We drove the buggy all day Saturday in low 30 degree weather with no problems. We camped out over night with temps dipping to the low 20's. Sunday morning the engine would not turn over. Power from the battery seems good, the gauges work, I can hear the fuel pump working and there is one click from the area of the starter when the key is turned, but not the clicking sound normally associated with a low battery. The battery ran the winch to drag the buggy up onto the trailer without a problem. When the starting problem was first discovered, I tried to roll start it in 2nd gear. When my son let clutch out, it never engaged. I looked at the clutch pedal and cable and there is slack in the cable because the lever that engages and disengages the clutch does not spring back completely to engage the clutch. I can push it back further with my hand and it does engage. It take less than 1/2" to go from disengaged to being engaged. Is this normal?
I have pushed and pulled the buggy into my garage to warm up and see if that helps.
WTF?
Any ideas on what is going on with it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Clint

Just an update, overnight in a warm garage cured all the buggy's problems. Started just fine, clutch works fine. Was the failure to crank when it was cold just a weak battery? It did have power to winch it onto the trailer,but would'ent crank over.
Should I use a helper spring to return the lever engaging the clutch?
Advise? Thanks,
Clint

Moisture in your cables froze creating drag, as a result the clutch was not fully disengaging. If your battery could winch the buggy, it is fine and did not freeze. The 2007 models do not have a starter interlock - Is it possible the is one on the 2008s?

The clutch was disengaging alright, but when you released the petal the clutch did not engage. I could push it all the way back by using my finger on the lever that the cable attaches to.
The lever lacked about a 1/2" from returning all the way back. This was enough to keep the clutch from engaging, which prevented me from push starting the dead buggy. My other question is if I have a battery that was to weak in the cold to crank the engine or do I have some other problem( like water in the starter that was frozen or something else)? The battery dosen't seem weak when its warm.
Thanks
Clint

If the clutch cable was partially frozen in the housing, it could provide enough resistance that the return spring could not fully engage the clutch. Sorry, my typo on the last message.

The starting problem has me me puzzled. Could your coolant and water pump have been frozen thus preventing the engine from cranking? As stated before ,if you were able to winch with the battery, there was plenty of juice to turn the engine.

I don't think it was the coolant, I put fresh 50/50 mix Prestone in the day before we went riding. I am considering just buying a new battery to replace the one that came stock. The buggy is an 06' so the battery is nearly 3yrs old anyway. I thought that I could leave the buggy outside when we get a cold night and see if the problems reproduce themselves( I might have a long wait for the cold night here in Atlanta) Does buying a new battery seem reasonable?
Thanks for your help
Clint

I have had that happen with vw rails, the clutch disk freezes to the flywheel and the cable just moves the fingers on the pressure plate. the starter is trying to start the tranny and engine. we took and pulled them off in secound or third gear to free up the clutch

Hey Eric,
If I understand what you are saying, I don't think that is what happened. The reason I say that is, I was able to roll the buggy in 2nd gear with the clutch in. If the clutch was frozen together, I would'ent be able to roll the buggy. What about my starting issue?
Thanks Pghruby, I should have disconnected the cable from the lever to isolate the problem to either the cable or the clutch itself, but hind sight is 20/20
Thanks
Clint

check the voltage in the battery now, and wait until thursday night friday morning and check it again. its suppost to be in the high 20's

I just had the same problem with my SandSpider. I left it outside the garage for about half an hour in 20 degree weather while I was shuffling vehicles to come back and find the clutch cable frozen. After pushing it back into the garage and starting it back up in neutral, I ran a heat gun over the clutch cable until it released. It sounds like I need to run some lube to displace the moisture in the cable jacket.