Ok this morning the temps are about 20F and i go and start the car. as i do it, and it begins to start it sounds like its drowning in water and barely starts. i assume its the really cold weather but i have never heard an engine begging to stop like this. i turned it off and started it again with same sounds, first time it felt like it was just about to die but came out and started.

are you guys having this as well? i will assume its the cold weather and a really small honda battery which i will change sooner or later, or could just be the way the engine is?

also heating takes a bit too long to work, i mean it works but doesnt get fully hot until about 15-20 minutes of driving. am i the only one?

my heating will take like 10min if im just sitting in it, but driving it makes it heat up relatively fast. Ive had my car seem like its about to die for a split second but then stays alive too..only happened in real cold weather and after sitting out for a decent amount of time. otherwise it starts right up

-3 here in VT today, car was definitely LESS then thrilled to start, that little battery does not seem to have a lot of reserve cranking amps for these cold days. Also considering upping the battery soon, these temps are not rare for the next few months.

It did take my car about that long to heat up as well, but seeing how it was changing the air temp by about 80 degrees (-3 to start, had the temp set at 75) I can understand it does take a bit to do that.

When left out over night (I work shift work) my car was "slow" to turn over in temps in the teens. It did feel/sound like a weak battery. I think I'll ask my dealer to check it's condition before we get into the colder part of winter. I'm even using Mobil 1.

I look at the size of the OEM battery and marvel at how small it looks.

If you guys are getting a new battery i suggest the optimas.

does anyone have an optima in their cars? which size fits? the stock battery is so small and yet is there is so much room for a bigger battery, why would honda do this?

I think I know the under-water sound you're talking about. My car sat out for most of the weekend with it around or well below freezing, and when I went to start it I got this weird gurgling sound.

That said, it did start right up, and started up again on a colder morning today without too much issue.

Mine usually starts warming up within 5 minutes.

The wind chill around here was around 7* so it took about 20 minutes to get toasty. lol

In this neck of the woods temps can and do hit 30 to 40 below 0. For years I've used a block heater and battery blanket and have summer starts, even on my A300 Bobcat diesel which is oil cooled. Two great aids for cold weather starting.

Wow, seems like a battery issue. Mine started up this morning without incident, 22 degrees Farenheit. Warmed up quick too. Hope It stays that way.:dunno:

Well it started with no problem, but the way it started was kinda scary because i never heard an engine making such noises when starting.

i will be looking into getting an optima battery, red top instead of the yellow they suggest on the website, yellow is for deep cycle which doesnt last as long as red top, its for sound systems really, blue is for boats.

if anyone changes their battery please let me know

I've definately noticed that my wife's K24 in ther CR-V starts harder than my J35 in similar weather. Not sure if its battery related or not, but all my past 4-cylinder engines never liked starting in the cold (2.3MZR, R18, K24, 2.0Zetec).

Talk about a small battery

the four cylinder accord has a 410 CCA rating from the factory in my EXL

My Honda ST 1300 motorcycle has a 230 CCA rating...

I would think the car would need a little bit bigger battery considering all the electronics that are running like ABS, VSA, A/C blower etc

Just by chance the CCA rating is right under the hold down so you can't see it.

I noticed that the green dot was not visible on my battery, so I put a charger on it. I had to charge my wife's 2006 Civic also & noticed that the batteries were the same!

mine did this once, but it was back in oct when it was still somewhat warm out.

but i believe you told someone to let their car warmup first, which is a really good idea. it does take a good 3mins give or take a min depending how cold it is to fully warm up the cabin.

Links to articles of interest on batteries, lead acid, wet or dry and CCA.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/optima.htm
http://www.canadiandriver.com/winter/at_battery-life.php

Yup i experienced this "drowning start-up" back in Feb. earlier this year when i first got the car, and just yesterday, i figure its cause of the cold, it was somewheres around 30º... And ofcourse the Auto shifting was not pretty ... very hard... but after about 5 blocks down the road, it started shifting smooth again, both of these issues are pretty normal i guess... :dunno:

And even tho i heard as of late that "warming your car up" for an excess of 5 minutes is not necessary and will just burn gas.... i still wait for that needle to to rise waaaay up above the C mark.. [8-10 minutes] ... :thmsup:

I live in central NJ and it's been cold out but I have had Zero problems starting up in the AM.

I've definately noticed that my wife's K24 in ther CR-V starts harder than my J35 in similar weather. Not sure if its battery related or not, but all my past 4-cylinder engines never liked starting in the cold (2.3MZR, R18, K24, 2.0Zetec).

same goes for my 93 back in the day...

I have been waiting until the needle is past the c and line before driving. It may or may not matter for the car but it sure reduces time I have to shake while driving. Not sure if this would help or not but is there a diffrence if your starting the vehicle with the heater fan on or off? It did in an old vehicle of mine. Just wondering.