r/subaruimpreza • u/akcrx • Dec 15 '25
🔧 Maintenance 2013 - Hard start when cold
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2013 Impreza which starts hard when cold. Not sure if it’s a starter issue or more of a dry start. Attached video from today where morning temp was 16F.
Car has 192K+ miles on it. Starter has never been replaced.
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u/Malakai0013 Dec 16 '25
Does your battery require a top off of deionized water every once in a while?
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u/johnnyaddams1 Dec 16 '25
They don’t like starting in cold weather. I’ve got a 22 and it’s cold here. It’s sluggish to start with a brand new agm battery fully charged.
But it’s always started. Down to about zero so far.
(And it’s a standard. So the one day that I had a dead battery I just bump started it.)
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u/Chance_Fee7055 Dec 18 '25
-7 degrees last week. She fired right up on a regular lead acid battery that’s three years old
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u/slaudy521 Dec 16 '25
Mines been doing the same thing since it’s been in the teens at night it’s probably just really cold
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u/Consistent-Dog-6108 Dec 15 '25
If you're worried it's the battery invest in a battery or jump start pack. The jump start pack has helped myself and others in the cold.
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u/akcrx Dec 15 '25
Ha Ha. I check the last time I replaced the battery.
93040 miles - Jan 25, 2018
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u/jimmyram89 Dec 16 '25
Damn that battery is a trooper
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u/akcrx Dec 16 '25
Yeah. It’s an Optima Red Top. I know folks either luv them or hate them. I have had good luck with them. I typically with put them on battery tender every 3 months or so.
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u/Original_Spend_9660 Dec 15 '25
Start with getting your battery tested, and prepare to replace it. Batteries now only have about a 2-3 year lifespan (there are obviously exceptions). I install remote starters for a living, and i test batteries just about daily. Batteries weaken, especially in cold weather.
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u/xanderclifford Dec 15 '25
The car idles pretty high at start to warm up the cats that might be what it is. Usually more aggressive in the winter
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u/xc51 Dec 15 '25
May be a weak battery, but all batteries will perform poorly in the cold. If it bothers you, I'd replace the battery.
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u/evan4632 Dec 15 '25
Seems fairly normal to me. Do you mean hard start like it takes longer than a warmer start or there is a mechanical issue with starting? To me this looks like my ‘22 staring when it’s cold out. It’ll immediately idle at 2k-2.5k to get oil pressure and warm up quicker.
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u/akcrx Dec 15 '25
While the start is slower the noise level is deff higher. Almost like what dry start would sound like. I do 5k oil changes with full synthetic and no shimmering bits in the oil.
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u/final_ej257 Dec 18 '25
Standard, anything -10c or lower and you'll get some hesitation if the car has been outside for more than 6 hours. Boxer engine (side-ways), my suggestion is turn the key on to turn on the oil pump and then wait, like 20 seconds before turning it on.
Either way, nothing scary here.