No power when started, warmed and seems fine

[Catlisto]

I've had my 2006 aveo5 for over a year now with no issues durring the winter. Sometimes when it's decently cold it sounds like it's not going to turn over but always pulls through. Last night (-11c) I went to start my car, after a snow storm, and it turned over with a bit of a struggle. Once on the engine light came on and it wasn't idling smooth. It also sounded like the fan belt or timing belt was squealing a bit, but that went away fairly quickly. I poped the hood and everything looked fine except for the air intake, it sounded like it was struggling too. I tried giving it a little gas and I had no power. At this point I'm still at a rough idle and now something smells slightly of rubber mixed with a bit of electronic. I turned it off and tried again. This time when it started it shot up to 3000 revs and then went down to a normal idle within a minute. Now the idle is smooth and everything seems normal, I got power again and no weird smells. I figure it just needed to warm up a bit but my engine light is still on. I don't own a code reader, any ideas?

[avguy]

Do you have any auto parts stores nearby? Here in the US, most of the parts stores read codes for free, but I don't know how many do this by you. Perhaps one of our Canadian members can answer that for you.

A sticking idle air control valve is one possibility, but it's always best to get the code first, before making any decisions. OTOH, cleaning the throttle body is never going to be bad thing to do.

[petrified.rabbit]

There are so many things this could be, you definitely need to get the code scanned.

[Catlisto]

I gave up on it that night and went back the next morning. Everything ran like normal, except the engine light was still on. Disconnected the negative on the battery and the engine light hasn't come back on...I'll definitely check out the throttle body though. Thabks for the suggestions.

Side note, no big box stores here will check code for free

[PoisonIvy]

If you've got a Princess Auto near you in Southern Ontario, then pick up their cheapest code readers when they go on sale. Or order one online. Always useful to have. Even if it's to get the code, google it, and have an idea of what it likely is, before you take it into a shop.