I have been having an extremely annoying 'cold' start problem over the winter. The reason that I have put quotations around cold is because the issue only seems to happen around 0 degrees (celsius). When the temperature is below zero I have no issues, but when it hovers above freezing I have to hold my foot on the gas and crank the starter. It takes a while to get going, but by leaving my foot all the way down I can get it to eventually idle. Once the engine temperature reaches normal it runs perfectly.

After extensive research I have determined that the issue must be moisture inside the distributor cap, if it was something like the auxiliary air valve, cold start fuel injector or the thermo time switch I figured the problem would only be worse when the temperature decreased.

My question is, is this a correct diagnosis? And if yes, how should I go about removing the moisture?

Some people mention using WD40 because it displaces water, but I feel uneasy about doing this (not sure why! Gut feeling I guess).

Would it be worth while to replace the distributor cap? It was replaced ~25,000km ago

Thanks for you help!

Justin

 

I don't think the problem is moisture in the cap, and I definitely would NOT spray WD40 in the cap! I don't know these older injections that well but in a newer car I'd be looking at the cold start injector, coolant temp sensor, etc. The logic is the same: when cold the computer sends more fuel to get the engine going based on inputs from sensor(s).

 

Those were my initial thoughts to, but this whole week its been below -20C (yesterday -30C!) and I had absolutely no problems starting the car. The cold start injector kicks in at +35C so if it the car starts at -30C it shouldn't be an issue starting the car at ~0C. I could use a similar argument for the auxiliary air valve and thermo time switch.

The reason I think there is moisture in the cap is because when the water outside is frozen, the car starts, if there are puddles on the ground it won't.

Thanks for your help, maybe this weekend I will check the thermo time switch, aux air valve and cold start injector anyways. The annoying thing is that I won't know if anything I do has worked until it warms up again!

EDIT: just remembered! The first time this happened was after/during big rain storm (some how water could have gotten in?) that resulted in the Toronto ice storm: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...rges-1.2489658

 

well, pop the cap off, does it look like there's moisture in it?

 

If its the cap you can dry it out real good and put it back together, if it starts right up thats your problem. I would recommend you use and electrical cleaner on the cap and make sure its dry before reinstalling. If its not the cap and your sure its moisture ...you have to think like water ....what can I get into to mess things up?? Sometime process of elimination is needed. I have confined things into plastic bags to assure it can't get wet just to rule things out. I had a 68 rambler and it had a distributor on the side near the wheel well and when I hit puddles the car would act up and one day I wrapped up the distributor with a plastic bag and a few zip ties and then I could hit puddles at 60 and the car would not skip a beat.

 

I had a jetta that would squeal something fierce and even light the alt light after a big puddle. we installed a splash shield made of some Tyvek or something plastic, using pop rivets to secure it, this deflected that splash zone away from the belts, voila, problem solved.

 

After the ice storm when everything began melting there was huge puddles everywhere. I remember driving through one that lit my amp light up, didn't think anything of it at the time but now I realize it probably wasn't good.

I think its got to be moisture, will be pulling the cap off this afternoon.

EDIT:

Sorry guys, didn't get a chance to pull the cap off yet. Weather didn't cooperate. It snowed all weekend and I didn't have a spot to pull it inside. Will keep you guys updated once I find time / weather to get it open

 

She wouldn't start today and I was really in a jam, I had been meaning to get some electrical contact cleaner but never found the time. I popped the cap off, used an emory board to remove the carbon build up on the contacts and sprayed it with WD40…

She started right up!

I think I might replace the distributor just to be sure but I'm glad I isolated the issue. Thanks so much for all your help!

Justin

 

you probably just need a cap and rotor, and probably new plug wires (use BOUGICORD as sold by ipdusa or fcpeuro, nothing else is as close to the original factory wires and lasts as long). usually when its time for a new rotor/cap, its also time for new plugs.