Why Won’t Your Car Start When It’s Cold?

Cold and wet weather can affect several different components of your car. If you start to have trouble getting your car going when the temperature drops, then there are a few possible causes.

Problem With The Battery

This is the most likely culprit on a frosty morning. The cold can cause your battery to lose its charge. If this is the case, a jumpstart might be all you need. Other options are a battery charger or a replacement battery.

So how do you know if it’s the battery? To diagnose your battery, you need to listen to the sounds your car makes when you turn the ignition. If you hear a faint whirring noise or even nothing at all, then the chances are it’s the battery. If the battery is totally flat, you might not have any lights on your dashboard, and your remote locking might not work.

To try and prevent this from happening, try to start your car regularly. Leaving it sitting on the drive unused for days at a time can lead to this problem.

Problem With the Alternator

If your battery keeps going flat that it might be that it’s not being recharged, which means the problem is with the alternator.

You can tell it’s the alternator and not the battery if a jump-start gets your car going, but then it dies quickly. A smell of burning in the vehicle can also be a sign of an overheating alternator.

A broken alternator means a trip to the garage. It should take a mechanic a couple of hours to replace your alternator.

Problem With the Started Motor

If you have a car with stop/start, then this is unlikely to be the problem. It is a problem you are more likely to find in older models.

If the starter motor is your problem, then turning your key in the ignition should produce a clicking sound. If you hear this an all the other electrics in the car are working with no problem then it is probably the starter motor. To be sure you can try a jump start. If that fails, then the culprit is probably the starter motor.

This is another job for a mechanic. It’s not a massive or expensive job, but it can take the better part of a day to fix.