Car will not start after long periods of cold

ROBOKRACKIN01

MEMBER
2010 CHRYSLER SEBRING
2.4L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
56,400 MILES

So here is my issue, My car died due to sever cold. I let it charge of a trickle for a while, put heat in the fuel and it ran well for about 5 days, after witch it has gone back to not starting. I have enough power and all the belts work fine. When I turn the key it sputters and coughs like it is about to turn over, and will run fine if it dose, but about 75% of the time it will not start. Any ideas of what the issue could be, or how much it may cost to fix?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,750 POSTS

We need to clarify the symptoms because they're confusing and contradictory. First of all, "My car died due to sever cold". What do you consider cold and what "died"? Did the engine stop running while you were driving? Did the battery fail? If so, how old was it?

"I let it charge of a trickle for a while". Can I assume you mean you put it on a trickle charger? How long is "a while"? A few minutes? An hour? Overnight?

"it sputters and coughs like it is about to turn over". This is very confusing. It has to turn over, (crank), to get to the point where it can exhibit symptoms like sputtering.

You should not need to add anything to the fuel. Most regular gasoline is already up to ten percent alcohol, so if you put in ten gallons of gas, you have a gallon of alcohol. Adding another expensive bottle of alcohol is not necessary.

I sounds to me like the starter system is working properly and the symptom is the engine doesn't start running or it runs poorly. The place to start is by reading and recording the diagnostic fault codes. Chrysler makes that much easier to do yourself than any other manufacturer. Cycle the ignition switch from "off" to "run" three times within five seconds, leave it in "run", then watch the numbers appear in the odometer display. List those numbers in your next reply.