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Cold Weather Problems

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  • geoffdgtigeoffdgti Member Posts: 83
    This is a very late reply but I just had the same issue with my GTI where ice builds up in the door jam and bends the forward lower corner of the door panel when you open the door. I called my dealer and there's a tech service bulletin about it where they rework the drain and fix the bent corner of the door.
  • alternatoralternator Member Posts: 629
    I believe my washer reservoir has cracked due to not enough deicer in the reservoir. However, I wonder why this can happen in that there is no impediment to expansion of the liquid as it freezes (the cap is not enough contain the expanding liquid).
  • bigfurbigfur Member Posts: 649
    Had the washer reservoir freeze on my 89 F-250 during a very cold streak here in MN a few years back.
  • alternatoralternator Member Posts: 629
    I am sure that the liquid in the washer reservoir can freeze, but how can the expansion of that freezing liquid damage the container, since there is nothing to effectively impede its expansion?
  • dtownfbdtownfb Member Posts: 2,918
    Not unless the filler opening is as wide as the reservoir itself, that opening is enough of a constriction to force the fluid to expanded elsewhere. In other words, the reservoir will crack in the weakest point. Evidently the cap held on tight enough that the reservoir broke first.
  • jeffyscottjeffyscott Member Posts: 3,855
    My son has a 2001 Focus ZX3. About a week ago he filled it up with gas, then the next day it would crank fine, but would not start at all. We pushed it into the garage to warm and put a heater on it. After about 4 hours it started up just fine.

    We left it in the attached garage, but the next day it was back to no start. Put some "Heet" in it and put the heater back on and it started again today, but after idling for a few minute it died and would not restart. It would crank but not give any sign of possibly starting at all.

    I had assumed the problem was some water had frozen in the gas line, because it started right up after heating it for a while. But then why would it die after idling for a few minutes with a full tank of gas?

    Oh, and all our gas here contains ethanol so I would have thought that would have absorbed any water.
  • kiawahkiawah Member Posts: 3,666
    Sounds like it might be a bad load of gas. Might also consider that the fuel filter is clogged.
  • jeffyscottjeffyscott Member Posts: 3,855
    Got it to start after putting a heater on it for a while again today. It ran like crap. He started backing it out after it had warmed up a little and it died as soon as load was put on engine. It did restart and he kept it running (badly) for 15-20 minutes. Had keep a foot on the gas pedal to keep it from dying.

    The CEL came on with P0300 - "random/multiple cylinder misfire".

    We did find out there is "extended coverage" from Ford for the fuel pump (they call it fuel delivery module). The description of this indicates that the fuel pump causes "contamination of the fuel filter" and this causes surging, hesitation, etc. and can ultimately cause stalling.

    The way it was running seems to match this, though I don't think it normally appears suddenly like this. But since his fuel pump was never replaced under this program, I think we will assume this is the cause and get that done and go from there.
  • thebignewfthebignewf Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2006 Honda CR-V Ex and we get a lot of freezing rain wet snow here in the east. When it's cold and there's ice or snow the first time I press on the breaks there is very little reaction from the car, if you forget about this it is quite alarming.
    My practice now is when I pull out of my driveway I start driving down the street and do a hard break to warm up the breaks. Once I do this the breaks are fine for the rest of the drive. This can't be normal, several times I've been looking for a "soft" place to crash when I hit the breaks again and it stops.
    I've mentioned it to the dealer but of course they can't find anything, problem is if I've driven there I've already warmed up the breaks. It usually only happens in the morning but sometimes in the evening if the car has been sitting out in the cold weather for a while.
  • srs_49srs_49 Member Posts: 1,394
    Does it feel like the power assist isn't working?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That's what I was thinking...that his power brake booster is somehow not getting enough vacuum (or has bled out the vacuum reservoir) at first start-up. If that's the case, I'd check for vacuum leaks but if it's some internal problem with the booster, that could be tricky to diagnose.

    It would be interesting to note if the pedal "feels" different upon first application---very hard and unyielding.

    It would also be interesting to see if you could "stab" the brake pedal a few times before starting out in the morning, to see if that corrects the problem.
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