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Proper Starting Proceedure
by Bob DeP. AskBob@stretcher.com
Bob,
I own a 1992 Olds 88 Royal, 3.8 litre, 3800 tuned port injection. It won't start cold. When cranking it makes all kids of awful backfire sounds. As soon as I quit cranking it gives a big backfire. Once started, it runs great and doesn't smoke. Will start right up when the engine is warm.
We looked in the book, replaced the plugs and the temperature sensor, but it's still doing the same thing. When we checked the plugs, they were dripping gas, but when we dried them out, it started. What do we try next? Or what can be the problem?
Jan
Jan,
When you start the car, do you do anything other than turn the key? It sounds like you are flooding it. The proper way to start a fuel injected car is to turn the key, wait for the dash board to initialize (usually about 5 seconds) then turn the key to start. Do not do anything with your feet! Just let them sit there. No pumping, no pressing, no anything.
If you are pumping the throttle like you used to do with a carb engine, then you run the risk of exploding your intake. You see, with modern engines, is looks at the rapid movement of the throttle as an indication of acceleration. It then send tons and tons of extra fuel into the cylinders to compensate. The faster you pump, the more it thinks you want to accelerate. Eventually, you will have too much fuel to start.
Just turn the key on, wait for the fuel pump to prime up, then turn to start. If that does not work, then you need to look at a few things. First is the IAC (Idle air control valve) to make sure that it is working correctly. The next would be the TPS (throttle position sensor). It may not know that the car is at idle and is not actuating the IAC. The next would be the temperature sensor. It may think the car is actually warmer than it is and not enriching the fuel mixture enough to start when cold.
Good Luck!
Drive Safely!
Bob, The Auto Answer Man
If you have a question for Bob send it to: . He's able to answer many of them personally and we'll include the best questions in future issues of The Dollar Stretcher.
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