[s-cars] B6 doesn't turn over in the cold.

[Jerry Scott]

I have had this same problem with my 93 S4 for years.  I did find that 
something defeats the ignition, so that there is no spark when it gets down 
to 0F.  One time when  it didn't start in 0F weather,  I tried to pull the 
car back into a warm garage by using the starter and car in first gear.  It 
started as the car started moving. So, you may be on the right track, having 
the clutch out when cranking, since the clutch relay may be somehow 
defeating the ignition.  I know that the starter has to overcome the thick 
oil in the trany, but you may find that it will start if it will crank fast 
enough.

Let me know what you find, as I still haven't solved my problem.

Jerry


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sean Reifschneider" <jafo at jafo.ca>
To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 4:21 PM
Subject: [s-cars] B6 doesn't turn over in the cold.


>I have a 2005.0 S4 and since the temperature has turned cold it has
> started being hard to start.  Everything works as normal except the
> starter doesn't engage for half a second to 30 seconds or longer (one
> time I tried for 10 minutes).  The lights all come on when I turn the
> switch as normal, but it just won't fire the starter.
>
> As the weather started getting colder, I started noticing it take half
> a second after I turned to start, where before it was instant.  As it
> got colder it progressively got worse.
>
> Usually after I drive it and leave it sitting an hour to 4 hours I have
> little if any trouble starting it.  But after it sits over night it can
> be hard to start.
>
> The one time that it didn't start at all, I put a kilowatt heater blowing
> under the car by the front drivers side wheel for an hour, and then it
> started right up.
>
> Here is what I've done for diagnostics:
>
>    Replaced the battery.  This was because once under acceleration the
>    battery light went on, and it's 5 years old so I figured I might as
>    well.
>
>    I have tried another key with the same results, just in case the
>    immobilizer in the original key was having issues.
>
>    A little bit of heat blowing into the engine compartment behind the
>    front drivers side tire seems to help a lot.
>
>    Took it to my independant shop but they were confounded.
>
>    It *MIGHT* work better if I turn the key SLOWLY from "on" to "start",
>    but sometimes it doesn't.
>
>    When I press the clutch pedal I can hear what sounds like a relay
>    activating or deactivating as I press and release around 80% of the way
>    in.
>
>    The drivers side mat is firmly planted on it's pins, and pressing the
>    clutch pedal slightly hard doesn't help.
>
> I'm thinking it's something related to the clutch interlock because:
>
>    Blowing some heat into the engine compartment for 15 to 60 minutes 
> seems
>    to greatly help.
>
>    If it were the starter, I would expect it to need heat much longer to
>    warm up.  I'm blowing the heat in fairly close to where the clutch is,
>    though I admit I don't know exactly where the starter is, they're 
> pretty
>    weighty and I wouldn't expect even an hour of heat blowing in would 
> make
>    a whole lot of change to the temperature of the starter.
>
>    The ignition key isn't getting any heat from this heater, as it's
>    blowing under the car, not inside it.
>
> I'm expecting that the problem is isolated to the starter, ignition 
> switch,
> or clutch switch.  Or maybe the ECU (Ugh).
>
> Any advice before I take it in to the dealer?  I'm not really looking
> forward to trying to isolate the issue in the snow, but think it should be
> a fairly simple check of voltage at the starter to see if it's getting the
> voltage and not firing, or not, in which case then check the clutch and
> ignition inputs.  Immobilizer complicates the ignition switch I imagine.
>
> Thanks,
> Sean
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