I only had this as an issue during the winter because I think the battery is too small for the engine. Once I changed the battery to an Optima I have not had this problem even in bitter cold weather.

 

Mine turned over slowly in July when I bought it, and now that it's 20 degrees out, it turns over even more slowly. I am curious if a better battery would make it better, but I'm not going to bother with it until my current one gives me reason to.

 

If you scroll down to "similar Threads" at the bottom of this page, you'll see the same question from February of 03.

Mine turns over slower in winter but now in my third winter with the stock battery it always starts.

My LOCATION is Northern Illinois..........What's yours?

 

Besides the battery could be weak the starter is a gear reduction typ so it uses less energy to start the motor. They crank over around 300 RPM as to close to 500 for a direct drive starter.

 

Thanks for the replies. I live in Minnesota, so it gets plenty cold here and the starter can get pretty slow. If I didn't have a garage, there was a couple of times last winter when it barely started. It seems pretty shortsighted and honestly careless to design something so critical as a starter/battery so close to it's minimal operating threshold. I was going to take it in to have them look at it but even if they replaced the battery, it would be the the same battery that many here say is under-amped. Instead, I'll just look for a better battery. Other than this and no variable intermittent wipers and cracking windshields ( I had one too), I love the car. Thanks for the feedback as I wasn't sure if I was just getting a line from the dealer.

 

I live in GA and have never experienced any type of startup issue. Wow, it must be a cold climate thing.

 

Mine turns over slower in winter but now in my third winter with the stock battery it always starts.

I have thought the same thing as the original question, so, this reply is good news to me.

 

owned mine for 21 days now

And I too asked the dealer about slow engine turnover. Had them test the batt. they said they checked the voltage and load tested it and it came back fine. Also said it is starting normally. Just have to get used to the slower speed or sound or whatever... as long as it starts im ok with it...

 

This "turnover" does "seem" a bit labored, especially with this 410 CCA battery, but I've reduced the number of revolutions required to "ignite" it by going through this little routine for almost 30 years, now, on EFI motors...

1)Ignition 'on' (do not go to 'start', yet)...hesitate for 5 seconds or as long as pump runs (waiting for fuel pump to build pressure),
2) Go to 'start' (momentarily only...only click the starter)
3) Then rotate to 'on' and back 'off' as the fuel pumps runs from the starter 'engagement'.
4) Ignition 'on' (again, waiting for fuel pump to time out.)
5) key to 'start' and hold till it fires...It should fire almost immediately with a noticeable reduction turnover till 'fire'.
This has been helpful for those below zero F. days when starting was a big ?.

Not quite sure why this works, but always has on EFI cars...suspect it has something to do w/ optimal fuel pressure :?

 

Hey,
Being that I am also from MN I thought I would post my findings. I purchased my E in the middle of the summer when it was still really warm out. Upon purchase the turnover seemed just like any other car/truck that I have owned. Now as it grows colder each day ( -1 tonight! ) i have noticed that the E does not like the cold at all. On nights like last night where it gets around zero degrees its very hard to start after it sits for more than a couple hours. I am really starting to wonder if my E is going to start in the morning when it gets to -30!?

One thing that is not an option for me is a engine block heater. I live where we have to park on the street and rotate parking spots between opposing sides of the street every other week. If I got a block warmer I would have no place to plug it in when we have to park on the opposing side...

Can anyone think of another way to keep the engine/battery warm? I thought about just covering the battery/ engine with a thermal blanket at night when I am done with the E.This seems like a pain in the neck though...

 

bluetiger: Your comment that it's "hard to start". Is that quite accurate? I mean are you sitting there cranking the beejezzs out of it? Or is it more like it turns over slow (almost like an old 6 Volt system) and then kicks right up?

I think -12 F is as cold as it's been since I've had the E and on those cold mornings you wonder.....but it's always started right up.

 

This is old news coming from me, but since a couple of new Minnesota owners have posed the questions, I'll repeat both myself (and IRV) in the process...

This is the beginning of my fourth winter here, always parked outside overnight -- in whatever the weather is...!

Yeah, due in part to the "tiny" battery, it cranks over slowly as can be, but due to modern electronics and fuel injection, the thing fires right up, once it realizes that's exactly what I demand of it!

I'll be the first to "confess" when even I break down and fork over for a new battery...probably before next winter, but I still hope to make it through my fourth before I need to do that...:twisted:

 

IRV, Your Slipping !! Is it Just old age ??

Ok all you new people, Welcome to the EOC ! NOW FILL IN YOUR PROFILES !!

Dom

 

IRV- Honistly it us a little bit of both. some mornings it takes almost a good 4-5 seconds for the E to fire up. It also is cranking slow during the 4-5 second time frame.

Its nothing that is to the point of almost not starting but, it has been more noticable on the colder mornings ( around 0 degrees).

I will see what happens in about 10 minutes when I have to leave for work. It was around -6 degrees with the windchill last night! :-o man I forgot how cold it gets up here

 

Bluetiger16,

You're a good candidate to try the 'technique' that I outlined earlier...to reduce actual crank time to less than half of that 4-5 seconds...

Key positions go like this...(never touching gas pedal),all electrical loads off and defroster off...
off...on(hesitate~2-3 s)...start(bump-it only)...off...on...start(crank till it fires)

This has cut my Honda 'crank' time at least in half and it's in the garage.

If this doesn't do you any good, you can still get a larger battery like all the discussions refer to and get a fill of synthetic (0w-20,-30) engine oil for winter only. Oh, and don't forget to get your fuel from a 'tier 1' 'high' turnover station...to minimize potential of ice formation in the lines...

 

Someone earlier posted that the battery has 410 CC amps. It's just ridiculous that it would be so small. Up here in MN, in the middle of winter, the battery is probably only putting out 200 when it's cold. Though there may be work-arounds, ultimately it just needs a bigger battery. I have an Expedition also and I recently replaced the battery for that with an 800 CCA battery. You should hear that one go! I could drive to work on the starter alone!

 

Someone earlier posted that the battery has 410 CC amps. It's just ridiculous that it would be so small. Up here in MN, in the middle of winter, the battery is probably only putting out 200 when it's cold. Though there may be work-arounds, ultimately it just needs a bigger battery. I have an Expedition also and I recently replaced the battery for that with an 800 CCA battery. You should hear that one go! I could drive to work on the starter alone!

I think you are missing the point:
DOES THE BATTERY AND STARTER START THE GASOLINE MOTOR? That's all that is required of this part of the car....no more, no less. It's worked for many of us for two, three, and four years in cold weather.

Please fill in your "LOCATION" so we can better understand your problems and joys in the coming months.

 

I think you are missing the point:


Please fill in your "LOCATION" so we can better understand your problems and joys in the coming months.

Now thats the IRV I know and love !!


Dom

 

I'm sorry but I'm not missing the point and I know what a starter and battery do. I was being facetious when I said I could drive to work on the starter alone with the 800 CCA battery. Also, if you read the post, I used the abbreviation for Minnesota (MN). It gets very cold here and at temps close or below 0, a battery has about half of it's stated output available until it actually has heated up by it's own use, so it's down to about 200 CCA in cold temps and that just really not enough to be fully confident in. Generally, a 550CCA battery is about as low as one should go up here for cold weather. I have had times last winter, when even in the garage, it sounded pitiful. It did start but a brand new car and certainly a Honda should not have such a glaring weakness of an absolutely critical system. Is it easily rectified, yes but should I have to feel compelled to buy a better battery for a brand new car, I don't believe so. The fact that it does start is great but like everyone, I'm busy and the last thing I want is anything operating at a minimal threshold to mess up my day. I want to be able to get in and go and not wonder if maybe this time it won't start. I think that's why we buy new cars, to avoid that sort of thing. If others are comfortable operating at this minimal level, great. I'm not, that's all. Thanks

 

I also dissaprove of the slow turn over rate. yes it's almost 4 years old but my last car an '88 started a hell of a lot faster then this one dose. i really dislike the fact that my E may not start even if it is going though my head.

 

Same probs

1st time ive ever noticed But my E started very slow this morning.
Plus my service light is on now... is it normal at 28000 to get a service light

 

We all choose to what we worry about. I too raised my eyebrows on the first cold morning and the E cranked more slowly then most other cars I've owned. It started and has started every morning since. December 04 through December 06. It started. No garage, no block heater, no problemo. And it does get pretty cold here too. I no longer worry.

peterosedale: My intent was not to offend but to assure. You are very infrequent poster here and clearly this issue is of concern to you. Most of our members try to generate more light than heat and that was my intent.

The "LOCATION" comment was not aimed at this particular issue but more to the general posting on this site. By filling in this bit of info on "User CP" we all get to understand a little better the poster's context.

PEACE!

 

Welcome to Economics 101 in the 21st century. There are two graphed curves which eventually intersect -- one for the "cost" of batteries, and another for "age/meantime to failure, etc." that the bean-counters at Honda (and every other manufacturer) pour over every time they design a new automobile. I predict many other automobile brands and models will "grow" a crop of owners in future who become alarmed at the "sound" their cars make, starting in colder weather.

Even without all the "hand-holding" a forum like this provides in the modern electronic age, I'd like to think I'd have survived no differently than I have, along with my allegedly wimpy battery.

Honda will end the year profitably. Ford, GM and D-C will not. While I certainly respect the kinds of things a resident of Duluth, Minnesota feels compelled to say about a big-ass battery, assuming other people would be as anxious to pay the addtional "cost" (at the expense of some other part) to buy an otherwise wonderfully affordable car is questionable in today's economic climate. (Sorry, but I simply couldn't resist tossing in a really cheap pun!)

 

Hey guys....I too have noticed this. According to my owners manual quick start guide:

"At times, the engine may take longer to start than ususal; the engine management software is working to reduce emissions at startup."

Maybe it's just a LEV thing.

 

I am generally of the IIABDFI (If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It) mind. In the end the question is "Does it work?". In this case, it has for everyone that has taken the time to chime it. Obviously (according to the owners manual) the slow cranking is a design feature of the E. If there were mass reports of no starts in winter then there would be a reason to worry about it. So far there hasn't so I have no reason to worry about it.

There may also be a good reason for the slow cranking. Generally, in an electric motor, if you have a lower RPM motor, that motor has more torque. If the gasoline engine is designed to fire at those lower RPMs there is actually an advantage in that the starter motor should last longer running at a lower RPM.

I can remember years ago that when you cranked over a MoPar it sounded like the engine was turning over at about 5K. It was reassuring when starting but it wasn't so good when you had one of their fairly common starter failures.