What's the cause for difficult cold weather starts?

Hey guys,

Lately, when the temperature is below 20*, as it was this morning at 8*, my truck exhibits hard starting. The colder it is, the slower it cranks. So far, Ive been lucky, but I dont know if my luck will continue, especially if it gets colder. Today, the truck cranked slowly for about 4-5 revolutions until it finally caught and fired but I was concerned for a second.

My question is, what is the cause of this?

Is it alternator, starter, battery?

My battery is about a year old and is rated for 800 CCA. I have a new starter although its a Chinese made 'ToughOne' . As far as I can tell the alternator maybe OEM (190K miles). So my battery and starter are new/relatively new. Should I look at replacing the alternator as a precautionary measure or is the cause of my hard starting something else?

In warmer weather, the truck fires to life right away. By the way, Im running Mobil 1 5w-20 if that makes a difference.

 

Do you have a multimeter? If not Take it to a parts store that offers free electrical testing. Don't just start swapping parts.

 

cold weather= thick oil
get battery load tested, test starter current draw
(even a simple voltage drop test at the battery while cranking), and get an oil pan heater.

 

it was -8 at my house this morning. my truck spun right over. its sits outside on the stteet.
95 2.7 liter. new battery and cables. starter was on it when I I bought it. no idea how old it is.
I would test voltage at the battery but also make sure you have clean tight cable connections at the battery, starter and negative ground points.

 

It was 2* when I left this morning, welcome to cold weather starts. As long as it turns over. As stated, anything becomes thicker when it's colder, that's why dyno testing is always done at "operating temperature", basically warmed up.

mine has never started on the first turn, usually on the third rev it fires to life and it's definitely slower turning. I'm even running Mobil1 5W-30 synthetic