Hi guys, I have an 89 rx7 gtu and I am having some starting problems. During the summer it started fine every time but as the weather got colder I started having problems. The colder it was, the longer it took to start. Now it is to the point where it will never start, before it could take about a half hour and it would finally start. The battery is new and is good, when I try to start it, none of the lights go dim and no voltage seems to be drawn from the battery. The starter was less than one year old and I just replaced it a few days ago. If I park my car in a place where it is warm like my garage and leave it there for a day then it will start but if I leave it in the cold it never starts. Another wierd thing that worked (but only once) is we heated up the ignition switch and the start button (it has a button start, not a key start) and after they got hot, it started. Then later on in the day it was dead and heating it up didn't work anymore. We tried replacing the start button but that didn't seem to help. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? Any help would be appreciated because I need my car to run ASAP.
Thanks.

 

P.S.

EVERYTIME the car is still warm... example: I drive to Wal-Mart and go in for 10min and come back.. the car ALWAYS starts. Dont know why tho... but as soon as it sits out long enough in the cold... it will not start anymore.

 

So guys, nobody has any suggestions?

 

sounds like leaky injectors. you might try a compression test

 

if it were leaking injectors then it wouldnt start hott. it sounds like it maybe the coil packs maybe not wanting to work when they get cold. how cold are we talking anyways?

 

sounds like your battery is not cranking out the cold amps so great anymore, whats the rating on your battery? CCA, CA and RC? and how old is it?

 

yes, the battery could be the culprit but it's easily fixable. More than 4 years old, I'd replace it for insurance.

also, have a good look at the water thermosensor (or whatever it's called) behind the water pump housing, in the alternator area. If disconnected or bad, it makes the ecu think the coolant is fully warmed up and makes it hard to start and idle when super cold outside. just a thought.

there must be other things to check but can't think of any right now.