| Author |
Message |
Jonathan
Guest
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 Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:51 am Post subject:
Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5 seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm. It's not that the starter
motor turns any slower than feels normal, just that the car's engine doesn't
begin to run on it's own as quickly as I feel it should.
I have seen at least one reference on a discussion site where the author
stated that installing a larger battery with more cold cranking amps than
what came with the car would make it easier to start (something to do with
generating a hotter ignition spark). Is this a reasonable explanation or
just a lot of hot air? Will installing a battery with more CCA make the car
easier to start?
Thanks for any and all words of wisdom.
Cheers - Jonathan
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Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:57 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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On Sun, 13 Nov 2005 00:51:07 GMT, "Jonathan"
<Fire_Capt651@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5 seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm. It's not that the starter
motor turns any slower than feels normal, just that the car's engine doesn't
begin to run on it's own as quickly as I feel it should.
I have seen at least one reference on a discussion site where the author
stated that installing a larger battery with more cold cranking amps than
what came with the car would make it easier to start (something to do with
generating a hotter ignition spark). Is this a reasonable explanation or
just a lot of hot air? Will installing a battery with more CCA make the car
easier to start?
Thanks for any and all words of wisdom.
Cheers - Jonathan
Won't make any difference if cranking speed is up to standard with the |
existing battery. Check cranking voltage to be sure. |
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John Horner
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:14 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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Jonathan wrote:
| Quote: | Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5 seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm.
snip |
The Vibe uses a Toyota powertrain. You might want to ask about it on a
Toyota list. I doubt that a modern vehicle will see improved starting
performance from a larger battery. You could test it out by hooking a
second battery up to your vehicle using jumper cables and comparing the
start time with the extra battery to the normal configuration. I
suspect that you will find no difference.
My guess is that your 4-5 second start up time is a characteristic of
the engine management system, perhaps allowing for some oil circulation
or some such before firing off the fuel injectors and spark. Note that
this is pure speculation on my part.
John
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Steve Mackie
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:18 pm Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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Try this:
Turn the key to the "ON" position, wait a few seconds, then crank the
engine. See what happens.
"Jonathan" <Fire_Capt651@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%5wdf.951$c27.870@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
| Quote: | Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5 seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm. It's not that the
starter
motor turns any slower than feels normal, just that the car's engine
doesn't
begin to run on it's own as quickly as I feel it should.
I have seen at least one reference on a discussion site where the author
stated that installing a larger battery with more cold cranking amps than
what came with the car would make it easier to start (something to do with
generating a hotter ignition spark). Is this a reasonable explanation or
just a lot of hot air? Will installing a battery with more CCA make the
car
easier to start?
Thanks for any and all words of wisdom.
Cheers - Jonathan
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Jonathan
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:33 pm Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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Steve,
What you describe is our standard starting procedure, not so much for
anything except habit. Both my wife and I are used to driving diesels and
waiting for the glow plugs to heat up before starting, hence the delay.
This was the very first thing I suggested to my wife but it doesn't seem to
help.
The stock battery on the 2003-2004 Vibes was an anemic 330 CCA, but our
battery is 550 CCA, so I guess I'm answering my own question in that a
higher capacity battery won't help us all that much. After reading many
posts on other forums, there are folks out there who have much worse
starting problems with the 330 CCA battery than we do where a new battery
helped them greatly, but I'm not inclined to spend the cash right now unless
I know for sure that moving up to a battery with 800 CCA or more will
definitely improve things for us.
It's not really a "problem" for us so to speak, just more of an annoyance.
Cheers - Jonathan
"Steve Mackie" <stevemackie@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:8PIdf.123519$Ph4.3792081@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
| Quote: | Try this:
Turn the key to the "ON" position, wait a few seconds, then crank the
engine. See what happens.
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Steve Mackie
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:52 pm Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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I was just thinking, my '95 Monte starts in a split second. Can't even hear
the starter cranking because the engine starts so fast. But my wife's Honda
cranks for quite a while before it runs. Must just be a function of the
make/model vehicle.
Steve
| Quote: | What you describe is our standard starting procedure, not so much for
anything except habit. Both my wife and I are used to driving diesels and
waiting for the glow plugs to heat up before starting, hence the delay.
This was the very first thing I suggested to my wife but it doesn't seem
to
help.
The stock battery on the 2003-2004 Vibes was an anemic 330 CCA, but our
battery is 550 CCA, so I guess I'm answering my own question in that a
higher capacity battery won't help us all that much. After reading many
posts on other forums, there are folks out there who have much worse
starting problems with the 330 CCA battery than we do where a new battery
helped them greatly, but I'm not inclined to spend the cash right now
unless
I know for sure that moving up to a battery with 800 CCA or more will
definitely improve things for us.
It's not really a "problem" for us so to speak, just more of an annoyance.
Cheers - Jonathan
"Steve Mackie" <stevemackie@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:8PIdf.123519$Ph4.3792081@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
Try this:
Turn the key to the "ON" position, wait a few seconds, then crank the
engine. See what happens.
|
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Joe
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:32 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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"John Horner" <jthorner@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:oqzdf.2087$vS4.1824@trnddc01...
| Quote: | Jonathan wrote:
Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn
over the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning
over after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5
seconds for the engine to run on its own even when warm.
snip
The Vibe uses a Toyota powertrain. You might want to ask about it on a
Toyota list. I doubt that a modern vehicle will see improved starting
performance from a larger battery. You could test it out by hooking a
second battery up to your vehicle using jumper cables and comparing the
start time with the extra battery to the normal configuration. I suspect
that you will find no difference.
My guess is that your 4-5 second start up time is a characteristic of the
engine management system, perhaps allowing for some oil circulation or
some such before firing off the fuel injectors and spark. Note that this
is pure speculation on my part.
John
|
I thought the same thing. It sounds like a feature to me. It's probably a
good idea, too.
What big batteries help is SLOW cranking, not lengthy cranking. |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:16 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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Jonathan wrote:
| Quote: | Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5 seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm. It's not that the starter
motor turns any slower than feels normal, just that the car's engine doesn't
begin to run on it's own as quickly as I feel it should.
I have seen at least one reference on a discussion site where the author
stated that installing a larger battery with more cold cranking amps than
what came with the car would make it easier to start (something to do with
generating a hotter ignition spark). Is this a reasonable explanation or
just a lot of hot air? Will installing a battery with more CCA make the car
easier to start?
Thanks for any and all words of wisdom.
Cheers - Jonathan
|
Something else that no one mentioned is to check your basic tune up
stuff, if you haven't already. My car starts slowly when it needs a
tune up, after a tune up all I have to do is bump the engine and it
cranks right up. Even at 9,000 ft. and 10 degrees outside. |
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MikeG
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:23 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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How about slow build up of fuel pressure, (weak pump, regulator, clog
filter, leaking injector) If you have fuel pressure guage, check pressure
before, during and after starting.
<speedy4u23@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132006590.724253.111460@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: |
Jonathan wrote:
Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn
over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5
seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm. It's not that the
starter
motor turns any slower than feels normal, just that the car's engine
doesn't
begin to run on it's own as quickly as I feel it should.
I have seen at least one reference on a discussion site where the author
stated that installing a larger battery with more cold cranking amps than
what came with the car would make it easier to start (something to do
with
generating a hotter ignition spark). Is this a reasonable explanation or
just a lot of hot air? Will installing a battery with more CCA make the
car
easier to start?
Thanks for any and all words of wisdom.
Cheers - Jonathan
Something else that no one mentioned is to check your basic tune up
stuff, if you haven't already. My car starts slowly when it needs a
tune up, after a tune up all I have to do is bump the engine and it
cranks right up. Even at 9,000 ft. and 10 degrees outside.
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StingRay
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:14 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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<nospam.clare.nce@sny.der.on.ca> wrote in message
news:ilmin158f7vmsb6qi9a2klf1ekrohg3pqv@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Sun, 13 Nov 2005 15:18:28 GMT, "Steve Mackie"
Or better yet, turn on key for 3-5 seconds, then turn off and back on
- attempt to start. If it starts quicker now, you know your fuel pump
is loosing pressure sitting.
|
Clarence, I just checked out your website and that "Corvair" project is
fascinating! It sounded a lot better than most Corvair engines that I've
heard.
Clarence, are you by any chance one of the Kitchener area Snyders? If so, do
you have a relative, Russ Snyder, over in the Burlington area? Just curious. |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:15 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? |
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On Sun, 13 Nov 2005 15:18:28 GMT, "Steve Mackie"
<stevemackie@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
| Quote: | Try this:
Turn the key to the "ON" position, wait a few seconds, then crank the
engine. See what happens.
|
Or better yet, turn on key for 3-5 seconds, then turn off and back on
- attempt to start. If it starts quicker now, you know your fuel pump
is loosing pressure sitting.
| Quote: | "Jonathan" <Fire_Capt651@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%5wdf.951$c27.870@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
Greetings,
My wife owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, and although the car is in a very good
state of tune, it still takes the starter a few extra seconds to turn over
the motor than feels right. I am normally used to a vehicle turning over
after spinning the starter for 2-3 seconds, but the Vibe takes 4-5 seconds
for the engine to run on its own even when warm. It's not that the
starter
motor turns any slower than feels normal, just that the car's engine
doesn't
begin to run on it's own as quickly as I feel it should.
I have seen at least one reference on a discussion site where the author
stated that installing a larger battery with more cold cranking amps than
what came with the car would make it easier to start (something to do with
generating a hotter ignition spark). Is this a reasonable explanation or
just a lot of hot air? Will installing a battery with more CCA make the
car
easier to start?
Thanks for any and all words of wisdom.
Cheers - Jonathan
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Harry Face
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:15 am Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? Johnathan |
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Johnathan,
4-5 second starting time sounds within reason.
I currently run a Sears Rangehandler in my Bonneville. Its a 1000 CA /
900 CCA battery. 100 month warranty.
I didn't notice any additional starting time from the previous battery
which was about a 800 CA battery.
On my car, If you count one, two, three on start up, the car is running
before you complete saying the word two.
Good Luck
Harryface
05 Park Avenue, 32,391
91 Bonneville LE 304,498 |
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80 Knight
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:09 pm Post subject:
Re: Larger Battery = Easier Starting? Johnathan |
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"Harry Face" <harryface@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:19919-43797790-73@storefull-3112.bay.webtv.net...
| Quote: | Johnathan,
4-5 second starting time sounds within reason.
I currently run a Sears Rangehandler in my Bonneville. Its a 1000 CA /
900 CCA battery. 100 month warranty.
I didn't notice any additional starting time from the previous battery
which was about a 800 CA battery.
On my car, If you count one, two, three on start up, the car is running
before you complete saying the word two.
Good Luck
|
That is one thing I always loved about my '91 Bonnie. Even on the coldest
days, one crank and 2 seconds would get her running. Several times I would
even leave interior lights or what not on for quite some time. Come out, and
she would still fire right up. |
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