Grrr (cold weather starting probs)

[treed2 at wsu.edu (treed2@wsu.edu)]

Just when I thought I hated VW's cooling systems more than VW's
electrical...

I was gonna go for a quick spin in the snow to check drivability before
leaving on my long trip.. so I cleared several inches of snow off the
roof, hood and windows and climbed inside. I turned the key to start the
engine and it didn't turn over.

Well, it made a wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh sound that was very uncharacteristic of
it... but it didn't noticably "spin". The dash lights dimmed a small
amount and the tach wigged out just a little (like 100 rpm, once or
twice).

My impression at the time was that it behaved like I was in 5th gear and
trying to use the starter to get the car moving from a stop. Not like a
dead short (substantial dimming) or a total lack of starter movement
(like a dead battery), nor a gradually-getting-slower type of movement
(like a dying battery).

I checked battery voltage at 11.78 V, outside temperature was 25 F.
Headlights nice and bright, including high beams (400 watts of them, no
less). No dimming of dash lights when I turned on various accessories.

Voltage at the cigarette lighter inside was 11.29 V. So power seems okay
(and chassis ground). The last time I drove the car was 36 hours ago and
it was only for a short distance. Before that the last time I drove it was
like 3 or 4 days ago.

My grounds have been finicky in the past so I ran my main ground to a
totally new bolt I stuck through the bumper channel on the driver side,
using a lock washer on both sides and grinding the paint off first. This
"stud" serves as a distribution point for all my other grounds and is
hidden away behind the driver side headlights. From there I have an
8 gauge wire run to the lower starter bolt to supply a better ground to
the starter.

This has been a problem area in the past where even at normal temperatures
I get hard starting when the bolt backs out and the ground gets loose
(which is why I added the ground in the first place!). When I did my
transmission swap I forgot to reconnect this wire and IIRC the car
wouldn't start at all (just the dying-battery symptoms, but good power
everywhere else on the car).

The starter itself is driven off an 8 gauge wire coming directly from the
positive battery clamp. When I get back home I think I'm going to run a
second ground path directly to the alternator (like I did with the
starter) to try to make sure I'm getting my full charging potential.

I'm running 10W30 dino oil, but I can't see that gumming up enough at 25 F
to slow things down.

There was some snow in my exhaust pipe that I didn't remove but it wasn't
blocking the pipe completely.

So what's the verdict? So far my only idea is to pull the battery and hook
it up to a charger in my apartment for a few hours then try again. I do
have tools here so I could pull the ground and power wires for the starter
and run a wire wheel over them to clean them up, but that's too big of a
pain to do right now in the freezing fog (like light powder snow but way
more annoying because it goes everywhere.. and sticks to everything like
skunk odor sticks to clothes, getting it wet).

Any ideas for a non-electrical cause? Frozen fuel lines wouldn't affect
cranking.. Hmm..

-Toby