Sporadic cold weather starting problem - Windstar

tycor · 02-18-2008, 08:07 AM

I have a 1998 Windstar. I just recently have had a couple of episodes where my van will not start in cold weather. Both scenarios are the same - air temp below 10 degrees F wind chill below zero, van starts at home in the garage, we make a short trip (5 minute drive) go inside and are back out in less than 5 minutes. When we return the van won't start - no clicking, nothing! All other electrical systems work fine. We try to jump the van and nothing happens, no change from previous behavior. Wait anywhere from 20-60 minutes and the van starts. I replaced the battery after the first occurance, so that is not the issue. The van was not moved from it's spot during any episode and I did not mess around under the hood to "thump the starter" (too D@&N cold).

I've heard suggestions that it's a starter issue or an ignition switch issue. The strange thing is, I have NO other indications of starting problems in any other conditions. Only during extreme cold weather. What I don't want to do is start randomly replacing parts until I stumble across the real culprit.

So, that's my mystery. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jim

jonmark1985 · 02-18-2008, 09:24 AM

How do the ends of your battery and starter cables look?

tycor · 02-18-2008, 10:48 AM

The battery looks good, but I haven't checked the starter. What's the best way to clean them - remove completely and wipe down with a degreaser/cleaning agent or just spray on a degreaser/cleaning agent?

Other than that, if this solves the problem, I would be interested in knowing why the current flow is degraded so much in colder temps than in warmer temps (in laymans terms - there's a reason I'm not an electrical engineer - that stuff confuses the heck out of me).

jonmark1985 · 02-18-2008, 11:23 AM

A wire brush alos helps to clean them.

Current flow is better in colder temperaturs. However your battery's output drops off with the colder temperatures. Bad battery and starter cables can have a higher resistance and with the comprimised battery may not be able to turn the engine over.