98 Intrigue 3800 not starting

[marcusa]

I was heading out today to take some stuff down to the local recycluing center. Loaded up all that junk, turned the key and the engine just died the instant I let go of the key. Tried again it didn't even catch. Pumped the gas pedal...nothing. Held the accelerator and it ran, but dies the instant I let go. Popped it in drive and started driving down the driveway...died the instant I let go of the accelerator. I even held the accelerator until it was 1/4 warm and it was still dying in a shudder.

 

It'd done this a few times a while back but it would always work after a few tries or if I started driving off. Usually it would act like it was going to die and all of the sudden catch, rev a bit and normalize. If it's of any significance, sometimes when I start the car the RPM and even speedometer jump really high, though it does not seem as if the engine revved up and the car certainly isn't moving. I also want to say this happens mostly when it's warm (not hot or cold) out, it's about 70 degrees now.

 

Anyone have any thoughts? I need the car to go to schoool and work tomorrow... I'm new to all this, my previous car was a Saturn and I could see where everything was and it was really easy for an idiot like me to work on it. This one is a bit more complex, I can't even get to the air filter properly... [br]Posted on: March 26, 2006, 05:21:24 PM_________________________________________________I got the plastic cover off and listened in a bit closer. Once it dies I can definitely hear a "winding down" noise coming from inside the TB. IAC maybe? I don't know if this is normal or not, but IAC is definitely worth considering. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[DaveFromColorado]

idle air control valve is either not working, or plugged up.

 

--Dave.

[marcusa]

Big, bad carbon build-up. IAC was spot-on. The speedometer still moves when starting for some reason (unrelated maybe) but it's starting strong so far.

[DaveFromColorado]

Big, bad carbon build-up. IAC was spot-on. The speedometer still moves when starting for some reason (unrelated maybe) but it's starting strong so far.

 

The speedo issue is most likely unrelated - and if I had to "guess" at why it was doing that, it's probably the speed sensor picking up some of the CEMF's (counter electromotive force) causing a feedback in the system somewhere.

 

--Dave.