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Weak Start When Cold

TooForty

TooForty

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Location
San Diego
Hey y'all!

I've seen a bunch of threads on this, but none with my particular maintenance and scenario are coming up...

In the morning, my start has become slower and weaker, overall more lethargic.
This has gotten noticeably slower over the past month.
Today was the first time I had to crank her 3x to start.
But after she's warmed up, I have no starting issues at all.
She's a low mileage example that I've brought back into a daily driver routine.
I've already replaced the battery, fuel pump relay, coolant temp sensor, exterior fuel pump and filter.
I haven't touched the starter, ignition coil, alternator.

What could cause a weak slowww start in the morning, but vanish after warming? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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If the battery is getting charged and you really need to check the alternator not only after starting but after the engine has been running for awhile. If you are sure the alternator is good along with that new battery. Then next I would clean the connections for the starter and the battery. Be sure to clean the ground to the block and the smaller one to the inner fender.

Before you start in the morning I would also check the battery voltage. I've had new batteries that fail with sitting overnight. If the voltage is less than 12.6vdc after sitting overnight either it's not getting charged fully or the battery is bad.
 
The battery is brand new, two months old. I got a fancy pants AGM Odyssey battery too. But you're saying that perhaps the alternator is dying, so my battery isn't getting recharged? That could certainly be the case. Or that my battery is faulty? Also possible. Thank you for the insight.
 
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I've had alternators that start out working when cold but then when the engine is warmed up the charging goes away. So, that's why I suggested making sure it's charging both when starting and after fully warmed up. The last time I experienced this it took 20 minutes of running and then the charging went away.
 
Quick update.
Like I said, I had to crank 3x this morning. Super slow.
But when I drove it again 2hrs later, and again 5 hours later, then 30mins later, she started up just fine.
While driving, everything is perfect.
Hmmmm
 
Oooooo
So this happened when I was very low on fuel.
I filled it up yesterday and today I had no issues.
Perhaps it's the in-tank fuel pump? Which I believe is original.
 
TooForty said:
Oooooo
So this happened when I was very low on fuel.
I filled it up yesterday and today I had no issues.
Perhaps it's the in-tank fuel pump? Which I believe is original.
Click to expand...
Sounds possible. Another possibility is the short piece of submersible rubber hose which attaches the in-tank pump to the rest of the sender assembly. It can split open or just leak causing reduced effectiveness of the in-tank pump.

 
Very nice. I had a defective brand new die hard lead acid battery last year. I've never had an issue with an oe battery, but Volvo doesn't have group 47's in the USA anymore I believe. The diesels got a group 48.
 
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