hot starting problem

[bobbak]

When i bought my car one of the things that i noticed was that it did not start like a regular car (ie) on the first turn of the key with only a slight wind over before firing. It took a couple of turnovers before it jumped into life.

consulted lotus and nah thats normal was the reply, oh ok i thought no prob there then, however when the car is hot a couple of turnovers turns into a good 20 seconds worth before it fires.

now what i have noticed is that when you start any normal car a couple of pumps on the accelerator or even holding it down for a moment makes starting easier but the oposite seems to be the case with the esprit keep right foot off accelerator until firing takes place.

I wonder if this high turnover rate is responsible for the demise of my previous starter motor and if there might be somthing I could do to reduce the workload the starter has to do thus extending its life.

I geuss what I need to know is if anyone else has experienced long turnover periods before firing when the engine is hot and was it a problem or was there a modification you did to improve the situation.

the car was serviced at 23000 miles so If there was a starting issue it should have been picked up there could this be an ignition issue (spark plugs ect) or even a fuel flow problem or somthing else?

comments welcome please.

[Zhastaph]

When i bought my car one of the things that i noticed was that it did not start like a regular car (ie) on the first turn of the key with only a slight wind over before firing.  It took a couple of turnovers before it jumped into life.

This is quite normal. IMO it's down to the pressure reg on the fuel injection system allowing the fuel pressure to gradually leak back to the fuel tank when she's not running. I always turn the key to position 2 and wait a couple of secs allowing the fuel pump to prime the fuel lines, then start her.

My Impreza used to be like this also after upgrading the fuel system.

however when the car is hot a couple of turnovers turns into a good 20 seconds worth before it fires.

That's not normal though. Mine consistantly starts after being cranked about the same number of times whether hot or cold.

Just she run normal otherwise?

now what i have noticed is that when you start any normal car a couple of pumps on the accelerator or even holding it down for a moment makes starting easier but the oposite seems to be the case with the esprit keep right foot off accelerator until firing takes place.

With all modern ECU controlled fuel injected cars you shouldn't touch the throttle whilst starting them, the ECU does all that with the idle control valve. Further to this holding down the accelerate whilst cranking puts the ECU into flood clearing mode, at which point it actually cuts power to the fuel pump

Col

[bobbak]

This is quite normal.  IMO it's down to the pressure reg on the fuel injection system allowing the fuel pressure to gradually leak back to the fuel tank when she's not running.  I always turn the key to position 2 and wait a couple of secs allowing the fuel pump to prime the fuel lines, then start her.

My Impreza used to be like this also after upgrading the fuel system.

That's not normal though.  Mine consistantly starts after being cranked about the same number of times whether hot or cold.

Just she run normal otherwise?

With all modern ECU controlled fuel injected cars you shouldn't touch the throttle whilst starting them, the ECU does all that with the idle control valve.  Further to this holding down the accelerate whilst cranking puts the ECU into flood clearing mode, at which point it actually cuts power to the fuel pump

Col

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Once the car is running she is perfect, i did wonder if the problem could be one of the O2 sensors on the exhaust making the mixture to lean once hot but on reflection this would effect the performence when hot and thats not happening.

if i get the fault reader which i am ordering will that pick up the fault even if the fault light on the dash is not illuminated?

[Zhastaph]

Once the car is running she is perfect, i did wonder if the problem could be one of the O2 sensors on the exhaust making the mixture to lean once hot but on reflection this would effect the performence when hot and thats not happening.

I wouldn't have thought O2 sesnors, the car uses a fixed duty cycle for the fuel injectors during startup.

if i get the fault reader which i am ordering will that pick up the fault even if the fault light on the dash is not illuminated?

No, the check engine light tells you that the car has a fault code. No light, no fault code. The check engine light lights when you turn the key to position 2 so obviossuly worth checking that the light works.

It's a real fiddly one if the car works fine otherwise.

The things I'd personally check if it were mine would be;

1. Spark plugs/gaps

2. Idle control valve

3. Reset the ECU

Not a lot of real use I know, but it's sommit to go on.

Edited November 27, 2005 by Zhastaph

[Stuart]

I have similar issues with mine.

If I have not driven the car for a couple of days, she fires and starts on the first crank.

If I have driven the night before or earlier that day for example she normally fires and starts on the second crank.

If the engine has been rinning in stopped traffic, or on a hot day and I stop it, then start it again relatively soon then it takes 3+ cranks to fire and start.

I don't think this is normal, if anything I would have thought that the longer it is left the harder it is to start, not the other way round.

Some enlightenment would be appreciated from those out there who know

Incedentally the car has just had a B service and has done 23K miles. Effortlessly driving down to Palma via france and Barcelona. Once I was on the continent she was purring away at 140mph most of the way down, with a few blips to 170 when the girlfriend was asleep. Incidentally it is amasing how much luggage you can cram into the luggage space of these cars especially if you get some of those vacuum bags, highly reccomended.