Winter weather: Car won't start.... Heeeelp!

Factual Questions
1

Every time we get below freezing, my car won’t start. I have begun to dread the days of weather which dip below 32 degrees.
The engine turns then dies… every time, the same thing! turn key, starts for a brief second, dies.
I assumed it was frozen gas in the gas line. Well, I used bottles of heet. As many as 3 at one time. They don’t work initially and sometimes not even the next morning. The temperature undoubtedly freezes something which makes my car unable to start.

The first time it happened, the mechanic didn’t know what the problem was and assuming it was the battery, replaced it. The next day, with new battery in place, the weather hit below 32 and the car did the SAME thing…

So what’s the deal?! What is freezing??? I don’t have access to a garage to thaw it out.

I know we have some good mechanics who frequent the board… you’ve diagnosed my car better than mechanics before… what say you?!

2

You might want to supply year, make & model.

3

A trick I have been told about is to put a 100w light bulb (like a shop light on an extension cord) under the hood, facing down with the hood nearly closed at night. The radiant heat is enough to keep the engine block warm enough to keep the oil from thickening too much. It has worked very well for me in the past.
Also, there may be some water in the fuel line that is freezing. Pouring a little rubbing alcohol in the tank to mix with the water makes it able to be burned by the engine. Doesn’t take much. Maybe a cap full or two should do. Be sure to run the car a little bit to get the alcohol into the system the night before. This need only be done once or twice in the entire cold season.
I’d be curious to hear of your success in this.

4

1995 Olds 88 Royale :mad:

5

The 100 watt light bulb works very well, even into very chill temps (like -35-40). Have you considered having ablock heater installed, though? For betwen $40 -$50 you can have a small electric heater basically inserted into your oil pan. We use em up here in Canada, and they provide easy starts up to - 50 ©. They can be expensive to operate, however (1500 watts) so many of us use a timer or just remember to plug em in an hour or so before we attempt to crank up the engine.

Other than that, a sled pulled by dogs can make for a charming and effective manner of transport!

Regards
FML

6

Some cars of your vintage have a flap in the airbox that redirects air drawn from around the exhaust manifold into the intake on really cold starts. This provides warmer air than what is available ‘outside’. The flap has a thermostatic mechanism that closes after the engine is warm and lets the outside air through the airbox. If the flap or the mechanism fails, you may have the symptoms you mention.

My experience with a 88 Volvo 740. YMMV.

7

There are a bunch of things that could cause the symptoms you describe.
In no particular order and off the top of my head
[ul]
[li]Idle air control valve not reacting fast enough to keep the idle going after cold start. May be cleanable, may need to be replaced.[/li][li]Bad Engine coolant temp sensor, registering a higher temp than actual, causing a lean condition[/li][li]air leak in the intake system, causing a lean condition. [/li][li]plugged injectors, causing a lean condition[/li][li]low fuel pressure, causing a lean condition[/li][li]dirty throttle plate not allowing enough air to bypass, thereby putting too much load on the idle air control valve and it can’t keep up[/li][li]incorrect map in the Engine Control Module for the conditions you are experiencing. Again causing a lean condition.[/li][/ul]