How much of an effect can cold have on your car?

[daves87rs]

As posted a few weeks ago, I posted about the throttle body issue. It turned out to be a 2119 code, with no other issues besides a slightly rough idle at times.

After about 15 "cycles", the light went away, and the Balt was happy again. But on the way home, the CEL popped on again, and it went to slightly rough again. Difference is, it was really cold today, and tonight. Makes me wonder if it will do it again..

I know it's been a hard winter, the kind that breaks stuff. So it makes me wonder, if I have something going (doesn't seem like it) wrong, or it is starting to feel the same way I do about winter!

One of my thoughts is that since the spark plugs are original (about 8 years old) the cold is killing them off at a quick rate. Beyond that, nothing comes to mind, since the car has never thrown codes before. And I'm willing to bet the code it's throwing is the same 2119 code too (might get it checked out again..) Keep in mind (though there is a slight loss of power acceleration, but thinking more winter related here ) there are no other issues with the car

Has anyone else seen real nagging issues this winter in their cars? Thoughts on mine?


(hoping to nip this in the bud before it goes in for the "recall" work at the dealership)

 

[yonyon]

The winter has been a hard one, but not all the damage that shows in the cold is any worse than it would be if it weren't so cold.

This morning I opened my car door to hear some awful squeaking from the hinges. Warmer weather will come soon and the hinges will quiet, then when it is warmer still, I'll pop some new bushings in. The old ones will have worn not much more because of the cold than they would have in milder weather, they just made more noise.

Ignition bits and solid state pieces last longer in cold weather than in warm weather. It's suspension parts and driveline joints that do poorly in the cold. There's a lot, such as batteries and cats, that can perform poorly in the cold but be unharmed from it.

 

[salv]

clean the throttle body. deposits are causing the throttle plate to hang up.

 

[[email protected]]

Agree with Salv on cleaning your throttle body ASAP. I dont know what kind of car you have, but on the GMT360's I used to own, you can easily remove the throttle body and bench clean it real thorough. On my Prius, thats not as easy but it can still be cleaned on the engine pretty good.

This winter, and I see you are in Michigan too Dave, has been the most intense winter I can remember - as far as snow AND below zero temperatures!

For the first portion of the winter, I had a 2002 Bravada that I was driving. In the negative temperatures, the power steering would whine very loudly when I'd start it. Once, the engine flooded. I had to floor it and start it (that was the day it was -20f out). The VVT actuator went bad, actually for the short time I owned that truck there wasnt much that DIDNT go bad, lol. I ran MSS 5w-30 in it.

My Prius I didnt drive much in the bitter cold during the early part of winter, but after I sold the Bravy early Feb, the Prius is back to being my DD. I keep the engine block heater plugged in on a timer for 3 hours before I drive it away in the morning and I have the front grille 100% blocked. My summer gas mileage average was 46.5mpg. My winter gas mileage is averaging 41.0mpg. The cold finished off my 12v auxiliary battery, had to buy a new one. Im running 0w20 M1 AFE in it right now.

So yeah, this winter has been really hard on my cars too.

 

[Olas]

theres a few reasons you might see a 2119 code;

- Faulty electric throttle control actuator
- Throttle plate sticking due to carbon build-up
- Electric throttle control actuator harness is open or shorted
- Electric throttle control actuator poor electrical circuit connection
- Engine Control Module

I'd say the first thing to try would be a god blast of carb cleaner/TB cleaner with the engine running. if the engine stumbles, stop spraying and let the idle recover.
Repeat until the can of carb cleaner is empty.
let it idle for a couple of minutes.
pull the -Ve off the battery and let it sit an hour.
reconnect the battery, go for a drive and let it re-learn.

problem solved

 

[eljefino]

Had the kids down by the lake in my wife's HHR looking for shooting stars some really cold night. The engine had warmed up fully and was shut off, but I was turning it on and off to blast the heat. Threw a P0300 random misfire. Had new spark plugs last spring. Theory is there was too much heat being drawn away from the engine, and what would not have counted as a misfire due to cold was counted anyway-- the OBDII system ignores misses below a certain temp.

This was repeatable; it happened again under similar circumstances a month later.

 

[Turk]

Then, after you've cleaned that, change out those 8 year old plugs...

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: [email protected]
Agree with Salv on cleaning your throttle body ASAP. I dont know what kind of car you have, but on the GMT360's I used to own, you can easily remove the throttle body and bench clean it real thorough. On my Prius, thats not as easy but it can still be cleaned on the engine pretty good.

This winter, and I see you are in Michigan too Dave, has been the most intense winter I can remember - as far as snow AND below zero temperatures!

For the first portion of the winter, I had a 2002 Bravada that I was driving. In the negative temperatures, the power steering would whine very loudly when I'd start it. Once, the engine flooded. I had to floor it and start it (that was the day it was -20f out). The VVT actuator went bad, actually for the short time I owned that truck there wasnt much that DIDNT go bad, lol. I ran MSS 5w-30 in it.

My Prius I didnt drive much in the bitter cold during the early part of winter, but after I sold the Bravy early Feb, the Prius is back to being my DD. I keep the engine block heater plugged in on a timer for 3 hours before I drive it away in the morning and I have the front grille 100% blocked. My summer gas mileage average was 46.5mpg. My winter gas mileage is averaging 41.0mpg. The cold finished off my 12v auxiliary battery, had to buy a new one. Im running 0w20 M1 AFE in it right now.

So yeah, this winter has been really hard on my cars too.


Yep, this has truly been a tough winter...thank goodness it is almost over...

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Turk
Then, after you've cleaned that, change out those 8 year old plugs...



Agreed...those are next too...