For the last couple of weeks, the area I live in (like most areas) has been under some seriously cold weather. Since then, I've been noticing that my 2GS has struggled to turn on every morning after a night where the temp falls below 32. In my neck of the woods, it rarely gets to those temps on a consistent basis, let alone below 20 every night for two weeks straight. What I've been noticing is that in the mornings, it's struggling to turn over almost like the battery is dead (or dying) and when its in drive, the tranny feels sluggish. When the temps come back up during the day, even if the car has been sitting for the same amount of time it sits in the frosty temps, it turns over just as if it were any other day and drives fine. Since my car has always been a "South Florida" car, I think the unusual weather might be taking a toll.

What can my northern bretheren tell me about winterizing my car??? Moving it inside is not an option, so I need to know what I can do mechanically to make it be able to sustain these temps in case this weather comes back.

BTW, my battery is a 6 month old Optima Red Top with 800CCA... So, I would hope that this wouldn't be the problem.

TIA.

 

do you park outside? If you do, try not to.

otherwise use a heating blanket? Anyone knows if those work?

 

All of our auto. trans. Toyotas have been sluggish in shifting in the cold. This is normal.

One should really allow their car to warm up 5 minutes before driving it. The car will run better and the amount of pollutants will be greatly reduced vs. driving those first few minutes with a cold cat.

 

Not really. The transmission fluid (and the final-drive fluid) will not warm up at all while the car is idling. And, as long as the engine is running, the car will be polluting with a cold catylist, whether you are driving it or just letting it sit and idle....so you might as well drive it slowly, as an idling engine gets 0 MPG.

Unless it is extremely cold outside (say, 0 or below), best thing is to start the engine and let it idle long enough to get the oil pressure up and oil flowing reasonably freely (say, maybe for 1-2 minutes), then put it in Drive and drive off slowly, keeping the revs under 3000 RPM or so until warm (when the temperature gauge needle is at the bottom end of the normal range on the gauge or the COLD light goes off). With some Toyota/Lexus automatics (and those of some other makes), gear-upshifts will be delayed a little until the transmission warms up........this is normal, and is done for emissions reasons.

Are the battery terminals in decent condition? You may not get enough current through them for cold weather (and the full CCA) if they have not been cleaned or have corrosion on or in them. Also, is the oil itself in decent condition?...it needs to be changed regularly to keep the engine decently lubed. Poor lubrication can increase the drag on a cold engine and make it harder to start.

A less-likely, but still possible reason for the hard cold-starting, could be a defective coolant-temperature sensor or mass air-flow sensor. Bad sensors (or clogged fuel-injectors) in cold weather will not allow the right air-fuel mixture (which has to be enriched some) for a good cold start.

 

I wouldn't worry, cars are sluggish in the cold. As others have said, until things are warmed up enough the car will feel different.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it. My Toyota Tundra has lived in -35c for many years and has been parked outside on many nights and has never failed to start up. It however does have inconsistent start up times based on how cold it is outside. My 4.7 has the auto crack feature where the computer controls how long the engine takes to turn over. When it is warm it usually is pretty fast but colder weather can take longer. The longest I ever experienced was almost 30 seconds of continuous cracking which finally turned over.

With that being said, I am certain that most Lexus models with push button start come with the similar feature controlling how long the crank is. I am not sure if my girlfriends LS has the crankhold but I will have to find out.

The auto crank hold feature is designed to improve reliability.

Does your Lexus have a push button? Is it the V6 or V8?

You could get a block heater? I have never had one on any of my Toyotas.

Completely normal. Toyota transmission will do this and some will not allow the transmission to go into the 4th or 5th gear until proper operating temps are reached.

 

Transmission being sluggish in the cold is normal. You shouldn't drive the car hard until it warms up.

As far as hard cranking, it most likely either your battery or your started going out. Battery is easy to test, just pull up by any service station and let them do a voltage/charge test, it shouldn't cost you more than 5-10 bucks. Also, check battery leads as someone else has suggested.

 

How old is your battery, it sounds like your battery dont like the cold weather. Like mmarshall said, the best way to warm up the car is to drive it. Start it, wait 1-2 minute and drive under 3000 rpm until its warm.

 

10 char....................

 

A cold engine at idle produces far fewer emissions than a cold engine that is revving at higher speeds. Thus, there has been a recent push for automakers to offer remote start to reduce pollution levels. Ford is one of the companies that is doing this. Exhaust gas recirculation is also reducing warm up times.

 

32 degrees is a heat wave for us here in NYC

I don't belive you guys in Florida get the winter blend fuel as we do here in the North East. Non winter blend fuel can freeze up with temps 32 & below. You should purchase a bottle gas line anti-freeze for those cold days & pour it into your gas tank. Let us know how this pans out. I bet you will notice quicker starts.

Good luck.

 

That is a very good point. Maybe the non cold blend fuel gets thick and the fuel pump is having a difficult time building up pressure in the fuel lines.

Try doing this, on a cold start, don't turn the key and start cranking right away, instead turn the key into on position, wait for several seconds allowing the fuel pump to "prime" the system and then start cranking.

 

Bingo Dashocker, good diagnose.

 

Cars are transportation, not warming booths.

Therefore a cold engine at idle produces more pollution per mile (since 0 miles are traveled at idle) than a properly driven cold engine.

Remote start is an option geared towards convenience in cold climates, not aware of it being a pollution reducer. Some long term road testers have recorded its negative impact on gas mileage with heavy use of the remote starter.

 

Remote start is offered, not because of emissions, but because people don't want to come out to a cold car interior in winter (or a hot interior in summer). In summer, when the engine is already fairly warm even after sitting overnight, it is no big deal, but in winter, warming the engine (and interior) up with an extended-idle may make the car more physically comfortable at first, but it is not as good for the engine. Unless it is REALLY cold outside, the best warm-up in cold weather is usually around a minute or two.

Of course, if there is ice or snow on the car when it is cold, you will want to get the engine warm enough to help defrost the windows before you take off.....that is a simple safety matter. Some Subarus (like my Outback) have a built-in electric lower-windshield heater that defrosts frozen wiper blades.