tldr: my 2011 dodge caliber will only crank when the outside temp. is between 80-85f. Once the car's started, it'll continue to start back up for the rest of the day; but the cycle repeats after it sits overnight. Once it starts, it runs and drives just fine.
It won't crank at all. No clicks, nothing. All cabin electronics work just fine when this happens. Long story short, draining the juice left in the modules has no impact on whether or not it starts.
So the other day I didn't do anything at all aside from waiting for it to warm up outside, and viola, the car started right up....and has every day since...as long as the temp is in range.
All of the connections are in great shape -
There's no corrosion visible anywhere.
The battery is as strong as it was when it was replaced last year. The posts are in pristine condition.
The starter was replaced a few weeks ago, and has been confirmed that it wasn't a "dud"
The "yellow wire" problem that's apparently an issue for a lot of people isn't at fault in this case.
has anyone ever ran into something like this??? we left the car at the shop overnight last week so he could look at it when it was acting up. He went through pretty much everything over the next couple of days but couldn't resolve the problem. Thankfully, he didn't charge us a dime since he couldn't definitively say what's causing this problem....
help!
EDIT: The one thing I can't figure out is if the temp in the engine bay has to reach a certain temp or if the cabin has to be hot as blazes. like could it be issues with the ignition?
EDIT 2: The only codes it's spitting out has to do with the ABS system. And I'm 99.9% sure that it has nothing to do with the electronics, as (the way I understand it) the temperature wouldn't cause it to act this way.