cold weather start update
 

It was -28C here this morning and my old 92 Nissan decided not to start. I decided to try the 8 since i needed to get to the office. It started at the first crank and, of course started to go from 1500 to 2500 rpm , cycling back and forth until i decided to press the clutch. At that time it idled at an even 1800 or so. I suppose it's something in the program and i'm not concerned at all. The fun part is that i do not have winter tires since i don't use it whenever there's a flake on the ground. I tried to go to the office, managed to make it to the street corner but that was it. There was an icy frost on the street and my car was just not moving, in 1st it was too much, even in 2nd the wheel spin was enough to make me skate like hell. I parked it there and walked home. :-( It's too bad since we have a bright blue sunshine and the main streets are clear and dry.

When I start my 8 in cold weather i usually let it run for about 15-20 seconds with the clutch depressed. The major problem i've been having is with the e-brake. I think i'm going to stop using it when the extreme cold hits and get some blocks to put behind the wheels.

Re: cold weather start update
 

Sorry about the walk home guy.

But that cold start freature is built into all cars. My 8 on first crank goes up to 2k then settles to 1500...its supposed to idel at 1k even but, I don't move the car till it settles at 1500.

I am sure it has a purpose, it doesn't just go up to 2500, it goes back and forth from 1000 to 2800 for a good while. There was a thread a few days back about this and i was just reporting about my car doing the same. It was a very short walk, about 300 feet or so but still, i wanted to use the car to get to work but too dangerous... if i cannot accelerate i most certainly can't stop. :-)

The higher than usual idle is definitely a good thing. My first car was a Dodge Neon, vanilla, no options. In the winter if I started it and didn't press on the gas a little, the car would stall immediately. Lately my 8 has been going up to 3k initially then settling down to about 1500-1800 after about a minute.

I am wondering though, is it any worse/better to drive a rotary when the engine is cold? (compared to a piston engine)

I say no. Alot of the older generations had issures with starting on cold days. But even a piston engine has cold start programing. The next time you get into a normal piston engine for the first morning drive on a cold day, watch the RPMS..they will shoot up and then settle if let it sit.

Its made so cars get enough fuel to not stall out on cold days during start up.

My 8 idles at 800 RPM...sometimes even 750 RPM...after it's warmed up.

Is this too low? Maybe that's why I'm having trouble with going into 1st smoothly (see other post on that topic).

If it helps I live in S. Florida where it's warm so maybe that's why I get a lower idle speed.

It can be a little jerky to start moving while the engine is reving up and down(I did this this morning becasue I wasn't payying attention), but as long as you don't abuse the car (ie. bounce off the rev limiter the second you start it) it probably shouldn't hurt anything.

(and look guys, I'm not closing/merging the thread! You should be proud! :p)

Boy some of these people haven't heard that the engine surges or cycles up and down between 1500-2500 rpms in extreme cold conditions (I've noticed below 10 F). Everyone knows the car revs high at cold starts it's the "cycling" that f1michel is referring to. And I posted that I had noticed when the clutch was disengaged that the "cycling" stopped and it went to a normal rev for cold start(aprox 1600 rpms). I believe that when it is extemely cold that the drive shaft creates resistance even in neutral on MT. I may be wrong but that is the only way that I can explain how the cycling would stop when the clutch is disengaged. Hope this helps.

Hmm... I wouldn't guess driveshaft. I'd say it's the tranny fluid that is far more viscous at lower temps so the motor has to work a bit harder to spin everything in that thick soup. Once the fluid warms a bit, all is fine.

That is what I was talking about since the driveshaft will move with the clutch engaged but it would be the fluids causing the actual resistance. Sorry for the confusion.

I have to admit Elara...even DA REVER gets the jerky jerk when my attention span wans....happend this morning when I was talking to my girl on the way to work..jerked realy bad out of first today...saved it from cutting off though.

My stick vibrates during idal but thats normal for an 8. Somtimes I let it hit against my ring on my right hand and you can hear a rapid resounding ticking sound...I do that when I am waiting at traffic lights....

No problemo, 93 :)

Yes, I'm sure that's what it is - the gearbox is full of jello. The repeated surging between 1500-2500 rpm stops when I press the clutch. And it doesn't affect driving much because the revs are higher or the clutch is in.

This is different from "warm" weather (around freezing) when the idle goes up & down a couple of times before it settles down.

Speed surges when warming up
 

I would expect that the speed surges stoping after pressing the clutch is programmed into the car as part of the warmup sequence. Pressing the clutch tells the car that you are ready to go (as opposed to still letting the car warm up), so it settles down for you to take over the throttle.

Don't think it has anything to do with transmission or oil temperatures, etc. Part of the design.

im having issues with my ebrake too, i don't think the break is actually engaged, rather the sensor goes off at a slight movement of the break in the pull position... so i get the brake light popping up and i smack the break down again to make it go away, once the car warms up it stays off..

-b

same here, looks like the spring pulling it down is cold sensitive. I just ignore it and drive away. (of course it's so incredibly cold up here these days i don't dare drive my car with the stock tires, so i'm driving my shi* box to work. )

Re: Speed surges when warming up
 

Great thought but as soon as you release the clutch the "cycling" starts up again. It's not programmed to stop or it wouldn't go right back to it. If you were to try and drive like that (and I wouldn't recommend it) you would eperience the "cycling" while trying to drive.

I have driven the car while it had not stopped surging and there's no problem at all, how many times are you going so slow that you are under 1800 rpm?

I too am having the same problem with my emergency brake.

I pull the brake off when it is cold, and the whole lever moves right back up again until it reaches tension. So I push it back down to make the light go off. I have taken to resting my brief case on it to keep it down. It's bloody annoying. I also feel that the cable has stretched since I bought the car, but that's fairly normal for a new car. I don't know if there is anything that the dealer can do about this light setting thing, but I am hoping that tightening the cable will make the lever more closely attached to the resistance keeping the handle from moving up. The cable seems to have a strong memory like the cable lock for my bike. Does anybody know if the cable is plastic coated like that? Anybody else having trouble with this?

when it gets as c0ld as it is around here (4°F), don't use the e-brake at all when you are parked. Just turn the car off and put it into 1st gear or reverse. It recommends this in the owners manual BTW.

Maybe so, but there are times you really need that emergency brake. For instance parking anywhere on a public street, because if the car rolls away, I am going to be sued succesfully by whatever stops it.

Actually, I found alot of the Owner's Manual to be pretty laughable like all of those "warnings". Some of them are hypocritical from section to section tellling you in one place to do something and in another telling you not to do the thing.

Whatever, I'm just curious if there is a way to keep my emergency brake handle from coming up while I am driving my car.

your car is not going to roll anywhere with it in gear and turned off... i've been parking my car in my steep driveway all week with it only being left in gear. Your e-brake keeps popping up because the linkage is frozen in place (and your driving around with the rear brakes rubbing).

Haze,

whats contradictory in the manual?.. cite references, pages, etc.

-b

I know what a frozen emergency brake feels like, and I am not driving around with the rear brakes rubbing. All I know is that the handle is popping up until it relaxes a bit. I have no idea what is causing that, and I was wondering if anyone had an idea, but I am guessing that no would be the answer. Besides that I am starting to feel guilty about highjacking this thread. This is off topic, and I am going to drop it.

Just as a quick side thing, there are plenty of cases of cars left solely in gear popping out of gear, usually from being knocked by another car, and rolling away. It is never a good idea to park a car in public without the parking brake engaged.