Recently my car has been getting hard to start. Especially when the car has sat over night. The starter has the keep cranking the motor until it finally turns over. When it does turn over, the RPM is really low, sputters a little then finally reach its way to cold start idle.

When the motor is warm after driving it for a while. It is usually easier to start, with a few less cranks. But i still find it cranking it longer then how it use to be.

This all happened after my car died in traffic, due to a faulty ignition coil. After replacing that, this has been happening.

Things i have replaced recently.

Fuel Filter
Fuel Injector Flush
Cap and Rotor
Ignition Coil

I also replaced the spark plug because i thought that was causing the problem.

This is really frustrating. I like my car to fire up right away every time and be ready to roll. Whenever i hear it crank for a bit, it just kills me thinking the starter have to work so hard.

If anyone has any ideas or have had this happen before. Please let me get an idea of what i should be looking out for. Thanks.

 

my teggy did the same thing changed the distrib and the starter and it worked fine

 

as you said the problem happened after you changed your ignition coil, change your dizzy...
i had the same problem a while back.

 

Have you looked into your fuel pump as being a problem? I would also look into the igniter as a possible problem as well.

 

i have to change the whole distributor? what is on the distributor i haven't replaced yet?

 

could be a nasty fuel filter/fuel pump if it takes time to deliver fuel. try to prime the car a few times then crank, should start right up, if problem consist look at ignition /ground.

 

Check grounds, spark, fuel, and of course the battery. Check your cells to see if they are low etc..

My car did this, turned out to be the tranny ground.. got loose on me.. Other time it was just my battery. Hopefully its something simple like that mang.

If not, you may have a current being drawn somewhere in the car. Check your interior lights, your radio, or alarm if you have one..

 

the fuel delivery should be good. i tried priming the pump like 5 times. car still starts like that. i don't believe its fuel as once it gets running, it runs really smooth.

what grounds should i be checking?

 

The one to the motor itself... your car should start fine without it though, mine does..

But make sure you check the tranny ground. Its not common to come lose but it does happen... Its on top of your tranny and grounds over on the passenger side fenderwell... below where your intake filter is.

 

valve cover, block ground's etc. I had that problem once. Check the ignition coil with an ohm reader check Primary and secondary for the correct output. you can get the numbers @ a local parts store, if theres an ADVANCE AUTO PARTS have them look it up on their store net. They have all the reading's and all they got to do is look up the part number. I have the numbers put their in my mini office at work.

 

does the car backfire at all?

 

might be like an ignition module if temp affects it. swap the dizzy and then try best of luck

 

thanks, i will check the grounds tomorrow.

i always thought the ignition module was a thing that either worked or didnt.

not really sure, but distributors are expensive, and i am not certain if it has anything to do with it. i will do all the simple stuff first.

is it possible that my timing is off?

 

yeah but i doubt it

 

oh you would know if your timing was off haha.. your car would sound like its all over the place..

 

lol thats what i thought too. but my mechanics teacher keeps trying to make me think its my timing.

 

checked all the grounds today, and all seems to be nice and tight.

what else should i be looking for?

 

So i pretty much made up my mind to replace the distributor. I just want to know.

What do i have to do to pull the old distributor off and install the new one in the exact same manner as it was before, so it is correctly timed and everything?

 

i replaced the dizzy. it is still doing the same thing when its cold. but now, only when its cold. when its warm, it fires right up.

 

Check your fuel pressure when you turn your car off. Your fuel system might not be holding pressure when your car is off.

 

how do i do that? if it doesnt hold pressure, wouldnt it be hard to start everytime?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shadohconspiracy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how do i do that? if it doesnt hold pressure, wouldnt it be hard to start everytime?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can check with a fuel pressure guage. My parents van use to do that, and found out the injectors were leaking when the engine was off. So it wasn't holding fuel pressure so it took a lot of cranks to get it to start. But once it's warm it seems to start with less cranks. Could be something you can check.

 

My girlfriends 98 dx does the same exact thing. The only thing i can think of is just replacing the injectors, and the fuel pump. Hopefully I get it fixed soon, drives both of us crazy.

 

i will see if my class has a fuel pressure gauge i can use then. where does it hook on to? anyway to check the pressure on the fuel rail?

 

did you ever figure it out?