Had a very early training session yesterday morning. 6am at a beach thirty minutes away. It's winter here and it's damn cold.

Car had been on charge all night but still felt a bit weak when it turned over. Drove 30 minutes to the suburb. Pulled over to ask for directions and the car stalled and wouldn't start again. Didn't even have enough power to light the dash. The guy I asked for directions helped me push start it. Drove to the beach and parked it on a hill.

Then trained for a couple of hours. When I got back to the car I was surprised that when I turned the key the dash lit up. I was even more surprised when I pressed the button and the car started easily.

I'm 41 and have trouble starting in the morning, but I didn't think my car would. Can anyone explain why?

 

Are the connections on the battery post tight? Bring the car to an autoshop to have the battery tested.

 

Do you get ~14 VDC on the battery when the engine is running?
How old is the battery?

 

Get the battery load tested

 

While ago I do remember that I did read similar battery issue (in cold weather) thru subie forum. But sorry I don't really remember...think was type of brand? Idk...

And for you, take some vitamin man

 

You'll need to do some standard diagnostics. A good tool to have is a small digital volt meter (DVM). You can get a cheap but effective one for about $20 - Radio Shack has a selection.

The suggestion about removing, cleaning, lubricating, and replacing the battery terminal connectors is a good place to start. Also checking the charging voltage. While 14v is good, some alternator/regulators seem to operate at the bottom of the factory specs, which is 13.55v. Below that and you have a charging system problem.

Next check the cranking voltage. Get someone to help crank the car while you hold the DVM probes across the battery. If the voltage across the battery falls below about 10.5v while cranking, suspect the battery. (This could also be a bad starter. Worn bearings or other problems can cause the starter to draw excessive current. Since you said that the entire dash wouldn't light, the problem is unlikely to be the starter.)

If the symptoms recur (dash lights don't illuminate), check right away to be sure the battery is about 12v. If not, either the battery is bad or you have an electrical drain somewhere that is discharging the battery when the ignition is off.

There are, as always, a number of other possibilities, but this will catch the most likely ones.