I drove to go get a new hat seeing as it's a warm -5 degrees here, and when I went to leave the store my car wouldn't start. Wouldn't turn over, not even so much as a click, so I figured the ignition or solenoid might have gone bad seeing as it fired up without issue before leaving to go to the store. There was no P, R, N, or D displayed on the dash, either. As is typical of my luck, as soon as I hung up the phone from calling the tow truck, I turned it once more for S's & G's and it fired right up. After hanging up the phone to call off the tow truck, my slip, vdc off, and AWD lights were all solidly lit up. I putted home on slow roads and midway my tpms sensor came on (but didn't beep?) and my tires were all fine (I checked once I parked). After parking, I shut the car off, turned it back on, and all was normal...

So here's my question:

Is this just the cold weather playing tricks on my electrical system, or is there something potentially very wrong starting up?

Some random info for everyone:
-2004
-AWD
-107,xxx miles
-parks outside

Thanks in advance.

 

Sounds like you might have a ground that's loose or something.

Wasn't there a similar issue with your car last year? One of the codes we pulled up I believe had something to do with a bad ground.

That's where I would start looking. It sounds electrical and not something mechanical.

 

I'm just trying to figure out if it's just the weather making my car do weird things or if I need to look at replacing some parts.

I don't recall anything having to do with grounds last year.

And why aren't you here in class? I'm bored all by my lonesome.

 

I just recall me scanning your car sometime last winter and pulling a code that had to do with a computer or something and we researched and found it could be a possible ground issue. I don't think we ever looked into it further than that. It was when your car would start hard and stall and then you got that CEL.

I'm not in class because I'm sick and feel like crap today I should have gone but figured the least time I spend in the -5 degree weather the better.

 

I honestly don't remember that starting issue... Maybe it's just me...

 

I do

I'm like 95% sure that it was your car. If you want to bring it over tonight or after class is done I can throw the scanner on it and see if anything comes up.

 

I agree, it sounds like an electrical issue. How old is the battery? Check the connections and make sure they're all tight first, but severe cold weather kills them. I'd be willing to bet your battery might be on it's way out.

 

Neil if you want to come into autozone today I can check your battery and starting/charging system....

 

The battery isn't that old, but I'm not exactly sold on its quality.

 

Nothing like the Victoria Autohaus lol

 

Just wanted to share this.

The other day it went from -15 to -35 in jsut one night. So my G had a hard time starting up. (probably needs to be plugged in now anyways.) BUT for my Mazda CX7, like what OP said, almost all of my warning lights lit up like crazy. But after idling the car for 30mins. 9yes, 30mins), all of the lights just turned off.

So IMO, it's just the weather. Better plug it in next time or start it every 8hours or something

 

That's weird because my car is parked outside all winter and it's an easy -15F or colder and no problems like you guys are mentioning.

 

Can't help with the starting issue, but with temps that cold, you all should be running synthetic oil.