My car has always been a little hard to start when cold, taking more cranking than it should. But now that the temps have gone into the upper 20s at night starting in the morning is a problem.

Basically, I'll have to crank the engine for several minutes before I even get a sputter. Then there will be 30 to 45 seconds of barely running on 1 or 2 cylinders then finally all four kick in and it's fine. The colder the car the harder it is to start.

Anyone else had this issure? I checked the archives but nothing jumped out.

 

From Clark's Garage:

If the car starts when cold but, idles rough or does not want to stay running, this can indicate a problem with the engine temperature sensor. When the engine is started cold, the engine temperature sensor sends a signal to the DME control unit to provide a richer mixture. As the engine temperature sensor starts to fail, it sends a higher than actual temperature signal to the DME control unit. The DME control unit leans the fuel mixture thinking the engine is at normal operating temperature. This causes the engine to run rough. As the engine warms, it not longer needs the richer cold idle mixture and the engine runs smoother.

 

Hmmm, that sounds about right. And the colder the ambient temperature the worse the problem. Thanks.

 

It's easy to check.. but you will need a volt-ohm meter or a DMM (digital multi-meter).