2000 Stagea S-tune Starting Issue

[Whooby]

Hello,

I think this might be my first post but any way i have problems

The car taking ages to turn over when cold and not as long when hot. When its cold it takes many pumps of the pedal and 2 or 3 turns of the key as to not kill the starter.

When the car is hot its the similar but doesnt need as much pushing of the pedal to fire.

I changed the spark plugs thinking that it might be them....but no

Changed the fuel filter....but no.

Tried taking air-filter off to start car....but no.

The car doesnt feel down on power so not the fuel pump? it's only a starting issue.

Don't know what else i can try? so im looking for suggestions.

The car does have a Mines ECU (which i was stoked to find) but it hadnt effected the starting before. Also has a 3 inch off the dump pipe, CAT and a choking blitz muffler on the back. Other than that, it's stock.

It's been a couple of weeks like this now.

Im after any ideas any of you might have.

Cheers.

[stasis]

try to put a can of Nulons fuel system cleaner for about A$9. If should help it.

[Whooby]

Forgot to add that ive tried injector cleaner. Slim to no difference.

If it was a coilpack would it miss fire? becuase i have no miss fires with normal and harder driving.

Cheers.

[_Ryan_]

cold days/nights my car is the same, doesnt fire, plugs are fine etc, everything has been serviced, hot days its fine. New pump will go in soon and will be checking fault codes when the informeter arrives... let me know how you go. I didn't gap my plugs down, could that be it?

Now winter is over i have no probs

Edited December 19, 2007 by Ryan1600

[Wildcat]

when i first got my car i had heaps of problems getting her to start to the point it would take you 5 or 6 pushes on the pedal while you were trying to start it to actually get it going.... my problem was the fact the compliancer had run her out of petrol...2 or 3 weeks later when i had good fuel in her she was fine...now 12months down the track still no problems at all *crosses fingers*

[_Ryan_]

when i first got my car i had heaps of problems getting her to start to the point it would take you 5 or 6 pushes on the pedal while you were trying to start it to actually get it going.... my problem was the fact the compliancer had run her out of petrol...2 or 3 weeks later when i had good fuel in her she was fine...now 12months down the track still no problems at all *crosses fingers*

I keep mine over half a tank with 98 or 100RON

[Wildcat]

i dont let my fuel light ever come on

[GoldZilla]

You shouldn't be pumping the pedal on ANY fuel-injected car when you're starting it - it's all controlled electronically, so there's no need for you to try and add more fuel to get it started. This might be part of the problem.

Also, have you checked the small in-line fuel filter near the tank? That often gets clogged first as it's the nearest filter to the tank, so have a look to see if there's anything blocking it.

Oh, and like Kirstie, I never let my fuel level drop below a quarter tank - when the level gets that low there's more of a chance that it the pump will pick up all of the crap that sits on the bottom of the tank, and then your filters will get clogged more quickly.

[_Ryan_]

You shouldn't be pumping the pedal on ANY fuel-injected car when you're starting it - it's all controlled electronically, so there's no need for you to try and add more fuel to get it started. This might be part of the problem.

Also, have you checked the small in-line fuel filter near the tank? That often gets clogged first as it's the nearest filter to the tank, so have a look to see if there's anything blocking it.

Oh, and like Kirstie, I never let my fuel level drop below a quarter tank - when the level gets that low there's more of a chance that it the pump will pick up all of the crap that sits on the bottom of the tank, and then your filters will get clogged more quickly.

on a cold day, pumping is the only way to start it, could be TPS? Also primed the pump a few times before starting, doesn't make a difference

[ssshonky]

pumping the pedal - yeah.. not a good idea on an EFI car. the only time you should be screwing with the accelerator on startup is if you think the car is " flooded" with fuel .

opening the throttle body butterfly valve will allow more air inside and hopefully get rid of some of the excess fuel vapours and also allow a bit more air in there so that the mixture will eventually fire.

have you tried changing the heat range of your plugs? ie go hotter or colder?

what do the plug tips look like when you take them out .. can you show us a pic?

can you hear the fuel pump prime?

[ssshonky]

is the edge of the butterfly valve in the throttle body clean? or is it gunked up?

from what I understand ( least on sr20's / my RB knowledge is still on a learning curve) there is a small pin hole that lets a bit of air past hte butterfly valve on idle - and maybe check your idle air control valve? they sometimes get gunked up and need a clean

[wolverine]

Also, have you checked the small in-line fuel filter near the tank? That often gets clogged first as it's the nearest filter to the tank, so have a look to see if there's anything blocking it.

where exactly is that filter?

[GoldZilla]

where exactly is that filter?

Some EFI cars have them, not all - haven't checked the Stagea, so I don't know if there is one there or not. It's usually in the line just after where the fuel lines come out of the tank. My old man's Camry (from way back when) had one that got clogged on the way down to Melbourne one year which had him scratching his head for quite a while until it was pointed out by someone else.

I've seen it on a few cars, but I couldn't confirm if the Stagea has one or not as I've never checked for it.

[stasis]

or if you dont want to get the fuel injectors cleaner you can pump United fuel Boost 98 which is able to clean the lines cos of the ethanol added into it. Im using boost 98 most of the time. If i have the coupond fuel vouchers i will use it.

[_Ryan_]

pumping the pedal - yeah.. not a good idea on an EFI car. the only time you should be screwing with the accelerator on startup is if you think the car is " flooded" with fuel .

opening the throttle body butterfly valve will allow more air inside and hopefully get rid of some of the excess fuel vapours and also allow a bit more air in there so that the mixture will eventually fire.

have you tried changing the heat range of your plugs? ie go hotter or colder?

what do the plug tips look like when you take them out .. can you show us a pic?

can you hear the fuel pump prime?

can hear it prime, then stop, turn acc off, then back on to reprime... When i pull everything apart to clean it, any directions as to what i am cleaning, what to use to clean it, and can i stuff any adjustments whilst doing it?

-Ryan

[munchstagea]

Fuel pump switches off once there is pressure in the system and the engine is not running so no need to keep pumping to maintain pressure. Switching it on and off multiple times won't make any difference, the fuel system is either pressurised, or not... Happening when it's cold suggests it might be a sensor playing up... Check error codes would be a good start.

[ssshonky]

well I dont know for sure..( as I have only cleaned the IAC valve on the pulsar ) but I would assume the same thing applies to the RB motors.

what do the sparkplugs look like? is the colour ok ?

can hear it prime, then stop, turn acc off, then back on to reprime... When i pull everything apart to clean it, any directions as to what i am cleaning, what to use to clean it, and can i stuff any adjustments whilst doing it?

-Ryan

[Whooby]

Update....

I know you're not supposed to pump the pedal, but if i didnt it would probly just crank all day and not fire. Sometimes it will start first go but rarely.

It feels like its starting to lose some down low power, but is almost as fast at hight revs 4500+

Can't hear fuel pump prime, ive never been able to hear a stock fuel pump prime in any car.

Is it possible the fuel pump could be dying? A mates sprinter would start but stall past 3000rpm = stuffed fuel pump. Another mates silvia would lose power at 5000rpm and stall pretty much = stuffed fuel pump again.

But mine not getting fuel at start up = stuffed fuel pump?!?

A dirty/rooted O2 sensor do it?

The plugs that i took out of the car, the tips were white possibly too hot?. not fouled and black.

I might check out the throttle body tomorrow, when i did the plugs there was some black shite (oil/dirt) on the cooler piping inner walls. I just assumed it was a crud build up.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Edited December 20, 2007 by Whooby

[Whooby]

Update:

Tried a larger fuel pump, good for up to 500HP - No change, bit too much fuel for a stock engine.

Could it be a crank angle sensor perhaps? once the engine fires there is a Tick Tick Tick then stops. Not sure what it is yet.

Any help please

[bernardshorty]

have you checked fuel pressure as if your reg is blocked or siezed it will flood or not have enough pressure to fire up .