Before I freak out and take it in to the dealer...

 

I've had this car for less than 24 hours. Drove it several times yesterday and encountered no starting problems. Came out this morning (not a particularly cold morning, about 30 degrees) and it took 5-6 seconds for the engine to turn over, as if it were a super frigid day with an old battery.

 

After driving it to work with no issues, I started it again a few minutes after shutdown, and there was no problem starting.

 

Fuel injection problem? Battery drain? Why would a brand new car act like this on a not-that-cold morning?

 

Thanks for any insight you can provide... It's a 2012 Impreza 2.0i Premium.

Maybe turn the key to run for a few seconds and let the fuel pump start up, then try and start the car?

Probably a fuel management issue. If it does this repeatedly I would consider it normal for cold starting.

A 5-6 second delay before the engine cranks is not acceptable on any car at any temperature.

Injection problems won`t prevent the engine from cranking.

 

Take it back to the dealer and let them figure it out.

Probably an undercharged battery,but,possibly a draw etc.

To get rid of any confusion... Does the engine start making starting noises as soon as you turn the key?

 

I've seen a few posts lately where people say "It takes 5 seconds to crank over" or whatever. What they really mean is "it takes 5 seconds of cranking to start".

 

If it's the former, engines don't like starting when they're frozen. It takes a bit more time.

How much is actually driven with the car. It could be there is air in the lines, fuel filter ect.

 

I notice it that my car takes longer to start because it starts on gas but it runs on LPG. So after few minutes after starting it switches and from then is not run on gasoline anymore. The next time I start it it takes longer. I always assumed the fuel seeps somewhat back to the tank.

Warranty!!!

 

Get it to the dealer, get the complaint written down, that way if it does manifiest itself later, even after the warranty expires you will most likely be able to get it taken care of.

 

 

 

Also, brand new vehicles should not be a pain, let them figure it out, have a cup of coffee, and see if you can upgrade to the WRX!!

Edited February 24, 201214 yr by NoahDL88
Turns out Warranty has a t in it, who knew?

To get rid of any confusion... Does the engine start making starting noises as soon as you turn the key?

 

Yes. It starts starting (making noises), but doesn't "get going" (the part when you normally let go of the starter) for 5-6 seconds.

 

The car has 26 miles on it.

 

It was 30 degrees at the coldest last night... does that really count as "frozen" though? That's a normal winter day around here... no other car I've ever owned has had trouble starting at such a temp, on a presumably new battery...

 

I realize this is a very new car and perhaps premature to post about the problem, but I thought I'd get started on my worrying early :-)

 

One thing I did not do, however, was to leave the key in "ON" for a few seconds more before doing "START." I will try that tomorrow morning.

Edited February 24, 201214 yr by Flopka

Go to the dealer on a cold day and ask to start a few identical models to see if its normal.

5 to 6 seconds to fire up might be longer than typical. "Slower than typical" cranks before fire up in 30 deg. weather is typical. Was your car garaged or parked outside? The standard battery might be rated at 550 CCA, which may be just adequate. I would enjoy the car and watch starting behavior over the next few days, and in warmer weather as well, before considering taking it to the dealer.

Edited February 26, 201214 yr by aba4430
minor error.

 

The car has 26 miles on it.

 

This is the kind of thing you run into with high mileage cars.

 

Welcome to the site. Let the dealer sort it out if it continues. I wouldn't be happy if it really is 5-6 seconds. On my 05 with 120K miles, it's less than 5-6 cranks and it's running.

I would want the car to do it at least one more time before I worried about it. Then let the dealer worry about it if it does it again.

Yes. It starts starting (making noises), but doesn't "get going" (the part when you normally let go of the starter) for 5-6 seconds.

 

The car has 26 miles on it.

 

It was 30 degrees at the coldest last night... does that really count as "frozen" though? That's a normal winter day around here... no other car I've ever owned has had trouble starting at such a temp, on a presumably new battery...

 

 

Last time I checked, water freezes at 32 degrees.........no matter where you live:rolleyes:

 

And honestly......5-6 seconds? did you time it? could it have maybe been only 2 or 3? Even if it was 10 seconds...that's not that abnormal on a cold day. Also, a brand new engine isn't broken in yet, so it may take the rings warming from a few cranks to get good compression.

 

I wouldn't worry at all. The car started, on the first try......even if it took a few seconds.

Warranty!!!

 

Get it to the dealer, get the complaint written down, that way if it does manifiest itself later, even after the warranty expires you will most likely be able to get it taken care of.

Agreed.

 

 

 

Let the dealer sort it out if it continues. I wouldn't be happy if it really is 5-6 seconds. On my 05 with 120K miles, it's less than 5-6 cranks and it's running.

 

And honestly......5-6 seconds? did you time it? could it have maybe been only 2 or 3? Even if it was 10 seconds...that's not that abnormal on a cold day.

 

10 seconds of cranking on a cold day?? That's a LONG time... I would certainly consider it abnormal, even on 20+ year old cars. I've never timed it, but even in the cold, I bet that my cars take well under 3 seconds to get started.

 

 

 

Last time I checked, water freezes at 32 degrees.........no matter where you live:rolleyes:

... and nobody uses pure water in an engine, which is why "frozen" is an ambiguous term when you are trying to describe an engine being cold.

Yes, the first time it happened, the engine tried to start up for 5 seconds or so before it got running. But that time, I had rushed right through to START and never paused at ON.

 

Over the weekend, the car didn't have any startup issues at all -- but then again, I made sure to hold "ON" for a good while each time. The temperature was all the same each day (25-30 degrees) so that was encouraging.

 

I never hear any sound of a fuel pump when I hold "ON" though (even when the car goes on to start with no hesitation), which makes me wonder if that's normal or not. Yet, I could swear when I was driving the car around this weekend, I would occasionally hear a buzz shortly after startup from the general direction of the fuel pump. So... I'm a bit confused. What does the fuel pump sound like in a Subaru? When is the fuel pump supposed to come on, exactly?

 

I have absolutely no other issues with the car's performance - there doesn't seem to be a fuel supply problem while driving.

 

I was going to come on here and say "all clear" this morning, but then this morning the car hesitated again starting up - for about 3 seconds this time, so that's better - although it seemed to want to die before it recovered and started up. I had gotten a little overconfident, so I had held ON only about 5 seconds instead of the 10 seconds I did in the mornings over the weekend.

 

So far, the common denominators in the rough starts have been:

 

Cold temperature

Sitting more than 12 hours

Not holding "ON" for longer than 5 seconds

 

And yes, it is being kept outdoors.

Edited February 27, 201214 yr by Flopka

I doubt 5 or 10 seconds would make a difference. The fuel pump only runs 2 or 3 seconds anyway when you put the key in RUN. The fuel pump doesn't run continuously when the engine is off, that way if you crash and rupture a fuel line it doesn't sit there and pump fuel into the fire.

True, but I wonder if this is an issue with the fuel pump being slow to "wake up" when you turn the key to ON. Maybe it needs 5-10 seconds for some reason. Even in 30 degrees (which is not particularly cold weather), that doesn't seem quite right. I've never had another car that acted like this at 30 degrees.

 

I'm also still on my first tank of gas, so I don't want the dealer to just brush me off with "it's bad gas."

Edited February 27, 201214 yr by Flopka

2012 impreza? if so, it's GDI and has a high pressure (way higher than the standard 45-60 psi) and could just take a little more time to pressure up when cold. I would document a complaint with the dealer. Subaru can't fix it if they don't know there is a problem.

 

all my old subies crank within 1-2 seconds. chee chee chee roooooooommmmmmblablablablablabla.

It's going up to the mid-60's here by the weekend (unseasonably warm), so there will be an opportunity to see if this is a function of temperature, or of (fuel pressurization) time. (or something else)

 

This morning, it was 30 degrees, I held "ON" for at least 10 seconds, and it started up immediately.

Edited February 28, 201214 yr by Flopka