desmond

My car is getting harder to start as winter goes on. Late last year i realized part of that was due to a bad battery and terminal. So i replaced the battery and terminal and it was good for a while. Then after sitting for 2-3 weeks it came back. I changed the oil and spark plugs, but when the motor is cold (-1 and lower degrees on the pfc) and its coldish outside (30 degrees) it just doesn't want to turn over. The plug wires cant have more than 30K on them and looked fine to me when i changed the plugs. I don't think its loss of compression. The car usually starts right up when it warms up outside. I'm sure when i get home and try again it will start right up. And i get 17-18 in of vacuum at idle. Is there something I am missing that is not allowing the car to turn over? The only thing i can think that definitely needs to be changed is the fuel filter, but would that affect start-up?

DaveW

By "not turn over," I assume you mean it cranks, but won't start. (Won't turn over usually means to me it won't crank.)

Fuel filter should not affect this. How old is your gasoline? Does it crank at "normal" speed when cold, or is it noticeably slower? What weight oil are you running?

Dave

desmond

Sorry, yes i mean it cranks, but won't start. I would guess i haven't filled that tank in maybe 2 months at the most. My trip meter has about 100 miles on it and i usually get $20 in gas when i need to. The car didnt move much in the period of time, but i tried to start the motor and let it get up to temperature as often as i could remember. I believe jiffy lube put in 10-30w oil when i got it changed. It cranks about normal when its cold. Oil pressure takes a little longer to get up to 30psi when it has sat for a while. But after my battery starts draining it cranks slower of course.

desmond

As I expected it fired right up when i got home. Any ideas?

RE-Amemiya7

Old gas, heavy weight oil, a car that sits for for a week without being started and cold ambient tempature.....hard starting is what you should expect.

I have a hard time starting my FD every Jan-Feb. I run the car once or twice a week in the winter while it is in the garage. The average tempature hovers between -10F and +10F here and makes for some hard starting. I have found that letting the car get up to operating temp, then getting the rpms up to 4000 for 30 sec or so really helps clear the carbon build-up out. Thas made it eaiser for me to start while i store it over the winter....well that and using a lighter weight oil.

XxMerlinxX

iTrader: (2)

What's the exhaust look like when you start it up? Bluish tint to it by chance?

desmond

Nope, it's not burning oil. Its the usual white smoke. I'm going to try to get up under it tonight and check the plugs and then see if i can find out what weight oil was put in there, or just change it to a lighter oil.

It still doesn't make any sense to me though. When i tried to start it in the morning the water temp was at 1 degrees and wouldn't start. When i got home it was at 5, not that much warmer, and it fired right up. I drove the car all last winter when it was much colder than this year. The main thing that sucks is that this is my back up car/ weekend car and i need to get it consistently running, because my other car got broken into and fucked up.

Jack

iTrader: (2)

Are you running stock spark plugs? 7's leading 9's trailing? If you are running colder plugs, that may be the culprit...

desmond

Stock plugs, with like 50 miles on them at most. Maybe i mixed them up? I remember putting the 7's in the bottom and 9's on top. Or maybe a plug wire boot isn't completely on, or perhaps a plug isn't fully inserted. But if any of those were a problem, wouldnt it run like **** when i get it started?

DaveW

I've had cars that were hard starting only at specific temperatures due to being just off the proper fuel map. I had a Ford Escort that was hard starting right around 50F. but would start perfectly at above 55F and below 45F.

Therefore, I wonder if your intake air temperature sensor is sending the correct temperature info to the ECU. Maybe you could check that out. A slight vacuum leak could also have a similar effect.

Dave

desmond

It turned out i did have a small vac leak at the crossover tube. i tightened down the coupler so hopefully it will fired up in the morning. If it doesnt work i will try to get up under the car over the weekend and check the plugs and air temp sensor. Thanks!

DaveW

Vacuum leaks that affect mixture can only occur at or after the throttle body. Plus, that is the only place where significant vacuum exists. Boost leaks, of course, can exist anywhere from the turbos to the engine.

Dave

desmond

Oh, well nevermind then.
Well it fired up this morning. It was a bit warmer than yesterday, so maybe that had something to do with it. Hopefully it will do the same tomorrow. If not i'll be sure to check that other stuff and come back here and complain about it some more. Thanks again everyone

desmond

When i came out this morning it didnt want to turn over again. So naturally im a smidge upset. So out of the blue, i decide to use the map watch function on my pfc and check what injector map cell it was going to when cranking. I saw that it was going to N1,P10. The map im running is running super rich in many places, so i decide to try to take some fuel out. Sure enough after i took out 10%, it fired right up.
Could this have been the problem all along?

DaveW

In a word, yes.

Sure sounds to me like you found the problem.

Dave

TheCrazyAZN

iTrader: (2)

just curious, what kind of porting?

im still having trouble with my half bridge

desmond

im on stock ports

desmond

Well that worked once for some reason, but I'm still having the same issue. The air temp sensor seems to be working correctly. I also found out that my oil is 5w-30.
Can anyone think of a reason why the car won't turn over when its cold, but when it warms up some it fires right up. Lately the water temp has been around 0-1 degrees in the morning and when i get home its at 3 or so b/c of warmer temps. it would seem to me that a 2-3 degree difference shouldn't make that big of a deal. I don't think i have a vac leak, b/c when i get the car started, i have the same vac readings ive had since before this problem started. I get good vac at idle 17-18 in. Like i said before the plugs have maybe 150 miles on them. But i will try to get up under the car and see if they are fouled. Any ideas?