Cold Starts

[25YKU]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone can give me a few clues as to why my r33 gts-t is hard to start in the morning?

Its got a fuel reg, boost control valve, and a front mount, but it has had brand new coil packs and plugs (splitfire) and everything else seems to be normal, it recently had a tune so its not running rough or idling bad, its just that when i go out in the morning to start my car, i have to pump the accelerator pedal a bit to get it going, it almost seems like a fuel pump or oil pressure problem or something!

I'm just guessing though so if anyone could shed some light i would greatly appreciate it!

Cheers, Jared

[blind_elk]

I would suggest the Cold Start Air valve, located on the underside of the inlet plenum, is not opening to bleed air on cold starts.

[mad082]

what ecu?

and i'd also be looking at what blind elk said.

[25YKU]

standard ecu

[4drlvr]

I had the same issue with mine, but mine started to happen after the engine over heated and turned off. To get mine back sort of working alright now. Ive so far done the following.

Cleaned the AAC valve as per the Maintenance tutorial - made idle a lot smoother and drive smoother as well.

Changed the idle to a but higher than normal.

Changed sparkies

Did a pressure test to find out i was losing pressure on all cylinders after the overheat (hate this one)

For now it starts fine and idles good and still has the grunt but not as much as before. Hope this helps

[SilverECR33]

Have you been using it as a daily driver?

Ive noticed that with mine, after using it as a daily driver, it becomes harder to start also, *have to give it a bit of gas* to start it.

Ive found that, if i dont drive it everyday, Problem goes away? strange but true.

[mad082]

how old are your spark plugs? if they are getting old (or fouled) it will be slightly harder to start.

[25YKU]

spark plugs are not old at all, maybe my tune is a bit too rich causing them to foul up? also my mechanic suggested maybe my injectors have something to do with it, but it seems like it takes a while for it just to kick over

[25YKU]

its ok to start after the first time it makes a sound like its struggling to get the fuel through but once it does that its ok

[mad082]

this is a very out there thought, but it may be a dribbly injector that is letting a tiny amount of fuel into the cylinder when the car is off.

another out there possibility is that it may be that you have a head gasket on its way out and water is getting into the cylinders.

[SilverECR33]

I got told sparks, and iinjects. got new set of Niridium spark plugs, and got my injects, cleaned, properly, in the that special bath thingo. they checked the flows on the injects too, all perfect.

Problem still there.

its a pain in the a$$, when mechanics guess, and you pay.

where is this ACC valve? i been hearing about?

[mad082]

the aac is at the back of the intake plenum. its at the top. that doesn't control the cold start function though.

the iac is under the plenum below the aac. much harder to get to.

also i would recommend not using iridium plugs. they don't seem to last any longer or perform any better. they just cost more. i pulled a set of iridiums out of 180sx the other day that were dead after about 7000ks. the coppers i've had in my car are still running fine after 5000ks. i'm going to replace them at the next oil change in a few weeks time, but you can buy a full set of coppers for about the price of 1 iridium plug, and they last nearly as long.

[25YKU]

ok so if my head gasket is on the way out, is this a costly replacement or?

[mad082]

its not exactly cheap. can easily set you back $600 in labour. i'd say that is the worse case cenario for the reason it is hard to start.

[Godzilla32]

Unless you have a tunable ECU you can't 'tune' the car...Only check/change things like ignition timing, s/plugs, coils, clean air flow meter, air filter, check compression etc...

All in all i'd be biting the bullet and taking it to a reliable mechanic to properly inspect the car and diagnose the problem. Its next to impossible to work out what a problem is without a trained pair of eyes seeing the car. Just because someone else had a hard to start problem doesnt mean its got anything in common with yours and its a waste of time guessing.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Godzilla32

[mad082]

Just because someone else had a hard to start problem doesnt mean its got anything in common with yours and its a waste of time guessing.

i agree with you about the fact that this problem may be completely different to someone elses, but i don't think it is a waste of time guessing. if you can sort the problem out without spending money then you are ahead. if all else fails then take it to a professional.

[25YKU]

thanks mad082 yeh its one of those things i guess, but like you said if it can be avoided to take it to a mechanic the better, i guess i'll bite the bullet and take it to one

[LightAssassin]

Can I suggest the fuel filter? Fills full of crap and then takes a bit for the fuel to push through... Not hard to expensive to check/fix and piece of mind ^_^