Apologies in advance if this has been covered elsewhere...




I live in the Northeast and those of you in the area know that it has been pretty cold recently. I encountered a problem when trying to start my car when it was ~5 degrees Fahrenheit -- I turned the key, the lights all came on, but the engine would not crank. No clicking, only a small, brief noise as though it might think about cranking when the key was first turned, but mostly nothing. I purchased a battery charger and tried to get more juice into it (it was showing ~11.9/12 volts), but it would not charge. So I took the battery to Autozone. They tried to charge it unsuccessfully. So, I replaced the battery. Same outcome. Ultimately, I waited until the weather was ~15-20 degrees and was able to get the car running. However, it took ~6 attempts with the car catching slightly but failing to start, then finally starting but idling so badly I turned it off. I finally got it to run smoothly at ~1500-2000 rpm and then it warmed up and ran great. The failure to start has occurred once previously in extreme cold, and when I got it running again, it was in the 30s-40s I believe and I didn't have any of the rough idling etc. I should note that my car sits most of the time and will at times go 1-2 months without being run, unfortunately.




Anyone have any thoughts? Bad starter or solenoid? Any direction would be greatly appreciated...