Car struggling to start on cold mornings...

[Darthmal86]

Today I tried starting the car and it wouldn't start for about 5mins. It was struggling and then eventually started. what could the problem be and how can i make sure it wont happen again??
thanks.

[bstardchild]

Today I tried starting the car and it wouldn't start for about 5mins. It was struggling and then eventually started. what could the problem be and how can i make sure it wont happen again??
thanks.

Battery best case - starter motor worst case

[david burton]

it sounds odd, but you could have confused the ecu and flooded the motor - did it start for a beat or two then conk out? I did this in the bird's car - and it took an age to start after that

[JarnoVWPolo6N]

If it has frosen at night, you engine will be frosen to, and the mixture of gasoline and air in your inletmanifold will not be 'optimal' for cumbustion in your engine, so starting will take a bit longer then during summers, but if it takes really long (like your 5 minutes) better check the power of your battery first, and maybe get a new one. Or use some sand paper on the poles of your battery (where your car is 'clipped on' to get the electric juice), to make sure there's no rust or anything on it, which decreases the transfer of power from your battery to your startermotor.

Other than that, if your sparkplugs are old, this will 'dealy' your starting a bit too, just as 'kinked' sparkplugcables. In 95% of the cases of bad starting during winters it's al in the ignition to get your engine going.

[Darthmal86]

it sounds odd, but you could have confused the ecu and flooded the motor - did it start for a beat or two then conk out? I did this in the bird's car - and it took an age to start after that

yea this is exactl;y the problem. first time it started for about 2 seconds, then turned off, then trying to start it again it just woudln't start like it was struggling, then after a while it started?? how did you fix the problem.
thanks

[david burton]

best to walk away from the car for 5 mins - let the petrol evaporate. then try again.

no way to fix it really, just a one-off occurance.