burrr its cold outside!... bad cold start up

[Tfries-cc]

I don't remember when this has started.. but whats going on is before I go to start my car I have to give 1/6 throttle before turning the key.. if I don't touch the throttle, it would crank till the battery would die and the car wouldent turn over. (PS the battery is brand new and a AGM) I usually have to hold the throttle for about 2-3 seconds after she turns over or it will stall out, but after all this she idles perfect.....WTF!!! so today I put the mx3 in diagnostic mode and re set my tps, and re set my idle. I got er running mint and thought it would be a good idea to test it from a cold start. I left it it outside (I get the garage and waited for 2 hours and went out and started cranking it. (cranking with no throttle) CRANKCRANKCRANKCRANKCRANKCRANKCRANKCRANK.... wont turn over.
then I tried with 1/6 throttle. CRANKCRANKCRANKSPURCRANKCRANKCRANKSPURCRANK... then tried a little more throttle than usual and it went and then she actually turned over, then idled perfectly... I don't get it man
I have new plugs 20,000k ago, new wires 2000k ago, disty cap and rotor 2000k ago.

thanks!

[mitmaks]

IAC valve, coolant temp switch - check those two things.

[Tfries-cc]

whats ica valve?

[Josh]

It is the valve attached to the underside of the Throttle body.

Just how cold is it where you live?

A couple of things can happen depending on how cold it is where you are right now with many in the negatives. Your Throttle body could be icing, you may not be running a good enough mix of coolant in your system, and or it could be that your oil is too thick from the cold. That would be my guess is the oil is too thick. that is why many Canadian models got block heaters. if the oil is too thick it could cause it to turn over too slowly. have you tried putting a space heater on the engine for 20 - 30 min to see if that changes anything?

[Sleeper6]

Could even be the ethanol content in the fuel, its known to cause extended crank conditions in cold temps.

[Tfries-cc]

even in the summer it does it lol

[[LVPA]93GsSe]

what josh just mentioned just happened to me the other day, it has been in single digits or less the last couple days and I had to push my mx in the garage and throw a heater on for about 20 minutes, and then she fired right up.

[davmac]

This sounds like you never get a cold start high idle. The IAC valve is responsible. There is really no setting - it either works or does not. Cold start at any temperature should get a high idle automatically until coolant gets warmed up. Check that the IAC valve electrical connection is good and that you have coolant lines connected.

Another possibility is the throttle position sensor (TPS), but if it idles at about 700 - 800 rpm when warm then TPS is not your problem.

[davmac]

what josh just mentioned just happened to me the other day, it has been in single digits or less the last couple days and I had to push my mx in the garage and throw a heater on for about 20 minutes, and then she fired right up.

That sounds more like a marginal battery. I agree that the engine will turn over easier with warm oil, but assuming 5W or 10W30 oil a good battery should get the starter moving fast enough to overcome even very cold oil.

[[LVPA]93GsSe]

what josh just mentioned just happened to me the other day, it has been in single digits or less the last couple days and I had to push my mx in the garage and throw a heater on for about 20 minutes, and then she fired right up.

That sounds more like a marginal battery. I agree that the engine will turn over easier with warm oil, but assuming 5W or 10W30 oil a good battery should get the starter moving fast enough to overcome even very cold oil.

Hmmm. I'll check it out. She's not starting now, might be the battery but it was a good charge and still didn't... I'm gonna try again to make sure. My IAC is bad it idles at 1500 or so all the time and if I unplug the IAC it drops to normal.

[wagZE]

I've had to tap my vaf while having Gf turn key a few times before- like the thing inside that moves gets stuck in cold weather/ condensation.

[[LVPA]93GsSe]

I figured out the problem earlier.