Jewel, what you are experiencing is not uncommon. It doesn't happen to all cars but it does happen. My car is about to encounter its 5th winter. For the first 3 seasons, just at about the beginning of winter (end of fall) when the climate begins to change, my car would do this same sort of thing. For me, it was because the outside temp was beginning to get cold. Overnight temps would get to around 40 to 50 degrees. I park outside at work and in the morning after a night shift (car NOT plugged in) I would crank it once. It would fire up for about 1 to 2 seconds and die. On the second crank, it would fire up as normal. This would go on for about 4 to 5 mornings. On the 4th or 5th morning, it would fire up on the first crank but have a couple of "hiccups" before stabilizing. Then it would be fine for the rest of the winter and would not do it again till the next fall.
I believe that on some cars, a change in ambient temps, humidity, barametric pressure can cause this phenomenon. In time, as with most cases I've heard of, the car "learns" and will get over it. Last fall (going into the 4th winter) it never did this odd thing at all.
I would suggest you not worry about it and just let it "learn". It may take a few more cold starts but it WILL learn. OR, you can always try the "MAP whack" and ECU reset and compell it to learn quicker.
In either case, don't worry about the car leaving you stranded. It won't. I'm almost possitive that at most, it will start and run fine on the second crank. DO NOT try to fight it by giving it gas when starting. This only confuses the ECU and cause it to take that much longer to learn. Leave your foot off the gas and just crank it till it starts. Don't put you foot on the gas till the idle smooths out and stabilizes.
On a side note: If your battery is getting weak, this might be your only reason to not trust the car. If it cranks strong, it'll be fine.
I have started this car without it being plugged in down to as cold as -25*C. The car doesn't like but it starts. I generally will plug it in anytime the temps gets colder than about -15*C. It helps the car start much better and helps it warm up faster.
ps. As an experiment, I would plug the car in during those "episodes". Having it plugged in for even 3 to 4 hours will prevent this start up "hiccup". Having the water jacket warm changes the signals to the ECU enough that it has no issues starting the first time.

 

map sensor just needs time to adjust to climate changes.

 

It's in the garage overnight, but when I'm at work or school it's outside. It's outside a good portion of the day.

Garage or not, 5* F is cold.

 

perfectly normal!

 

Thanks very much... I was worried about the car having problems... If it's warm in the morning here and then gets cold during the day she doesn't have a problem starting after work so I'm not worried about being stranded... I just hadn't had her cough like that before... thought she might have a cold...

She should spend tonight back in her garage...

this morning the cop at the gate where I work told me he was going to confiscate my car... and the first week I owned it they searched it three times! all both seats... I love that they appreciate the car...

How does the S do when it comes to driving in snow? handle well? It's not that I have to drive it this winter... and probably shouldn't, but I'm so depressed thinking about weeks... months without driving it... maybe this winter won't be so bad...

SoDakS2k... lets hook up sometime... I'll call my people you call your people... Nice to hear from another owner in the Springs...

allkingz... dude... I was just being funny... I read that in the manual, but with the frost on the winshield I didn't really have a choice, but warm her up a bit... and I kept it to only five minutes each morning though... Thanks for the input...

Jewels

 

Snow tires or stay home. Even in dry weather the factory tires get a little slippery when the temperatures dip.

I got around just fine in snow tires last year. But if it snows more than 6" regularly, forgettaboutit.

 

"I'm gonna call my crew, you can call your crew, we can rendezvous at the bar around 2..."

 

If you've seen my other posts on this forum, you'll know that I'm a strong proponent of using this car in winter. However, I must put in some CAUTIONARY statements:
-You MUST have snow tires whenever there is ANY snow, ice or frost on the road.
-Since many people have grown up in a driving nation of FRONT wheel drive cars, it takes a little bit of getting used to the different winter handling characteristics of a RWD car. It DOES NOT drive like a FWD or AWD car in the "slipperies".

Anyway, for fun, here is a thread where I've posted up some vids of a bunch of S2000s playing in the snow and ice:
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=156779

 

yep it rarely snows in the seattle area but even alil snow on the road and the S is staying home!! Anythign else and she is driven.

 

Snow tires or stay home, huh... Guess I'll have to look into those then...

I really haven't driven a RWD in the snow... all I've ever had before that I actually drove in the snow were FWDs... I probably shouldn't drive it in the snow since (thought this really hurts the ego) I don't really trust my skills with a RWD on snow... and I'd hate to crack her up...

SoDakS2K... what bar...? gotta fav?

Jewels