I got an 85 GSL/SE that is having a hard time starting. once its gets going its fine. runs with great power. the other day it had no problem starting right away. got even compression and plugs look good. new cap and rotor and six month old mazda plug wires. got ngk plugs and been running kn filter shell gas.

i did a search in the arcive but can't find a similer problem like mine. if anyone sees a similer posting i'll read that one as well.

 

my gslse starts faster than most cars, but it has other (small) problems. usually just one quick crank and it fires up, but sometimes it wont start for a few days.
what was your compression?

 

I been having a hard starting problem too... Not sure if I fixed the problem but here's some of the things I've went through...

Battery... make sure your cranking speed is up to par.

Cap and rotor... my rotor was touching one of the nipples on the inside of the cap basicly eatting the metal away giving a bad fire I'm sure on that particular plug.

Wires... make sure they are completly on and in the right order.

Rule out the obvious.

Like Thunkrd says... What is your compression..???

Mine dropped from 110 to 90 in 2 yrs time... I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.

 

is it cold...if they get cold they have problems cranking and flood themselves if you spend more than a minutue trying to start it pull the second fuse from the top on the right side of the fuse box out thats your first 20a fuse its for your fuel pump crank it for 10 seconds then put the fuse back in and try again

 

i'll check my compression tonight now that i got my guage from work. the fuel pump would be my only worry. the last owner re-wired a aftermarket fuel pump in it. i assume the pump is fine cause its flowing lots of fuel when i take the line off the rail. on saturday the car was starting up first try but sunday it needed a small shot of ether to gitter going.

 

if i remember correctly it keeps a certain amount of fuel in the rails, and doesn't turn the pump on until the car is started. so i doubt that it would be the pump

 

Are you pushing the pedal to the floor once before cranking to set the fast idle cam the gsl-se's have on the throttle body? Just thought i'd throw that out there.

 

Be careful when you pull the feed line of on any fuel injected vehicle as it is under extreme pressure until it sits for a while.

Hopefully your fuel pump is not coming on until you start to crank the engine. If it is then it wired wrong (doubt it since that's all you have to do is tie into the existing wires when installing an aftermarket pump) or the AFM door is not closing all the way which will cause starting and idle issues.

Another thing that will cause this condition and is common is leaking injectors or very bad spray patterns.

When you have this hard start condition you need to pull a leading plug and see if it is wet with fuel.

The coolant temp sensor located on the back of the water pump housing is a possible suspect also. If it is bad it will cause the ECU to deliver too much fuel.



There are many many many threads on the SE's issues and I have posted in just about every one with likely causes.

A lot of information can be gathered by doing the ECU pin test that is detailed in the FSM.

Ignitors losing their ground because of corrosion through the mounting screws is another thing but not that common.


Best thing to do is make a check list of things to check and test those.

Loose connection on the Air duct hose (where the hose clamp joins the section of duct) can cause major issues also.

 

so i got it to not start tonight. i pulled the leading plugs and they are dry. i did a compression test and both rotors are 85psi. i put the plugs back in and tried to start the car again and it fired first try. i must just have a finicky car.

i did have to pump the pedal, but it never seems to help. even when it starts fine. the thottle is adjusted fine.

doc: i had checked the power and ground on the re-wired fuel pump and there soild. aside from pulling the injectors is there any way to get an idea of the amount of fuel that is accually getting in the engine and not justsitting in the rail?