GTST in the cold

[johnZ32]

Hello everybody, its getting cold here, this morning was -14 and is the first cold morning ive had problems with my 90 gtst.
Starts no problem but takes about 5 solid seconds of cranking.
The problem(s) ive encountered this morning are
A) - my powersteering didnt work the entire drive to work
and
B) - even though it heated up to running temps it took about 25 minutes to get ANY heat blowing

Any ideas/i saw the other thread about water/block heaters. how hard is it to install with
minimum knowledge?

[Skym]

In cold environments it's worth buying a drycell battery. Also save weight with drycell battery, can deep cycle without problems and last longer. Commonly used in racecars. Some racecars (speedway cars??) can deep cycle battery alot during competition use.

A.) Did steering go heavy (HICAS limp mode). If so, could be alternator or low power from battery that affects HICAS ECU, steering.

B.) Are we talking about aircon??? There's a adjustable flap behind dash that controls how much heat / cold air. Sometimes needs to be adjusted (It did on my car). Talk to a aircon specialist.

[johnZ32]

I have a deep cycle battery already.
And yea i guess you could decribe it as heavy steering.

And yes, im talking about the aircon. Its been fine every other day but today is the first time it has dropped below -10.
I had another question about the aircon unit. it proper that when i turn on the front window defrost it switchs to A/c and turns off the other vents?

[Skym]

But is it a drycell battery??? From what I understand, fluid inside wet cell batteries can be affected by cold weather and cause hard start problems.

Normally when you crank engine (turn key), ECU uses first time startup table that's really rich. When you let go of key, ECU switches to after start table (same tables on aftermarket ECU's) that's not as rich. On those startup tables, the colder the engine is (coolant temp), the richer ECU runs engine. For modified cars they can be too rich and need adjusting via fitting Nistune to stock ECU, adjusting maps with tuning software, laptop, consult cable, wideband o2sensor. Usually only get one chance per day to do this, so have to datalog A/F ratio via wideband during warmup and adjust tables and see if changes worked the next day. Also ignition timing startup table might need adjusting a bit to match the other tables.

This is where engine warmer should help, as can make coolant temps rise and ECU doesn't run engine too rich during startup. But adjusting startup tables to suit modified engine could help as well.

Check HICAS ECU, alternator, battery, anything affecting power. On my car it was faulty HICAS ECU due to water entering breather holes on top of ECU, as boot lid wasn't pulled down enough (turned replacement ECU upside down to prevent this from happening again). But might be as simple as battery on your car due to environment.

Aircon does the same thing on my car after pressing front window defrost / demister button.

[johnZ32]

i dont believe it is a dry cell. it is an optima yellowtop that is only a couple months old. and my car isnt very "modified". at least i believe it is enough to cause any big issues.

But like i said, it has no trouble starting. it is just these 2 issues.

I've been meaning to replace/rebuild my alternator for a while now, may have to cave and get a new one/buy a used and have it rebuilt before installing.

[johnZ32]

As well, isnt HICAS separate from powersteering??

[dundoot]

i dunno if this will help but the aircon/heater controls a servo behind your stereo, sometimes the solder points inside the servo get brittle. ( servo will get stuck in the cold or hot position ) just have to open it up and add a little bit of solder on the board

[johnZ32]

you dont happen to have pics? :P

[dundoot]

of the servo im talking about?

[johnZ32]

indeed

[dundoot]

I'll open up my dash and take a few pics to explain what im talking about...

If your electrically inclined its very easy to correct..
but im not 100% sold that this is your problem. when my servo started acting up i was stuck on full hot... without change until i re-soldered the connections, but from the sounds of it yours is still working... Does it always take a long time for the heat to come on? have you thought it could be the T-Stat? Im just throwing possibilities out there.

when i get the pics ill explain how to test the unit.

[johnZ32]

im pretty electronically inclined.
During the summer my econ only blows hot and since it got cold out it takes a little bit (like until temps get up to proper level) to get heat blowing, but today it took 30 minutes and turning off the vehicle after 20 minutes (when i stopped at tim hortons) and back on.

could be the t-stat

[M13]

have you put a cardboard that covers half your rad?


that could help.


it's over cooling.

[DreadedFist]

My hicas was acting hilarious this morning, and then once it warmed up it was fine. It's never done that before, so I guess the cold weather is screwing with it.

[johnZ32]

have you put a cardboard that covers half your rad?


that could help.


it's over cooling.

my roommate suggested this and i am going to try it tomorrow morning