tcho82

Hi all,

Just looking for any more tips or tricks that might help.

My parents' beater, a 94 Oldsmobile Mini-van froze and will not start. The car doesn't seem to crank, I've tried jumping it, using the battery charger, and attaching the backup battery pack I bought them to no avail. It sounds like its trying to crank but can't. It doesn't seem to be a power issue, as I even tried running the heat in the car for a while with the engine off obviously, but didn't think that would have worked and it didn't.

Its been sitting outside for about 5 days now in the blistering cold. Anybody have any ideas on how to get the thing started?

My next resort will probably have me pushing the thing up an inclined driveway into their garage, and hopefully let it thaw out a bit, I think that might solve it, but still looking for any other methods that might help get it started without doing this.

Thanks for any advice.

vader1

if the battery is old replace it. Extreme cold can kill an old battery.
Then try it.

As a last resort, I am sure the spark plugs are not easy to get at but if they are, pull them, put a little shot of WD40 in each (not very much) replace each plug immediately after the WD, and crank it. If it starts, you will get some white smoke just as if you were spraying some intake cleaner into it.

You could also have a frozen gas line if you had some water in the fuel. Probably the easiest thing to do is have it towed to somewhere it can sit inside in a heated spot and let it thaw, but if that is not an option, you gotta do what you gotta do.


Does it not crank at all? Can you here the solenoid click? DO you know if the starter might be bad?

Given the cold I would guess battery but it could be the other things.

tcho82

It clicks, but not very fast. Very slow actually. It sounds like its trying to turn, but VERY slowly and then just dies off.

vader1

Battery is gone. It may have the power to run the radio or the heat fan but you will never be able to hold much of a charge with it or start a car would be my guess.

If you look at the date on the thing and it is over four years old, it is to be expected. A new one might be all that is needed.


$60 and a very cold half hour outdoors is in your future.

jah

the jump box should work, you can start a moderate diesel tractor with one, make sure the box has good contact with the battery terminals, clean the terminals if needed. have a friend move the box leads while you start it or leave the head lights on and you adj the terminals till they "feel" like max current flow.

how old is the battery, get a new one from samsclub, costco wallmart etc. match the vehicle make/model to the correct battery case size.

get some starter fluid. use it VERY LIGHTLY.

KNOW WHEN TO QUIT, water may have frozen in the fuel system or etc.

tcho82

My parents did say they threw in a bottle of HEET gas line antifreeze the night before when they filled up. Also wouldn't the car at least start when jumping if it was just the battery? Or crank at the very least?

I did have good contact with the terminals. But for $60 I guess I can give it another shot.

vader1

When jumping or charging a dead car do not connect to both terminals, you can make a battery explode. Seriously. Its rare but does happen. On the working car red to red and black to black, on the dead car red to red and black cable to any clean metal in the engine compartment. If you can stick it to a clean bolt head in the engine block, perfect.


If you are hooking up cables correctly and it still does not work it could very well be something other than the battery, but I dont know if a battery is totally fried that maybe electricity won't flow through it or not. That is a question for someone else.

I do seem to have a vague recollection of trying to jump a bad battery before that was just so far gone it would not jump, but I could be wrong.

tinkfist

It might just be time for a new battery

Oh yeah, ibtm

Daniel L

I'm not sure if this is your case but if the van is using conventional oil that is high in viscosity, the oil might just be thick and impeding the start. I remember having this problem with my Jeep Grand Cherokee when we stayed in the mountains. It took forever to start.

Impulse147

I work 3rd shift and my S has so much trouble starting because of the recent below freezing temps,Usually have to give It a good 2-3 cranks and It wants to die for about a min. after I get It start...than Its back In the building to wait 15 min. for It to warm,cause personally I thinks Its dangerous to the engine to just start driving after the cars been sitting 10 hours In -15 degrees weather all night,yet There Is a guy that drives a 350z That takes off like a bat outta hell every morning.I know several guys had to get security to jump thier cars...Our security has some kinda special amp that never seems to fail starting cars up.