legacycentral bbs

lately since the temperature has been dropping here, my auto awd 93 legacy n/a has been pretty hard starting at freezing or below, a problem being in alaska. replaced coolant temp sensor, no change. used heet in a tank of gas, to rid lines of any water, didnt help either. when the engine itself is above freezing there arent any problems. i know it should start without giving it a lot of gas. cant use my remote start early in the mornings too!
any thoughts?

If it's really cold you might need to use a block heater.

Are you running an appropriate mix of antifreeze and distilled water?

Is your charging and starting system healthy? Cold is always hard on the battery.

Maybe you'd consider switching to 5W30 oil if you're running a heavier oil. I believe Subaru approves it for our engines when the temperature stays cold.

I had serious problems starting once due to oil viscosity and oil viscosity only. I was running 5W30 (or whatever the superthick stuff is) in my 1978 wagon because I drove it at high rpm all the time. Then I drove over to my dads (Portland to Redmond Oregon) The temp dropped to something like 0 degrees. Not only did the car not start, it COULDNT turn over, the oil was so thick. Thank god I had factory block heaters installed.

all valid suggestions, but it started fine last winter w/ 10w30..and a block heater is a must have here.

I'm sure something else is wrong, but in temps that cold full synthetic oil is a must, the mineral-based turns to sludge at low temps, and synthetic does not !!!

Start out checking the health of your spark then move on to sensors affecting the mixture.

im sure its not the oil, the problem occurs at around 40 and below and ive been using the same oil for quite some time, id say the majority of the people here use good old non synthetic..coolant temp sensor isnt the problem, plugs/wires are good, what sensor next?

continuation of what i think are related problems, in addition to the cold start problems, when the engine has been running for under a few minutes, there is a lot of hesitation when i first press on the gas from a stop, and occasionally the rpms will actually decrease and i'm on the verge of stalling. gas mileage has also gone down the crapper. obviously something with the fuel line/injection system id guess, just dont know what..help?

Hmm.

On the mornings when it's hard to start, does it become easy to start when you open the throttle a little?

a little, but requires almost a pumping of the gas to get it started and once it is started it sounds rough and rpms will actually decrease if i give it gas once started

Just how cold is it?

vrg3 wrote: Are you running an appropriate mix of antifreeze and distilled water?

A tad off topic, but from what I hear from different car folks is that running a 100 percent mix of antifreeze is the way to go. IYO, why?

Who recommends a 100% mix of antifreeze? Wouldn't that drastically reduce the ability of the coolant to carry away heat?

I'm no expert, but from what I understand, water alone is the most effective coolant. Antifreeze is added to raise the boiling point, lower the freezing point, and inhibit corrosion. A 50% mixture is a good compromise for most climates. In warmer climates you can get away with less antifreeze, and in colder climates you might need more.

A 50/50 mixture won't freeze until something like -20 degrees Fahrenheit, so I wouldn't go any heavier unless it got that cold where I lived.

But I think after a certain point, adding more antifreeze to the mixture actually starts increasing the freezing point again... 70% or so. So around 70% is the heaviest mixture you'd ever run.

I had one dealer said they ran 100% anti-freeze.....however I think they were smoking crack.

Anyway, yeah you want to run a 50/50 mix. Water is a better conductor of heat.

yep, 50-50 mix

problem starts at around 40, but temperatures below zero of last winter were no problem with the same oil, antifreeze mix as now