2010 Aveo5, no crank when colder than 10 degrees

[jamesg001]

I'm looking for help with my son's 2010 Aveo5. 70,000 miles. 5 Speed manual transmission. When the temperature drops below 10 degrees the starter does not crank. Once it warms up a little over 10 degrees the car starts fine. It has a new starter and battery. When he turns the ignition on the dash instrument light as normal. When he turns to start position the display (e.g. clock) dims. I have an obd II reader and it doesn't show any codes. I swapped relays with no change. I can hear at least one relay click when he turns key to start position. I have bypassed the clutch switch with no change. I have wiggled the key in different directions while in the start position with no go. I have visually inspected cables and ground connections and they appear to be solid. (Working on a car at night in sub 10° weather is not real conducive to extensive cable research.) I am comfortable with a multimeter and basic troubleshooting and am looking for any suggestions to try.

We had a mechanic look at it but he wasn't able to duplicate the problem probably because the day had warmed up too much by the time he got to it.

I will have his car this weekend and the temperature looks to be cold enough to cause the issue so am hoping to hear some suggestions of things to try by then.

Anyone have any suggestions? I have searched the forum and googled in general but haven't really found anything that quite matches up with this.

Let me know if there is additional information that would be helpful.

Thank you,
James

[Eg.h2o]

Even though you checked the cables,I feel you will find the problem there. Start at the battery, remove and clean the terminals again. Then follow the ground cable to the engine ground. Wiggle, then remove, clean and reinstall. Remove inspect and reinstall the positive cable at the starter. Lastly inspect the ground clusters around the fuse box and fender. Remove wiggle all wires individually (it’s common for these to get gangrene and fall apart. Gotta love the rust belt). Then reinstall and hope for the best.
good luck.

[jamesg001]

Thank you Eg.h2o, That aligns with my thoughts. Again when I checked the cables previously it was below zero and night, so I could have easily missed something. I will try that in the morning and see if it makes any difference. Unfortunately for the next 5 days after that the temperature will be high enough that it will start with no issues. Makes it a little harder to troubleshoot, but lessons in patience I guess.

I'll update the forum on what happens this weekend.

James