Okay, first of all I have searched with no good answers. Here are my mods:
Motor:
Pineapple Rebuild
Medium to Large Street Port
Stage Three Oil Mods
Ianette 3mm Apex Seals
Heavy Duty Water Seals
5 Year Warranty

ECU:
Apexi Power FC

Fuel System:
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump
Four 850cc Injectors (Primary Rail has been shaved to accommodate bigger primaries)

Everything Else:
M2 Carbon Fiber Intake
M2/ASP Medium Stock Mount Intercooler
Greddy Alternator And Water Pump Pulleys
Stock Non-Sequential Turbo's
All Block-Off Plates
Full Exhaust

Okay, the problem. Once the car is warmed up it is hard to start. It starts right up when it is cold. It acts like it is flooding out once it is warm. It hasn't completely not started, but it just takes two or three tries. Once it starts, it puffs a little black smoke and runs fine.

What could cause this? Leaking injectors? PFC maps? 3mm seals? How do I test for leaking injectors? They have been tested and cleaned by RC eng. Any suggestions?

The car runs good except for a surging idle problem that I will address this weekend.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

hard start have been shown to be signs of low compression. In your case it could just be lack of break in after a fresh rebuild.

 

I should have mentioned that the motor has about 1500 miles on it.

 

did you keep the fpr solenoid? you could do fuel press leak down test to see if an injector is leaking. usually it would leak all the time and also have a hard time starting when cold. alot of people have alot of bad things to say about pineapple so a compression test may be in order.

 

I noticed the 3mm seals in your motor. Hopefully it is something else and your motor is fine, but it is possible that the rotors were milled incorrectly and your ceramics are being worn down, leading to low compression. That is one theory for the problems that artguy was having with his motor......

 

wait, does it take 2 0r 3 tries to turn the car on or 2 or 3 cranks of the motor?

 

Two or three turns on the car, I will crank, stop, crank stop, crank and it will start.

It starts right up when the motor is cold or has been sitting for more than an hour. It idles very smooth for a ported motor at about 800 rpms.

Has anyone heard of the 3mm 1 pc seals being harder to start when they are hot? I have heard that, but I didn't think it would be this hard.

 

Yeah, sounds like a similiar problem some guys had with a bad set of seals.
Id hafta agree with ol' Richy Rich on that one.

I hope its something else.

 

My car had the the identical problem for years. Turned out I had low compression, no biggy.

 

Update: I talked to Rob at Pineapple and he said this was very common with the one peice seals. He said to clearance the seals when the motor gets hot, he had to leave extra room. He said it really only happens when the motor heat soaks and the housing expand and the rotors contract. This is what is causing the low compression resulting in hard starting. This is the reason why people have had some problems with the 1 peice seals wearing fast, they weren't clearanced enough.
He gave me a few tips to make it easier and they seem to be working. I hold the throttle open a little and it starts right up.

I am not claiming to be an expert, just restating what he told me. Please don't turn this into a Pineapple bashing thread.

 

I've been watching your thread to see how this one would turn out. I won't waste my time commenting on Pineapple, my experiences have been documented on here and the other forum.

Sad that you have to use tricks to start a relatively brand new motor. As long as your happy with the motor you paid thousands of dollars for, thats all that matters.

Jack

 

im so glad i didnt go with pineapple.... i went with rotary power and my rebuild run's great.... i think they were really good but the better business got, the worse quality got.