Long cranking before starting?

[Twinpilot001]

1988 cutlass2.8 FWD! long cranking before starting? runs ok after start -when I can get it started!!Spark & fuel all good & comp. too. Whats up with this thing?? seems i have read long ago about a temp sender causing this???? if so?? where is that located? Thanx

[George]

I assume this is only when hot starting after setting not running longer than 10 min but less than 3 hrs.

I had a similar problem that was caused by, 1st, bad fuel pressure regulator that was leaking fuel past the diaphragm and into the intake. And 2nd, leaky injectors causing fuel to drip into the intake, both causing a flooded condition. I had to press the gas pedal down quickly and release to start it with less cranking.

Is your situation like this? If not, I will just shut up. Lol

 

 

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[Twinpilot001]

COLDStarting!! all spark, fuel pressures & pump /fuel have been checked-long crank times when cold -50-60F!

[George]

Does it help to turn the ignition on, prime the fuel pump, shut the key off, let it set a bit and re-prime the pump again?

 

 

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[Schurkey]

COLDStarting!! all spark, fuel pressures & pump /fuel have been checked-long crank times when cold -50-60F!

At -50F, you can damn well expect long crank times. I'm surprised it fires at all.

 

Anything below -20F requires an engine heater or very good luck. There is no reliable starting below -30F without an engine heater.

 

I'm trying to figure out how Spokane WA gets that cold this time of year.

[pitzel]

I had a lot of problems with cold starting that seemed to get progressively worse. Re-gapping spark plugs to spec improved things dramatically. For some inexplicable reason, the plugs had drifted from the 0.045 spec all the way to 0.07 in some cases. They were ACDelco 100k mile Platinum Plugs, with approximately 70k since I installed (and gapped) them.

Edited April 19, 2015 by pitzel

[pitzel]

At -50F, you can damn well expect long crank times. I'm surprised it fires at all.

 

Anything below -20F requires an engine heater or very good luck. There is no reliable starting below -30F without an engine heater.

 

Actually I've never found temperature of the engine to be the main problem for starting, and it gets colder than -40C here. Its more a matter of the condition of the battery. As long as the battery can actually crank the engine, the engine will eventually light. But at those temperatures, obviously the battery's capability is very limited.

[Schurkey]

Actually I've never found temperature of the engine to be the main problem for starting, and it gets colder than -40C here. Its more a matter of the condition of the battery. As long as the battery can actually crank the engine, the engine will eventually light. But at those temperatures, obviously the battery's capability is very limited.

The battery's ability to power the starter is the prime concern at those temperatures. I've seen that if a fuel-injected engine will crank long enough, very often the plugs foul before the engine starts and runs. One therefore has to play games with the accelerator pedal, sometimes stamping it to the floor to put the fuel injection into "clear flood" mode.

 

Gasoline doesn't vaporize very well at those extreme cold temperatures, and non-vaporized gasoline doesn't burn very well. Used to be that gasoline suppliers fomulated the fuel for the climate--"winter" gasoline was blended to vaporize more easily than "summer" gasoline. I think they still do that to some extent, but not like they used to because few vehicles have carburetors or throttle-body fuel injection ("wet" intake manifolds) any more

Edited April 19, 2015 by Schurkey

[mfewtrail]

Have you tried pushing the accelerator to the floor as George suggested earlier? Do that on your first start when it's cold and report back the results. Let off of the pedal soon as it fires, if it does fire up. Another thing you can do is check fuel pressure over time. Prime the pump, note the reading on the gauge, and then come back and check it in ten minutes time. It should not drop off by more than 5psi in a ten minute time period.

[pitzel]

Gasoline doesn't vaporize very well at those extreme cold temperatures, and non-vaporized gasoline doesn't burn very well. Used to be that gasoline suppliers fomulated the fuel for the climate--"winter" gasoline was blended to vaporize more easily than "summer" gasoline. I think they still do that to some extent, but not like they used to because few vehicles have carburetors or throttle-body fuel injection ("wet" intake manifolds) any more

 

The refineries, at least here in Canada, vary the mix throughout the year with higher vapour pressures in the winter for those obvious reasons. Additionally, the alcohol that's added to the fuel in varying concentrations pretty much has made fuel line icing a thing of the past.

 

But yeah, I have a DIS, and its pretty shocking how much fuel the car burns during one of those -35degC unassisted cold starts. I've seen numbers as high as 40-50L/100km (ie: 3mpg) for the first few minutes of driving. Usually settles down after 10 minutes though.

Edited April 19, 2015 by pitzel

[amistydj]

At -50F, you can damn well expect long crank times. I'm surprised it fires at all.

 

Anything below -20F requires an engine heater or very good luck. There is no reliable starting below -30F without an engine heater.

 

I'm trying to figure out how Spokane WA gets that cold this time of year.

 

Actually my cutlass works in reverse, I live in minnesota and on freezing winter sub zero days the car starts like a champ, just 3 cranks and its already fired and ive never used an engine heater and the car is always parked outside

but on warm days it cranks longer than that sometimes 2 starts will do the trick.

[Schurkey]

Actually my cutlass works in reverse, I live in minnesota and on freezing winter sub zero days the car starts like a champ, just 3 cranks and its already fired and ive never used an engine heater and the car is always parked outside

but on warm days it cranks longer than that sometimes 2 starts will do the trick.

There's something wrong. First guess: coolant temperature sensor inaccurate. A scan tool would be most helpful.