners manual suggests?

 

Methyl hydrate is the same as gas line antifreeze and cheaper too.Found in the paint supplies.

 

Okay I'm thinking I have a serious issue or it's due to real bad cold weather. Is getting warmer tonight. So I guess I will see tomorrow if these issues do not exist tomorrow, I guess one could say it was due to the cold correct?

So not much issues in the morning starting the car. However I got off the train again from work started the card it made a weird whinny noise real quickly and then went away. Like zimmmmm or something haha. Then I let it warm for 2-3 minutes started leaving the parking lot a lot off traffic when leaving so as my car was idling I heard a sloshing around noise like water. But after 5-10 minutes of steady driving I would not hear the noise when idling at the light. So it went away. Also in this real bad cold I noticed that when I start the Fit the revs go to 2000 on idle. But after I let it warm up and drive a bit and I stop at let's say a light the revs will go to 1000. Is this all due to the weather? I'm debating about taking it to Honda.

 

I don't think you have a serious issue. All cars run better and start more easily when they aren't really really cold.

The zimmmmm noise may be the ABS system initializing itself or something similar, though it's kind of hard to say based on a written description.

The sloshing noise could be a bubble in the coolant system (around the heater core), which isn't great and if it's there should be fixed, but isn't an uncommon or particularly troublesome problem. It could also simply be fuel sloshing around in the gas tank, which is completely and entirely normal and just a characteristic of the car.

The high idle when the engine hasn't warmed up is completely normal. All cars do that (or at least virtually all cars). All in all, I really don't think there's anything wrong with your car. If you'd prefer to have your dealer tell you that, by all means enquire there, particularly if they're reputable and won't invent something wrong because you're expecting something to be wrong (and then, of course, charging you to "fix" it). I would hope that most dealers would be honest, but unfortunately there are the occasional ones that take advantage of people.

If the car is cranking but not starting or stalling immediately when it starts, try giving it a little gas as you're starting it and when it first starts. Also don't be afraid to crank for a second or two longer than is usually needed if the engine doesn't catch immediately.

 

The high pitch whine could also be the belt slipping on the alternator which could be why the battery might be underpowered on startup. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong But I believe a cold engine does idle higher and that is normal.

 

Winnipeg yesterday -49C or 56.2F.
My fit revs a lil high when first started till she warms up good n hot. The sloshing is prob bubble in coolant.
As for the noises I'm not too sure. I'd wait to see if it makes a difference tomorrow if the temp warms up

 

At -40F (-40C) the oil is very thick, especially if you have conventional oil, not synthetic. Its quite likely the engine turned over so slowly it wouild not ignite the fuel air mixture. And the cold start enrichment circuit may not have been good enough as well.
Next time if shop doesn't find a problem yiou might get them to instruct you on the use of some coid start fluids that will ignite better than the fuel air mixture from the injectors.

Of course there's the time honored method of block heaters that will help starting too.
I suspect though that -40 is a little too cold to rotate that crankshaft in such thick oil is your msin problem even with 0W-20 synthetic.

 

That sloshing noise could be ice in your coolant. Presumeably you have made sure your antifreeze was sufficient to protect to -40 C (-40F).
Make sure. One of tose handy measuring dips cost a couple of bucks, maybe 3 Canadian at aftermarket parts stores lioke Autozone or Advance or OReillys. And yes at those temperatures it ought to be idling around 1300 but possibly only 1000 due to cold thick oil. Perhaps you should investigate blocking off the radiator for such weather but again you need some experienced help to decide just how much to block off. It could be you have very little coolant recirculation as te thermostat is almost closed. In really cold climes the radiator needs to be limited in how much the coolant is cooled; too much means it never gets warm enough to run right.
BTW if you're not getting any heat from the heater on fukll hot setting thats a sign the radiator's keeping the engine cold.

 

My heater does get warm after a little while. Usual time. This morning not much issue. When I started it made my zimming noise again. Heard a little bit of sloshing around but not too too bad or noticeable. This weekend is going to be +10. I am most likely going to change my coolant on the weekend myself.

Rather not go to the mechanic if I can fix it myself. Hate having no car and waiting long hours.

Oil I use is 5W20 as directed and by Mobile 1 for high mileage. Also as an update, sloshing noise goes away after driving for. 5 mins. So I'm assuming it's because the car has warmed up. I don't think I have to worry going off on what everyone has said. But coolant is being changed. Also the heater does get hot. Starts if cool, then gets warms, then blows strong and hot. I noticed it takes longer in very cold weather, but that is a given. Also the oil is synthetic.

 

You are getting a lot of wacky recommendations here.

First gas line anti-freeze will not change your issue. If you ever had a frozen gas line you would know it. The only fix for it is to move the vehicle indoors and let it thaw out. Then add gas line antifreeze to mix with the thawed ice (now water) and move it out of there. Also today almost everywhere you are buying 10% ethanol fuel. That means you already have one gallon on a fill up of ethanol antifreeze in the gas.

On the whirring sound I cannot diagnose without actually hearing it.

The sloshing sounds you are hearing is most likely the fuel in the tank. You are sitting on top of the tank. The tank is under the front seat. Fill up the tank and see if the sound changes or goes away.

If the radiator is full and over flow container (located just aft of the radiator) is to the full cold line, then you do not have air in the heater core or the rest of the cooling system. If you had ice in the heater core you would have no heat. If you had ice in the radiator, the car would still start and then over heat do to lack of coolant flow through the radiator.

Changing anti-freeze will not make the car start any easier. Standard 50/50 mix of antifreeze is good down to -32 F (-36 C). Wind chill numbers mean nothing to your car. I checked the Toronto Airport records for the last few days and you have not been anywhere near -36 C REAL temperature.

If it bothers you or you feel that someone has added water to your cooling system system then go get cooling system hydrometer an check what freezing level you have. You could also stop by some station that has one and have them check it. I'll bet Canadian Tire will check it for you. It will take them 2 minutes to do. Walmart in the US also has them for sale in the automotive section and yo might get one of the tire monkeys to check it for you. They are usually pretty helpful there
I like this model best:
K Tool International KTI-70211 Antifreeze Tester: Tools : Walmart.com
This one will also work but is not as accurate:
Thexton 101 Cold-Chek Anti-Freeze Coolant Tester: Automotive : Walmart.com

I checked Walmart Canada on line and they did not show them, but I'll bet they are in the stores. If not at Walmart, then check Canadian tire or Princess Auto. There are 3 or 4 Princess Auto stores in the Toronto area. I'll bet there are 10 Canadian tire stores in the Toronto Metro area. They are everywhere.

Do not bother changing antifreeze until the maintenance schedule calls for it. You are just wasting money. If the Hydrometer indicates you need it, add some 100% stuff, but I doubt you do since you have not indicated any symptoms of cooling system freezing. It also is too cold to be out there changing anti-freeze unnecessarily.

Toronto's weather is usually one day behind us here and it was +19F or -7C here yesterday. So I'm guessing that is what you will see for a high today. My today forecast is +30 F (-1C) and above freezing for the next few days after that. So better temperature days are coming your way.

The only symptom I can not venture a guess at is the whirring sound. See if you still hearing it after it warms up.

Good Luck

 

I have a full gas tank with fuel injector cleaner added a couple of days ago.

My rad is fine going by your description, i get heat. Car does not over heat.

Sadly, I have no garage to thaw my car out in. But it is going to +10 this weekend.

I do not know if anti freeze is completely topped off, will be checking that tonight. Regarding the mixture, not sure either, will buy tool and I'm assuming it'll go into the reservoir to give me the status oppose to the rad correct? Using the tool will tell me what temperature and the mixture ratio is correct?

The zim noise as I call it only occurs when car sits for a while. Get off work car makes noise, drive home park in my parking spot, turn car off. When restarting car, no noises and starts almost perfectly. Im assuming that is also due to the cold.

 

Well stated.
Go buy a $2 coolant tester at AutoAZone or whatever and check the coolant yourself. If its good to -20F or less (4 or 5 balls floating) you're likely OK for your area. As for the procedure, suck and discharge coolant up into the measring tube several times before trying to read the number of balls floating.. And when you are through, flush it several times with water before putting away unless you want the balls to stick. dried antifreeze is pretty sticky.
good luck.
changing antifreeze won't do anything but maybe freshen the anticorrosion additives. its good but rarely useful. those additives don't go away very fast.
And that whirring sound may just be the fan blades tryin to warm up. They are flexible and when cold may not all flex together.

 

I'm still at work and cannot check the coolant, but I will post an update soon. I'm assuming my coolant mixture is going to be fine. Reason I say that is my car has 150,000km on it and the coolant was always switched by the dealer with OEM pre mixed coolant. Unless the lube technicians didn't do their job properly which is a possibility lol, the mixture ratio should be good.