Is anyone still driving their S? After work this evening, the car barely started. Heard the engine crank over, then a POP! I had the heater/fan on a setting of two + the radio, when trying to start the car. Turned them off, then second try was okay, but slow to start. JEEZ, it's only 20 degrees F. What happens when it's even colder?

Is this common?

 

Yeh but I thought this only occured after the car has been sitting overnight. Never heard of this after it had already started a few hours earliar. Yeh the batt just can't handle cold 20s t o low 30s etc, but 2nd starts always fire up.

 

I haven't had any trouble starting my car at -30 C today with a windchill of -41 C !

It started even without the block heater being plugged in. I can't explain why you would have anymore difficulty at 20 F.

 

because you have a canadian s2k

This is very common problem among s2k owners. Its the battery, can't handle cold temps.

 

Down here in this sauna of +20 F...

-30 C is downright NASTY! I'll turn off all accessories before starting, next time.

Handling on ice is another problem (but not limited to the S).

 

+20*F is about -7*C. This is not really considered cold. I don't even consider plugging the block heater in until it gets below about -15*C (+5*F). My car doesn't even begin to crank slowly till it gets down to about -20*C to -25*C. My battery is over 4 years old and a couple mornings ago, it was -35*C when I went to start it. It had a real tough time cranking, but it did fire up eventually. This inspired me to buy a new battery. However, having a slow crank at only +20F is not normal. You should check the connections on the battery and perhaps get a "load test" done on it. Your car in only an '03 but I've seen reports by owners of newish cars indicating that they had a bum battery from the factory.

 

My 02's battery crapped out last month. It was still under a pro-rated warranty, so the replacement battery was discounted pretty good. It has also been deep cycled a few times, contributing to it's demise.

Take the car to a dealer to have the battery checked, most will check it for free. Depending on your car's purchase date, ther battery may be replaced at no cost to you.

As it has been said, when it get's very cold out all batteries will have reduced output, and the slow cranking speed.

 

Like Xviper, my S2k has seen numerous winters...this is its fourth...and it's never failed to turn over after a second or so of cranking. Today it was parked outside for 9 hours at -25C to -30C, and it started no problem. unlike Xviper, however, I've never even used the block heater in all the time I've owned the car. Running synthetic oil certainly helps in really cold weather, plus it takes me at least 40 minutes to get from work to home, so the battery has time to fully charge up again before being parked inside for the night.

I've read on this site and elsewhere that hot, humid climates are actually much harder on a battery than cold dry weather...while 4 or even 5 years on an original battery is not uncommon in Canada, you guys down south might be looking at 2 or 3 years.

 

Whenever she cranks up the 2nd time in 20s for me its like fast no probs. If its slow to start on 2nd just re read your post than could be probs as mentioned above.