>Get ~10 inches of snow after a storm that lasted a few days.
>Starting to get a little chilly. -15 to -20 celcius.

And the problems begin.
Car barely starts. I always need to put the gas pedal to the floor to start it if it doesn't start on it's own.
My key slots (to unlock the doors) are frozen and my key is starting to bend. It's no longer straight and sometimes difficult to remove it from the ignition.
The RPM gauge sometimes decides not to work during a cold start, but does once it's warmed up or randomly while driving.

The other day I couldn't unlock my car from the inside. I was actually trapped. I had to just move the unlock switch up and down really fast until it decided to actually work.

Just felt like ranting, but does anyone have any ideas? Is it bad that the RPM gauge doesn't work sometimes? Would a car cover help at all? Is the fact I need to do the deflooding procedure every so often mean I have something wrong? My car smells like a snowmobile when warming up, smells like gas really bad, but I assume that's because they run rich.

 

Do you know if the car has the BAC still installed? It helps when starting the car

 

The car is 100% stock other than intake and exhaust. It's a 1991 N/A coupe. I never had problems before winter. Where is it located on an S5 anyway? I'll go see to make sure.

 

As an S4 owner I am not familiar w/the S5 NA but I do know the S5 turbo has it on the passenger side connected to the Dynamic Chamber.

 

Try the ice lock stuff maybe. Little bottle of liquid you squirt onto the key holes. Could help.

 

One of the issues is that my drivers side key hole is missing the flap that opens and closes. So it's always open. The passenger side still freezes though.,

 

the oil could be getting too thick from being so cold. i went to drive mine at -14F (-10C) and had to keep foot on the gas til car warmed up, then the oil got warm enough to thin out and it would stay running after that, had to warm up oil in tranny slowly and diff as well, car was very sluggish and sloppy til those got to temp.
the key hole issue sucks, always happens that cold. what helps me (not saying this is the best idea in the long run) is spray a bit of wd40 in the key hole on door. also thank god for manual windows on my car, got locked inside too, but just rolled down my window and dukes of hazzard my *** out, went inside and got a little bit of warm water and poured onto the lock for a quick temp fix so i could lock my car up
Had the same deal with my tach as well, til the car warmed up enough. its the price you pay to have rx7 fun in the winter. btw i use mine to go snowboarding

 

I use 5w30 for the winter so it's thin enough. I let the car warm up every morning unless I'm in a hurry. By the time I'm driving everything shifts smoothly and feels good. Usually after 10 minutes of idling/warming up.

My driveway had so much snow that even at stock height it left dragging marks in the snow aha. I've gone some brand new winters on her and drove 3.5 hours/300kms in a massive snow storm(couldn't see 10 feet infront of me) and never had one problem. The roads had 2-3 inches of soft, slushy, shitty snow on them and I was still able to do ~110km/h and the car felt very stable. It was funny passing SUV's and trucks in my 90's sports car.

 

You live in Sault Sainte Marie..Moose are nervous up there!!.
you NEED MY Car..Period...(LOL!..yes that is me and my car!)

 

^hahaha that's cool,I wish I had that so I can go through Los Angeles traffic faster plow every car outta my way lol.

 

thats a sight to behold there lol

 

ROFL misterstyx69! how about hooking up Turbo Dave and I with one of those for LA traffic?

 

Haha, I live in the city, no moose here. Only really bad drivers! I wouldn't mind using it to knock people driving those electric scooters with a top speed of 20 on the roads.

 

About the starting problems, how old is your battery?

At those temperatures even a good battery loses a lot of it's "umpf", and let that be the thing a roatary needs.

 

Move South, to at least Oklahoma. Then, you will need to apply for another visa to enter Texas.

J/K

All of the trouble you are experiencing sounds like more of a Canada/frigid-temps issue than an RX7 issue.

Try a 0W-20 synthetic oil, such as Pennzoil. It should be fine for you winter oil and should help the cranking speed. Don't be afraid of it being too thin or that it's sythetic. I ran it last winter in my 90 vert in Dallas. I don't have a cranking speed issue, but I did notice that it cranked significantly faster than with 15w45 synthetic I was using.

Good Luck!

 

Battery is brand new. When we bought it it was the first thing we noticed.

 

I upgraded to this..lol

 

AHahahah!

 

Its just starting to get cold here in Kansas City. Ive been waiting on parts for mine but i wonder if i should get studded tires for when it snows. Just on the back so i can shoot sparks and fireballs!!!

 

This is perfect for 12-12-12 lol.....

 

Check the intake for any leaks past the MAF sensor too which can happen when things shrink in the cold. Check especially around couplers.