I've had my 05 TL since just before this past Thanksgiving. I bought it with 26K miles on it and I now have about 28,700 miles on it. Service records for the vehicle indicate the oil used in the last oil change was a "synthetic blend" and the oil change was done right before I bought the car. Oil life is at 70%.. obviously going by miles.

Well, Friday afternoon.. as I started the car to leave work.. it wouldn't start on the first try. I paused and cranked it again, then it started.. but the idle was rough and the car vibrated a little. A few seconds later the idle went up to typical cold engine range and everything was fine.

The temperature all day never got above 5 degrees F and the wind chill was sub-zero. I didn't drive my car at all between getting to work and leaving work.

Is the rough start an oil situation? Or is it likely just the occasional hard start thing I've read about in other threads here?

I ask because it's gonna be pretty cold here in WI for a couple days.. like a high of 3 with -10 overnight. I park in a detached garage, which definitely helps.. but should I be concerned?

I may switch to full synthetic pretty soon anyway.. but this appears to make a good case for doing it right now.

Thanks

 

If it is realted to the oil, i think the wrong weight oil might have been put in. Otherwise, i think it might be the battery, the stock delco ones aren't the best that acra could have used. Also the MID does not go by milage, it uses a bunch of sensors and stuff.

 

Well, the service records say the right weight was used when the oil was last changed.. and the car turns over just fine.

 

ahh, the joys of wisconsin weather. My car has done the same thing occassionally. I just relate it to the cold mostly since I have never had the problem in summer.....

Where in WI are you? I live in brookfield, and was downtown last night. Hard start after bar close didnt surprise me too much, so I wouldnt worry about it.

Did you buy your car from Acura of Brookfield? If so, definitely not oil related.

 

I live up in Sheboygan county.. but yeah, I got the car from Acura of Brookfield.

Yeah, WI winters.. it's a love-hate relationship, to be sure

 

Yup, same thing here guys. A couple times now Ive had a "weak" start...where the car wouldnt immediately fire up to the 1000+ RPM's that it normally does. Rather, it kind of slowly hung around 5-700ish before moving up to normal RPMs. Mine is an 06 with 4200miles.

It almost seems to me that the cylinders get a bit loaded with fuel and it takes a few seconds to clear it out. If the car does flood, I would imagine there is a strategy in the PCM where if you held the pedal to the floor while cranking, it would shut off the injectors to allow the cylinders to clear up.

 

Haha...yeah. Love hate....definitely.

Malzoo, are you also in WI?

We need to get a meet put together for some wings or something. More and more people showing up from WI now, it's nice to see....

 

An update: I started my car today, after it was sitting in the garage for 24 hours, and it chugged along at about 500rpm.. then died. I started it again, this time with the key on for a bit before attempting to start and it fired right up no problem.

Then when I left to come back home (I went to my dad's place to get his TV working in time for the super bowl), I did the same thing.. leaving the key on for a tick before starting and it fired right up again.

It appears that's what I have to do when it's this cold outside.

 

hmm....mine has never done it that bad. Today my car fired up right away after sitting in the garage for about 12 hours or so.

I would call the dealership and ask them just to be on the safe side.

 

Are you in a heated or attached garage? I'm not.. just a detached garage.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow morning when I leave for work.

 

Try reading the owners book and the section called cold start procedures
While it varies, my book says hold 1/2 throttle open and crank, if really cold hold full open !!!

 

I've never had to do that on any car I've owned, including my 04 Accord 4-cyl., so you'll have to forgive me if I didn't do that.

I appreciate the tone of your remark, though.

 

Cold start from sitting for 5 hours.. with putting the key on briefly before starting.. no problem.

 

mU1980,

You know me from DA. I know it sounds odd, but I had the same exact problem in my TL about 2 weeks ago in CO. It was -2 outside and the car spent the night out there next to a big pile of snow.

The car actually died 2 times and both times it coughed and smoked like a car in the 50s.

Turns out, my crappy delphi battery died the same week and I had it replaced at the dealership. My service adviser said the battery was so low that it wasn't supplying enough juice to run everything properly. I also had problems where my headlights would not light unless I let the car idle for several minutes. Only the fogs would work.

I would put money on a new battery. Either way, take it to the dealership and have them test that battery.

 

The car doesn't turn over slowly and I can turn on the headlights right away, but thanks for the input.

 

just because you never had to do it on your old cars means nothing

We are talking about your Acura which has its own needs and wants
many of which are discussed in the owner book

 

AND just because the car turns over and you can use the lights also means nothing

New car batteries are lasting 2 to 4 years if lucky

Getting the battery and alternator tested at a local auto parts store is FREE and should be done immediatly

 

The owner's manual says to try to start the car normally the first two times, then it gets into pressing the accelerator pedal for the third and subsequent attempts. I never had to get to the third attempt.

 

Starting the car this morning.. using the key-on-for-a-bit-before-starting method.. was just fine. Fired up normally with no issues.

I took the car down to the dealer and had them check the battery.. it's good. I took it to the dealer instead of just anywhere because if it was bad, I could have them put a new one in right away.

 

I'm in Omaha, NE and we've had quite a bit of single digit/below zero temperatures lately and I haven't had an issue--whether garaged or not. It sounds like the battery would be the problem as amps decrease with temperature but since it checks out I'm not sure what.

My friend in St. Louis with an '04 is having the same problem so he's taking into the dealer this week to see if it's the battery or something else.