When the temperature dips below 30 degrees the vehicle has a tough time starting and in some cases won’t start at all. It will crank and crank, it just won’t fire…once the temperature starts to rise the engine will start fine and will be good for the rest of the day. We took it to a mechanic last year and spent $350 for a temperature sensor replacement which has proven not to be the issue!!! Gotta love throwing money away, so in hopes we don’t have to throw any more away I’m turning to the car talk community! Thanks in advance!
There could be a problem with the ignition system that is causing the trouble. When the trouble happens again see if spraying a small amount of starter fluid into the intake makes any change. If that doesn’t work I would have to suspect the ignition system has a bad connnection somewhere. If the engine fires up then maybe there is a cold start valve problem if you have one.
Have the spark plugs ever been changed? We can’t just assume that your maintenance is up to date.
Questions:
-How long has it been since the vehicle has had a tune up?
-Is the “check engine” light on, and if so, what are the codes?
You say the temperature sensor was replaced, but most fuel-injected vehicles have two–one for the coolant and one for the incoming air temp. Which one was replaced? A good test would be to put a scan tool on the vehicle and read both sensors after a long cold soak where the vehicle has sat overnight. Both sensors should agree before starting. If the intake air temp sensor or the coolant temp sensor read inaccurately, the computer will not be able to properly enrich the mixture for cold starting.