2013 2.5i Legacy Premium – cold start issues - rough starts

Since the start of this winter, I’ve seen my Subaru struggle from time to time with cold starts. Does not happen all the time, but it does as follows: turn the key to start the engine and it takes more than 3 seconds of key turning to get it to crank/start. Sometimes when it does not crank/starts, upon the second try, by the 4-5 second mark the engines starts but with a rough “shake” coming mostly from the driver’s side.

It did it today as well and it is 40sh F out - not really cold.

I just checked my battery – 12.66 volts cold after 12+ hours of rest. I also unhooked it (negative first, then positive), and gave it a small cleaning with a solution of water/baking soda. I also cleaned the connectors. Connectors and terminals were not rusted, all seemed fine.

I made sure everything was dry before reinstalling it. Positive first, then negative. Tightened nicely the connectors. The car had a rough start, but everything else was OK (thus as it was)…

Now, I drove the car about 5 mins and parked it. Engine off. I got out of the car and realized that my parking was not good and I needed to move the car a bit. When I went to restart the car, it kinda started without any juice, and quickly went off (as if died). I turned the key again, as it was about to die, I pumped the gas a bit and it started. This has never occurred before.

I know the battery is good. My next step was to check the spark plugs – Car has 48K miles on it. I got new plugs ready, been waiting for the weather to be nicer in order to DIY this maintenance, but the incident above just freaked me out a bit.

Any ideas about what can be wrong with the car? Anything I should prioritize checking?

FYI – no CEL popping up. Thanks.

 

 

 

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Clarification/Edit:

After doing further research I should clarify this post and say that the engine always cranks - the start is delayed, and sometimes it is abrupt.

 

Just wanted to get my terminology correct.

What is the battery voltage while cranking? Have you cleaned your MAF lately? Any maintenance done that would correspond with the start of this issue? You use the same fuel station?

battery voltage while cranking - have not meassured.

 

MAF cleaning - scheduled to be done in a few weeks (planning on doing this the same day I change the plugs, since I have to take off the intake housing to do so).

 

Maintenance done that would correspond with the start of this issue - none really, no engine mods or anything beyond oil/filter changes (oil changes done at local shop - air filters by myself)

 

Fuel - while I try to use brand gas (always 87 oct), I know my wife has for the past year filled it up at a local non-brand place - I urged her to stop, and she has. Still 87 oct as recommended by manual.

Mine does the same thing. I learned to wait a couple of seconds while turning the motor over while the temperature is below 40. Above 40s it has no problem turning over.

 

 

It's to early to do spark plugs. I would wait till 60k. It won't make a difference with your cold start issue. I have put new plugs in at 70k and I still have issue with the cold start. I'm thinking Crank Sensor.

12.66V is a 100% fully charged battery, so that's good.

When starting the car, do you turn the key to the accessory-on position(the final position before cranking) and let it sit for 3-5 seconds, then crank?

This allows the fuel pump to charge the system and will definitely help to start the engine with less cranking.

 

The longer cranking period is definitely explainable if you are simply sticking in the key and turning to crank as fast as possible.

 

I cringe when I see people do the old "start and shift" where they jump in the car, start the engine and shift into gear as fast as humanly possible. Cold start or not, this is terrible for the engine and transmission.

I'm not saying that you are doing this.

The idle voltage of the battery really isn't an indicator of the health of the cells in the battery, I always check it under load even a light load like the headlights can give you an indication of a failing battery.

Thanks amusa, capttris and FLlegacy for your replies.

 

While also not a fan of the "start and shift" I have to say that I'm guilty of not practicing leaving the key in the accessory-on position before the crank. I just go for the crank.

 

I'm not the sole driver of the vehicle, but will start applying this practice and advise my SO to do so as well. Will have to check back and see on this...

 

Would it be safe to test the voltage with a multi-meter while the engine is running (Noob Q probably, but I always play it safe when it comes to electricity).

 

As far as the plugs - we drive short distances in city (NYC) - so I might go ahead with this for that reason - too much wear and tear in city traffic driving IMO.

You can measure voltage with the engine running, but all that'll do for you is verify that your alternator is working. Key-off voltage being substantially below 12.6ish could be indicative of a dead cell, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Measuring voltage while cranking and/or under a light load would tell you a lot more.

 

Right before I replaced my battery, I was getting some pretty rough cold starts- I measured voltage with the key on after pumping gas, and found that it had already dropped to about 11 volts and was still falling. If you're doing a bunch of short trips, it's possible that the battery isn't getting the chance to fully charge back up after starting, and doing that for extended periods of time isn't all that great for the battery. Not saying yours is toast, but that's still a possibility. If you have an electrical outlet near your parking spot, it might be worthwhile to stick a battery maintainer on there every couple days to recharge the battery and do a little reconditioning, if necessary.

 

Couldn't hurt to at least check one of the plugs and see what it looks like. #1 or #2 are the least worst to get to, so maybe pull one of those and see if it's worth it to go through the effort to replace them early. Replacing all of them is a half-hour job of you have skinny enough forearms to get to all 4 plugs without pulling the airbox or battery, so, it's not like it's a huge undertaking if you do decide you want to change them out.

Thank you.

 

I will measure the battery tonight after the car sits for a while with the key to accessories on mode and the headlights on to see what reading I get.

 

Just to clarify - we do not do short trips as in many in one day. Rather, the commute to work is 20 mins city traffic in the morning, then 20-30 mins city traffic in the afternoon. I will not be able to plug a battery maintainer at all since I do street parking (the horror!).

 

In a few weeks I'll also check the plugs, at least one (I think #2 is the easiest to get to, by the battery), and see how it comes out.

 

In the interim, I'm going to apply the "paused crank" (stopping at accessories on for at least 3 seconds before cranking) and see how it reacts.

Voltage readings as of 7pm (car rested for about 2hrs).

 

Battery hits 12.17 V with car key at accessories on setting and map lights on.

 

Battery hits 11.97 V dame as above + headlights on

 

No further measurements were taken. After the key being in the accessories on position for about 45 seconds (as I took meassurements ) the car started without any hesitation. Batery not tested with the engine running.

 

*excuse any typos, writing this from mobile while in the laundromat

Seems pretty reasonable to me- my voltage readings were pretty substantially lower than that with a dying battery, so at least from a voltage standpoint, things look good. I'd see if waiting a little while before cranking helps (just wait for the gauges to sweep, that's an easy enough yardstick) and go from there.

I actually think those voltages with accessories/map lights on is LOW.

I'll check mine later today and report back.

FYI, I have 79,000 miles on my 2013 and original battery. I also baby my battery (careful to always shut off lights before turning off car, etc, and a few times a year, I will run an expensive battery charger float & equalize overnight. I think this helps to maintain the battery.

capttris - from the picture and 2.5 description, we're running the same vehicle (maybe different trim) but the same year and motor (2.5).

 

Thanks, it will really help if I can see what a similar vehicle (again, mine is at 48-49K miles) is measuring in voltage from the battery.

I have had similar issues in both winters since I've owned the car. At its worst the remote start would not actually work because the car had to crank for 10+ seconds to get it to start. The dealer has done an ECU reflash, crank position sensor shims, fuel pump, and new starter (all at different times). The starter was the most recent attempt at a fix and that seems to be the only one that improved anything. The car actually starts without cranking for an extended period of time, and the remote start works on the first try almost every time. I do still get a bit of shaking when it first starts when cold and now I have the added issue of feeling like it might stall when turning the wheel or coming to a stop. I have had the battery load tested at two different parts stores and the dealer also checked and everyone says its fine. Not sure what to do at this point. Sucks because I traded an american V8 that always ran strong and now I have a car thats 6 years newer that I fear may stall or not start on any given day. I bought this car to be my long term winter commuter and after 1.5 years am already considering getting rid of it.

Subaru has new firmware for the car that addresses some of these issues. have them install it under your powertrain or emissions warranty.

 

Voltage readings as of 7pm (car rested for about 2hrs).

 

Battery hits 12.17 V with car key at accessories on setting and map lights on.

 

Battery hits 11.97 V dame as above + headlights on

 

No further measurements were taken. After the key being in the accessories on position for about 45 seconds (as I took meassurements ) the car started without any hesitation. Batery not tested with the engine running.

 

*excuse any typos, writing this from mobile while in the laundromat

 

your battery may be about ready to give up the gost... a battery should be around 12.7V

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.carbatteryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Car-Battery-Voltage-Chart.jpg

Subaru has new firmware for the car that addresses some of these issues. have them install it under your powertrain or emissions warranty.

 

 

 

 

I just went to the dealership to do oil + filter... I should've seen this earlier. Do you know if the firmware can be updated DYI'd?

not sure but you will need an OEM tool

I solved it couple of weeks ago. I had a bunch of goo or grease around the positive terminal. took a wire brush and some electrical cleaner spray to clean it. Now it fired up with no problem.