hey everyone, i have a 91 tracker 2 door, manual trans with the 8v. SO im having an issue with cold starting. ive searched here and a few other boards but cant find anything to put me in the right direction with a fix, if there even is one.
in the warmer days of summer and even fall my tracker starts fine. but in the winter months it takes 3 or 4 turn/holds to get it to start. when i turn the key over i can hear it whining up but its like its not getting enough power to turn over, i turn the key off and back on again and hold it on and it whines up again but not as much as the first and sometimes it will start other times it take a 3rd or 4th try at this. it doesn't seem like its the alternator as it runs fine for long times and it doesn't do it in warm weather. and there is a new battery in it. and the starter it self turns over fine. and once again it only seems to be an issue in cold weather. ive seen on rocky-road they have a starter fix for clicking issue but mine doesn't seem to be that, however it does help to give more power to the starter. i was wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue and how they fixed it?

What weight oil are you using? I noticed a difference in cranking speed
when I switched to 5-30 oil. Cold weather, as you know decreases the
battery amperage, if the battery you put in is really small, it might not
have the power needed when it gets really cold, other than that, it
starts and runs, that's not a bad thing. I had a 65 VW bug that would
not start when it was cold, 6V battery just didn't have the power

Wild

Are all your underhood grounds clean and tight?  Battery & starter connections as well?

i havent changed the oil yet but thats what im doing this weekend. the prev owner told me it its 10-30 oil in it he changed it just before i bought it. as far as grounds all are good and the battery is what was recommended according to the book at cnd tire for the battery.

i havent changed the oil yet but thats what im doing this weekend. the prev owner told me it its 10-30 oil in it he changed it just before i bought it. as far as grounds all are good and the battery is what was recommended according to the book at cnd tire for the battery.

What about the starter, there is a ground bonding wire between the starter & solenoid that gave me fits.  Did you clean it, and all starter connections?

nope i havent checked any on the starter wires. i figured it only happened in cold weather that it would be an issue. but i will check it out the weekend i have some other work to do so ill do it all at once

[/quote]
What about the starter, there is a ground bonding wire between the starter & solenoid that gave me fits.  Did you clean it, and all starter connections?
[/quote]

That's not a ground, that's the 12V + power wire to the starter motor, DO NOT GROUND THAT WIRE,
if you do, smoke will follow, and that cannot be good

Wild

What about the starter, there is a ground bonding wire between the starter & solenoid that gave me fits.  Did you clean it, and all starter connections?
[/quote]

That's not a ground, that's the 12V + power wire to the starter motor, DO NOT GROUND THAT WIRE,
if you do, smoke will follow, and that cannot be good

Wild

[/quote]
My error, calling it a ground, both solenoid case and starter case ground via the battery ground cable at the upper starter mounting bolt.

I just don't want to see pics of a smoking hulk after a job gone wrong 

The ground is usually handled through the engine block, which does need
a ground strap from the battery or from the frame is some cases.
a non grounded engine can get it's grounding needs through odd places
like through the bearings in the axles and up the driveshaft or through the
transmission parts, generally not good places to put volts and amps through,
could cause arcing of the surfaces of the bearings and races or you just
really never know what electricity is going to do.

Wild

sounds to me like its an oil issue . possably even one of sludge build up .
 when it gets cold ,  both will thicken up and cause thestarter to drag

 both my 89 kicks have  water line heaters . i couldnt understand why . but both PO's stated they were hard to start in the winter  and  using a water heater , plugged in  at night helped .
 first thing i do when i buy a used car is  run a can of cleaner in the oil , then  change the oil . i dont care if the PO states he just did or not .

i have never had the heaters pugged in and both our kicks start just like the do in the summer . first crank and she is running

deff will give it an oil change the weekend then jsut to make sure.  thanks guys for everything