Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent...... - Other Cars Forum

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Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:28 AM
Alright... it has been rather cold around here for a couple days... it has been constantly lower then -30 Celsius with wind chill into the lower - mid -40's with tons of blowing snow etc.... so my torrent has been plugged in for the entire time that it has been cold however I went to go out and start it and she will not attempt to turn over... it shows a CEL however the CEL doesn't throw a code.... the truck only has 9,000km's on her so I cannot see it being a battery problem (considering on-star/the radio/everything electronic works fine and is strong) I have also gotten on-star to run a diagnostics but the truck is showing as normal..... So to recap it has been really cold...when you goto start the truck the dash lights up however the engine makes no noise and just shows the CEL.. .the CEL is the only light that comes on when you turn the key.. the engine does nothing

Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 2:41 PM
Battery.



05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.523@111.30
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 2:54 PM
x2


weve had that probnlem onthe lot here recently.....3-4 w/ under 3 miles...the cold can kill a battery



Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 3:51 PM
Yeah.. Cold + battery = low cold-cranking Amps.

Invest in a Battery Blanket/warmer (they're about $30 at Canadian Tire) and when you next get the car started by using a battery Charger with a Start function: RUN THE CAR FOR A WHILE.

I've had to help my neighbours about 15-20 times in the last couple years because they start their cars, drive for about 4-5 minutes till they get to work, and then let it sit for 8 hours until they pile in in the evening and drive 5 mins home... and they wonder why they have a dead battery in a year.

Let your car idle for about 30 seconds before you go for a drive, and then drive for about 45 minutes to keep the battery's charge up.

The only other possible thing that it could be is that you have water in your gas-lines, so you can also pick up a 6 pack of Gas-line antifreeze & water remover... when you go to start your car up, put the key in and click it to the last notch before you'd actually be starting it, and leave it there for about 4-5 seconds, then start it up. What you're doing is priming the lines, and bringing the line pressure up to operating range.

To be honest: I've had the same car for over 4 years that has about 250,000kms, and with the exception of using 10W30 instead of 5W30 (keeps the heat in the engine) Mobil 1, I'm doing all that, and have yet to have a day where the car won't start.





Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 9:59 PM
oh sorry guys I forgot to mention the battery is registering what it deems to be normal voltage and tests as strong.... even if it was the battery that was low and weak on cranking the engine should still crank a bit.... i'm not getting anything out of the engine.... called road side assistance and they're so back logged I'll be lucky to get a tow truck in 72 hours...
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 5:25 AM
battery.

Swap it out w/ another one on a car that cranks and see what happens.



05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.523@111.30
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 9:22 AM
9k on it , call road side assistance and get it towed in to the dealer and check out






Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:14 AM
wouldn't a battery tender help in this situation?




WI-Jtuners member
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:45 AM
swapped batteries and still nothing.... road side assistance will send someone out in the next 24 hours... followed by a tow truck in the next 72.... great
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:54 AM
Yeah, there's likely nothing you can do on your own at this point.

I glossed over the part where you said it won't even try to turn over, and I'm guessing most people did too. The starter solenoid can't take a whole lot of juice to pop out when you try it.

Best of luck, this is the first real problem I've heard with Torrents: a bunch of ppl @ work have them with no complaints.




Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 1:15 PM
i know you said it won't even turn over, but this is the only thing I could come up with. right now.

The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.

Condition/Concern:
Some customers with vehicles built before 2/10/2007 may complain of an intermittent crank - no start condition at temperatures below -10C (14F). When in cold temperatures below -10C (14F), the fuel system relay case will shrink causing the contacts to bind. This results in an inoperative relay leading to a crank no-start condition.

Recommendation/Instructions:
If the vehicle was built prior to 2/10/2007, inspect the fuel system relay. Affected relays have lot numbers (format dd.m.y.D5) between 2946D5 (April 29, 2006) and 1766D5 (June 17, 2006).

If the inspected relay falls within these dates, replace the fuel relay.

Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed

Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 3:08 PM
good find.



05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.523@111.30
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:49 PM
alright... finally road side assistance is taking non-emergency calls from here.... it has warmed up slightly.. to around -25..but still a 8 hour wait for a tow truck.... but now a new problem has come up.... it seems like the theft lock system or something is preventing the key from being released.... I went out a hour ago to try and start it one final time... and now the key will not come out.... it will move from acc - on but not back and out.. .any tips? I called the dealership and they just laughed and said they have never experienced that in a vehicle newer then 06
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Thursday, January 31, 2008 2:22 PM
Turn the steering wheel.



05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.523@111.30
Re: Problem with the cold and my Pontiac Torrent......
Friday, February 01, 2008 3:16 PM
Turning the wheel won't help the key come out of the ignition.

Most likely a problem with the shifter, more specifically the button on it. There's a huge problem with that in the Delta bodies, but I've not yet heard of it in a CAMI vehicle.






14.330 @ 96.37mph
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