SuperMotors.net Forums
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 Posted:2/8/2014 11:44 |
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Hello,
My husband bought this 2006 Ford Crown Victoria Police interceptor In Feb 2012. He\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s owned quite a few FCVPI in the past and so he knew how to fix just about anything needing fixing on them. However, he died of a massive heart attack a few months after purchasing that car, so now I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'m hoping that somebody here could possibly pinpoint what this problem is that I have been having with it so that I do not get ripped off when I bring it to a mechanic, again. Or, (*fingers crossed*)maybe someone can suggest an easy, inexpensive fix?
It started in winter of 2012-2013....I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'m in Illinois and the car has about 94K miles on it and it\\\\\\'s not garage-kept. Whenever the outside temperature dips below a certain degree (of which I have yet to figure out that magic number) this car just will not start. A neighbor suggested that I add \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"HEET\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" to the gas when I fill it up, and to get a tune-up (which was done Jan 2013) and for the remainder of that winter the car started with no problems. But now this winter, it\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s not starting again, even WITH the HEET mixed into the gasoline.
Once I was able to get it started, the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"engine\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"wrench\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" symbol began lighting up on the dashboard, so I brought it to a local mechanic who replaced the fuel filter and all of the Oxygen sensors. He informed me that after taking it for a test drive, the car is now running \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"great\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".
That was a month ago. However, two weeks after that visit to the mechanic, it still won\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t start if it\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s real cold outside. I \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"cycle\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" the key three times (as I learned from reading this forum), and sometimes after doing that eight or nine times, it will turn over. But as of three days ago, even after cycling the key a ton of times, it still won\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t start and now this new thing began happening.......after cycling and I turn the key back to off, all the dashboard dial levers raise up and began vibrating for about 30 seconds then just fall back down.
What could be causing this and is there an easy, inexpensive fix that I could possibly do myself (like adding some magic potion to one of the reservoirs or maybe just whacking a specific area with a mallet? javascript:emoticon(\\' \\'); I really cannot afford these costly mechanic visits, especially when all the money I\\\\\\'ve already doled out for this specific issue has NOT fixed the problem.
I apologize for the long post. This is my first time here and I just wanted to be sure I thoroughly explained what\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s going on. I would really appreciate any help with this. javascript:emoticon(\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'\\\\\\\\\\\\\\');
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 Posted:2/8/2014 12:38 |
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First of all, sorry to hear of your loss. You mentioned after cycling the key it will turn over. I assume before doing that it would not turn over. If that is the case, you might try wiggling or moving the wires that go to the starter from the battery. I have had a loose connection several times on my Bronco (in wet cold weather) and it would not turn over (starter did not work). Also the mechanic should have retrieved the trouble codes from the check engine light coming on. He should tell you what they are so you can be clued in as to the problem. If it is turning over but just not starting, it could be a fuel pump not performing as well in cold weather. This is just a guess, do not run out and replace your fuel pump. It takes spark, fuel and air to make that engine start and run. If it does not see enough of either one you will not have success. Hope you find the answer! Dave
http://www.supermotors.net/users/dbmcd |
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Posted:2/8/2014 18:39 |
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| Quote: | First of all, sorry to hear of your loss. You mentioned after cycling the key it will turn over. I assume before doing that it would not turn over. If that is the case, you might try wiggling or moving the wires that go to the starter from the battery. I have had a loose connection several times on my Bronco (in wet cold weather) and it would not turn over (starter did not work). Also the mechanic should have retrieved the trouble codes from the check engine light coming on. He should tell you what they are so you can be clued in as to the problem. If it is turning over but just not starting, it could be a fuel pump not performing as well in cold weather. This is just a guess, do not run out and replace your fuel pump. It takes spark, fuel and air to make that engine start and run. If it does not see enough of either one you will not have success. Hope you find the answer! Dave
http://www.supermotors.net/users/dbmcd |
Thank you for the suggestion.....It DOES usually start after cycling the key a bunch of times, but it hasn\\'t in the past few days and now there\\'s that new weird thing going on with the dashboard dial levers. I tried what you suggested (wiggling the wires from starter to battery) but it didn\\'t help. Of course, it might be because it\\'s about 10 degrees below zero with the wind chill here right now.
The last mechanic I took it to DID check the codes, which was what he claims told him that the oxygen sensors needed replacing. Also, he said my fuel filter was like mush.
I just don\\'t understand why it refuses to start in the cold being that It was an actual police car used in MICHIGAN!! They get some cold weather there and I highly doubt they\\'d tolerate a vehicle that wouldn\\'t start in the cold!
Oh. *smacks forehead*
Probably WHY it was put up for sale in the first place!
Still, I\\\\\\'m hoping there\\'s a simple, inexpensive fix for this problem. I NEED this car, ESPECIALLY during winter javascript:emoticon(\\' \\'); |
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Posted:2/10/2014 09:11 |
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1. When it will not start is the starter turning the motor over or is it turning over very slowly?
2. Have you had your Battery and Alternator load tested?
If no you can run it in to most of your local parts shops like O'Rielly Auto or Autozone and they can test that for you. Provided you can get it started.
3. On my '99 Vic I had two of my Coils fail in very cold weather, when they did your tune up two years ago did they replace the Coil On Plug for each cylinder? |
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