heres my problem. normally my car starts up just fine but when the temp gets down to around 0 and below it just doesnt crank as if there were no power. example: yesterday it was about 2 below I put the key in with the door open. the door open alarm doesnt ding like normal it just clicks rapidly at first then starts dinging normally. everything else happens with the door open or closed. when I turn the key to the on position there is a relay or something behind the glove box that sounds as if its clicking on and off really fast and if I have the glove box open I can see the light going on and off in sync with the clicking. all warning lights light up as normal and if I turn the headlights on they are bright as they are supposed to be.when i try to start it I get nothing, all clicking stops, warning lights go out.go to off and back to on and the clicking starts again.

usually if I let the clicking go for a couple minutes it progresses to the normal ding that comes when you start the car and it will start up.

last night however it was about -13 and it never started but last time it did that it started right up when it got warmer the next day which is why I think its something other than the battery.

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

sounds like the battery is freezing up. how old is it? before digging into that make sure your getting a good connection at the battery. take the battery cables off and wire brush the heck outa the battery terminals and cable ends. could be a bad connection that is making contact after you heat it up.

 

My vote is also on the battery. I left the battery in the car all winter last year, and when it started getting cold the car did exactly what yours is doing. For most of the winter it would do everything just fine, until I turned the key to Start, and I would lose all power. I thought I had some serious electrical problems, but I got really determined to start it one day and boosted it off the truck, and it ran fine. I didn't have to replace my battery though, as it came around when the weather warmed up. I am still using that battery, but I keep it in the house now (as I put my car away for the winter). I left it in the car for the first month, but when it started getting cold out the car started doing the exact same thing as it did last year. I keep the battery warm, and it now starts every time.

 

happens allot as mentioned above, keep some cables or a plug in charger around

happened to my jeep just the other day

 

I have to go with everyone else and say time for a new battery.

Massey

 

Yep, it's a bad battery. Monkeying around with trying to start the engine, or having the lights on, warms the battery up some, which can allow it to rejuvenate a little more power to finally start the engine. Cranking amps drop more the colder the battery gets, and back up as it warms. One trick for cold weather starting the car with a weak battery is to first turn the headlights on for about thirty seconds to warm up the battery, turn the lights off, then try starting.