New problem with my $600 dollar Monte Carlo. Does temperature effect starters? I went to the store Tuesday ahead of the snow storm we had here in the deep south. The starter wouldn't turn over. Had to leave the car parked at Walmart.
Today went back with sunshine and thirty seven degrees, turned over like a champ. Battery had plenty of fire yesterday evening and today. Any ideas on this?
That's my luck. First snow fall in forty years and my car goes on the fritz hours before.
Thanks

 

It impacts the starter and literally everything else in the system in a negative way.

There's really two components to it: the battery is the main one. Available amperage output has an inverse relationship to temperature due to battery chemistry. That's why batteries have both a CA and CCA rating as the max amperage output in cold drops off so much. In very cold climates, it's not unusual to see a good battery that can only output half of it's good weather amp rating.

The other problem is everything else. Oil gets thicker at cold temperatures. Seals get stiffer in the cold. Cold contraction physically shrinks all of the parts and can negatively impact clearances, imparting more drag. When you get down around 0, it's not unheard of for the engine to require literally double the force to turn it over (which in turn requires more amperage draw through the starter). That's why block heaters (a little heating element that replaces a plug in the engine that you connect to a 110v wall outlet overnight) are common up north, especially on larger engines.


So with any engine you get to a point where it gets so cold that those two intersect and the battery simply is no longer capable of providing the amps required to turn over the very stiff engine. I suspect that's what you experienced.

 

Cold temperatures also cause electrical connections to contract. That effect could be severe enough to literally create a gap between two connection points.

 

When it is cold stuff will break. Its just a miserable time of year. If you can keep them in a Garage that will help alot. But down south getting this kind of winter is a very rare thing so your stuff isn't used to the cold and it's not easy to prepare for it. I would make sure the Anti-Freeze is testing down to zero for sure. Good luck and stay warm.