iridium7777

Car was parked outside and hasn't been started in a few days of fridgit cold, this am I went out and warmed it up for about 5-6 mins before my kid and I got into it and tried to drive away - but it would not go into gear.

Few restarts later and a few minutes later by using the key(coincidence?) The car went into drive.

Later in the trip the airbag maintenance warning went off, pretty sure that's cold related.

Is there something in the car that prevents it going into gear if temp is not high enough?

I'm ok getting stranded at home but I don't want to be stranded in the work parking lot at night if it's not temp related.

Thanks

mikemargolis

You don't say if your -8 is F or C.

-8F = -22C
-8C = 17F

In either case, that's pretty cold, althought the -8F is considerably colder than -8C.

I live in New England, and we haven't gotten above about 20F (-7C) for the last week or so.

I do baby it a LOT when it's cold and hasn't warmed up. Mine's a diesel, and it has a little shake for the first five minutes or so of driving. My engine can stay cold for almost 10 miles of driving in the super cold; diesels take a long time to come up to temp.

My car stays outside 24/7/365, so no garage warming it.

I've never had an issue with the transmission or warning lights in the super cold.

iridium7777

Ditto on the 24/7/365 outside and it was 8F, if not colder (Minneapolis). Later in the day I kept getting errors on the key not detected so I'll assume it was due to the weather, but still would be curious to know if there is some logic programmed in that prevents the car going into gear if the operating temp is not met.

gunnerz101

I have had cold days too recently (NY), I get pop up messages saying the lane assist, pre-safe brake, collision assist is all inoperative. I think its because of the cold because it doesn't happen when its warmer. It was also a hit an miss. It was 12 degrees outside and i didn't get the warnings.

kajtek1

Keep your windshield clean for lane assist. Not sure what radars other option use, but it might not be freezing itself, but ice build up that affects them.
What OP says should not happen.
People are shifting their transmission in negative 20's (funny C and F meet in this range).
Start with doing what you should do regardless, like any past due service, checking ATF. ...

Darel

I've had a couple cars (NOT M-Bs) where snow and ice have gotten jammed in the trans linkage and I've been unable to shift, although I doubt that's an issue here.

I drove my car home about 2-3 weeks ago in a snowstorm where a 2.5 hour drive took me over 5. About an hour into the ordeal I got a warning, can't recall exactly what it was, but something like "Pre-safe systems are deactivated". I think this was due to ice and snow coating all the sensors. It wasn't as cold then as it has been here the last week or so.

Bottom line, I feel like I'm off topic, but you speak of cold but not if it's snowy / icy. Could that be part of the issue?

D

looney100

We just went through two weeks of -25C weather. Both my wife's E250 and my E63 operated without issue. The cold often highlights issues with vehicles, but problems should still be reported to the dealership and corrected. It gets cold, vehicles should still work when it is.