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Today my mom called me and said her car wouldn't start. So I went over to my parents' house and tried to get it to start, but it just wouldn't. I'm not a car person, although I wish I was.

Anyway, I don't think it's the battery though. The lights work and so does the radio. I think it has a lot to do with the cold weather. It's been near zero degrees here in Detroit, Michigan, with the wind chill putting it below zero.


Any advice? Will it start up again once it gets a bit warmer, like on Wednesday? Or should I just have it towed somewhere for service if I can't get it started?

My mom's car is a 1994 Toyota Camry, by the way.

1. How much gas is in it?
2. Is the anitfreeze full?
3. Is there a place you can push it to warm it up some?

1) Gas tank is full. My mom said she just filled it up yesterday.

2) I'll check the antifreeze tomorrow.

3) I don't know where I can push it to get it warmer. She doesn't have a garage. But like I said, some (relatively) warmer temperatures are in the forcast, starting on Wednesday, with the high's being near 30 degrees as the weekend moves in.

I know this is a dumb question, but is there a plug for a block heater? While I'm sure you would have known before I'm just looking at one of those most obvious solutions.

But a trick you may try is to take a small ceramic heater (or any small heater) and put it in the engine compartment, away from direct contact with anything plastic, and aim it toward the engine block. Close the hood, but not fully, and give it a couple of hours to see if that helps.

I'm guessing that water got in the fuel line and froze it. This will prevent gas from getting from the tank to the engine, which in turn, will make it so the car doesn't start.

My advice is to go to your local gas station and pick up some "Iso-heat" or a similiar product.

The chemical in the bottle mixes with the gasoline and hunts down moisture and removes it.

Fender Bender wrote:My advice is to go to your local gas station and pick up some "Iso-heat" or a similiar product.

The chemical in the bottle mixes with the gasoline and hunts down moisture and removes it.

Never thought of that... I was thinking frozen cooling lines.
But yeah, try the Iso-heat because if the lines are frozen under the car warming the engine compartment will do squat.

2 words: FLAME THROWER

Thanks for the replies and advice!

Looks like I'm not the only one in Detroit with problems related to the cold weather. They closed down most, if not all, the schools around here. On radio today they must have listed 50+ schools that are closed.

It might be the battery even if the lights and radio work. Compared to the starter and ignition system, the lights and radio do not draw much amperage. Cold weather will adversely affect the battery especially if it's an older one.

If you turn the key and get no attempt to start the engine, it very well could be a weak battery and you might want to attempt to jumpstart it. If you turn the key and the engine tries to start and fails, then it's probably a fuel issue.

EDIT: Spelling

Heavy B wrote:2 words: FLAME THROWER

I like the cut of your jib, baybee!

muswp1 wrote:It might be the battery even if the lights and radio work. Compared to the starter and ignition system, the lights and radio do not draw much amperage. Cold weather will adversely affect the battery especially if it's an older one.

If you turn the key and get no attempt to start the engine, it very well could be a weak battery and you might want to attempt to jumpstart it. If you turn the key and the engine tries to start and fails, then it's probably a fuel issue.

EDIT: Spelling

Yeah, it was a weak battery. There were 2 reasons why I didn't think it was the battery.

1) The radio and lights still worked (but muswp1 explained in the above post that those two things don't draw much from the battery).

2) We have one those devices where you charge it at home then use it to jumpstart your car. Either it's messed up or it's a crappy one, but that didn't work either.


So I finally called someone at a garage, and he brought his device to jumpstart a car, and it worked. But he said it took a lot of of his device, and that the car had a really weak battery.

So I drove the car to Autozone and bought a Duralast battery.



Again, thanks for all your help everyone.

My Chemical Romance wrote:

muswp1 wrote:It might be the battery even if the lights and radio work. Compared to the starter and ignition system, the lights and radio do not draw much amperage. Cold weather will adversely affect the battery especially if it's an older one.

If you turn the key and get no attempt to start the engine, it very well could be a weak battery and you might want to attempt to jumpstart it. If you turn the key and the engine tries to start and fails, then it's probably a fuel issue.

EDIT: Spelling

Yeah, it was a weak battery. There were 2 reasons why I didn't think it was the battery.

1) The radio and lights still worked (but muswp1 explained in the above post that those two things don't draw much from the battery).

2) We have one those devices where you charge it at home then use it to jumpstart your car. Either it's messed up or it's a crappy one, but that didn't work either.


So I finally called someone at a garage, and he brought his device to jumpstart a car, and it worked. But he said it took a lot of of his device, and that the car had a really weak battery.

So I drove the car to Autozone and bought a Duralast battery.



Again, thanks for all your help everyone.

It's good that you bought a battery, but it might not've been entirely necessary.

The Alternator is a power generator basically, and yes it does require power in the battery to start the system, but once on...the Alt will charge the battery as it runs. During cold weather (for the future) just run the engine at odd intervals to keep everything loose and open. We almost went ahead and bought a battery ($70.00, no thanks) and we've used this method for years. Works like a charm.

And yes..one day the battery will need replaced, but until then, this will work and save you some money for the time being.

The first thing I would do Is try to jump start it from your own vehicle via jumper cables, if that didnt work try to heat up the engine block with hair dryer or so..... or if that didnt help then get that ISO Heat, to mix with the fuel. Its really common in cities with snow and low temperatures for cars not to start, make sure that she also has antifreeze instead of half and half in the radiator. After that you mght wanna change the fuel filter, cause of condensation buildup..... as a precaution....

Mighty Scorponok wrote:The first thing I would do Is try to jump start it from your own vehicle via jumper cables, if that didnt work try to heat up the engine block with hair dryer or so..... or if that didnt help then get that ISO Heat, to mix with the fuel. Its really common in cities with snow and low temperatures for cars not to start, make sure that she also has antifreeze instead of half and half in the radiator. After that you mght wanna change the fuel filter, cause of condensation buildup..... as a precaution....

One would hope after two months his car would start...

Especially after he said he got a new battery two or three posts above.