Non-starting in the cold

External Since: Dec 09, 2005 Posts: 1

I have a 2 year old Skoda Fabia. (Yes, I know,
a Volkswagen in disguise). Only 20,000
on the clock. It has a brand new, fully-charged,
battery and the alternator has been checked
in the last 48 hours. During the day it starts fine.
But at night, with the temperature around zero
degrees centigrade or below, it will not start. Instead,
it starts to
turn over and then the starter motor stops, a battery
warning shows. The key then has to be turned back to
the starting/entry position before another attempt to
start it can be made.
This has been happening for days. Hence the
brand new batery and the alternator check.
Help? Thank you in advance for any
suggestions.

Joined: Jul 28, 2005 Posts: 204

I suppose your lights would dim as it failed to start as well. Check that.
Your starter appears to be drawing too much current. If you had a meter you could check that or just with a volt meter you could infer that from the voltage drop under the starting load. Check when it's warm and again when zero centigrade.
There is always the possibility that you did not get a good replacement battery.

PS. If you have heavy oil in the crankcase that is not going to help it turn over fast either. You have spent money on a battery and alternator without diagnosing the system first. That is expensive, but worse yet, it leave you out in the cold.