Why my car starting so slow?

[That1Guy]

I just got my car out of the smog repair shop and the day after it started to take a few second to get my car started. Maybe 5 or 6 seconds. It's cranking pretty strong. I want to get this fix ASAP. Help?

[Chaluska]

weak ignition coil... something related to the ignition most likely. hows your fuel pressure?

[That1Guy]

Havent check the fuel pressure yet. I'm going to check possible lose connections. Did notice fuel going down little quicker after 20 miles of driving. Battery voltage is at 12.3v. Can anyone recommend a fuel pressure gauge?

[SX APPEAL]

I'd go with fuel pressure. Try priming The fuel pump a couple times before you start the car. Cycle the key between the off And run positions a couple of times, you'll hear the fuel pump run for about a second each time. This will build up pressure in the rail. Then try to start the car. If it fires up instantly, you've found your problem, fuel pump is on the way out.

[That1Guy]

I wounld't jump the gun and say my fuel pump is going dead. But your tip did help. I prime the fuel line a few times and then started. Took about 3 seconds to start up. Still to long for me. When to check the rear and found fuel dripping. Stopped after the car was warm up. Next find the leak and hope it easy to fix.

[mechanicalmoron]

I wounld't jump the gun and say my fuel pump is going dead. But your tip did help. I prime the fuel line a few times and then started. Took about 3 seconds to start up. Still to long for me. When to check the rear and found fuel dripping. Stopped after the car was warm up. Next find the leak and hope it easy to fix.

If you're sure it was fuel, and not something else, like water droplets from the catylitic converter, you need to stop driving it ASAP. You need to replace the soft lines connecting the tank to the hard lines, most likely. Either just comming apart, or crushed under a hose clamp.

[blkvrtswp]

I would check for bad fuel injector o-ring(s) leaking fuel into the cylinder after the engine is shut off, causing low initial fuel rail pressure on startup. This can also reduce your MPG, and cause raw fuel to come out the tailpipe. Also check your oil (sniff dip stick) for fuel smell - that causes spun bearings - and change it if necessary.

O-rings are dirt cheap from the dealer, relatively easy to swap out. Hope this helps.

[mechanicalmoron]

I would check for bad fuel injector o-ring(s) leaking fuel into the cylinder after the engine is shut off, causing low initial fuel rail pressure on startup. This can also reduce your MPG, and cause raw fuel to come out the tailpipe. Also check your oil (sniff dip stick) for fuel smell - that causes spun bearings - and change it if necessary.

O-rings are dirt cheap from the dealer, relatively easy to swap out. Hope this helps.

This is, of course, true too. But if he's actually got gas on the ground, that's priority no. 1, because it could easily end in firey death.

Also, when you pull injectors bad things CAN happen, I knocked the plastic cap off one of mine, a new one too, when it hit the manifold on the way out. Had to wrap a torn/broken one from an old injector. Be careful.

[That1Guy]

It leaks near the gas tank area. And I have a brand new cat on right now. Switch back to old one when I have time.

[mechanicalmoron]

It leaks near the gas tank area. And I have a brand new cat on right now. Switch back to old one when I have time.

no no no, I didn't mean that.

When you have a properly functioning cat, when you start the motor and wait a minute, the tailpipe should spit water droplets, once it's entirely warmed up it will appear to stop because it will be coming out as steam instead. And if you have an exhaust leak it could alse be dripping somewhere other than the tailpipe tip.

And of course, it's tail-pipe-water, and during warmup the motor should run rich, so, it could seem/smell like you have gas on the ground.

Just try starting the car when it's cold, and hanging out around the rear end until you either find the gas leak, or confirm that it's water from the cat.

If it's not from the exhaust, de-pressurize the fuel system, remove the hoses from the tank (there's a hatch in the trunk from which you can access them) to the hardlines, take them to an auto store and ask for that length of fuel-injected type hose of that size, and replace. If it IS from the cat, de-pressurize fuel system and do injector o-rings (which are a royal pain, I warn you.... old injectors will want to crumble before they will want to come out)

[That1Guy]

Ok, my car usually in the garage. I have a 3.5'' exhaust that doesn't look close to the drip. The drip smell and feels like gas. I never seen the hatch for the hardlines before but I'll take another look.

[mechanicalmoron]

Ok, my car usually in the garage. I have a 3.5'' exhaust that doesn't look close to the drip. The drip smell and feels like gas. I never seen the hatch for the hardlines before but I'll take another look.

If it's the hatch that your profile says, then it's on the right (passenger) side of the trunk, to the side of the spare tire well. It's a beige panel screwed down. Once you get it off you'll be looking at the top of the fuel tank, which also has a hatch, which you do not need to remove (unless you did all the O-rings and hoses, and determined that you actually had a bad pump, which doesn't sound like the case). Coming up from the hatch on the tank are short hardlines/barbs, which connect to a hose that goes over the front of the tank. I believe you can simply thread a new hose forwards, and attatch the other end from underneath the car, if you attach the tank end through the trunk, and there's no need to drop the tank or anything.

[blkvrtswp]

Ah, I thought he meant the fuel was coming out of the exhaust. I agree with MM - you have a leak in the fuel lines. Replacing the rubber lines from the pump to the hardline can be a PITA, but at least it is cheap.

[mechanicalmoron]

Ah, I thought he meant the fuel was coming out of the exhaust. I agree with MM - you have a leak in the fuel lines. Replacing the rubber lines from the pump to the hardline can be a PITA, but at least it is cheap.

I was just saying if you start the car it and look, you can think there's a leak, because the cat blows water out the exhause. He said it stopped when it warmed up, and that's what the cat does when it heats up, it blows out invisible vapor instead.

I thought he might have seen water annd assumed it was gas.

[That1Guy]

So my problem might have been a few things. My fuel pump die yesterday, (replaced), and found a vacuum hose disconnected so some unmetered air got through. But fuel was leaking. I should raise some hell because I took my car in to get my EGR solenoid replace and smog. They charge me $400 for 3 days of labor and diag. When it took them 1 day to do. My vacuum lines aren't even routed right.

[mechanicalmoron]

So my problem might have been a few things. My fuel pump die yesterday, (replaced), and found a vacuum hose disconnected so some unmetered air got through. But fuel was leaking. I should raise some hell because I took my car in to get my EGR solenoid replace and smog. They charge me $400 for 3 days of labor and diag. When it took them 1 day to do. My vacuum lines aren't even routed right.

Hoses can also leak when it's just cold outside. I was recently playing with another problem, but it involved repeated priming, and I started smelling gas. Went and looked along my fuel rail, and all the hoses where wet, but they never normally leak. Tightened them up, and now they're fine in the same temp.

Anyways, if you think there's a gas leak, you really need to stop driving it and diagnose that ASAP. Check that the clamps on the hardlines have not crushed through, and if not, tighten them down a bit (but, without crushing, obviously). If it was just the cold, that will have stopped it. If it keeps happening, you have an actual leak (which happens on hoses this old, I had a bad fuel leak by the filter, when I got my car) and need to replace the hoses.

Seriously man, don't blow yourself up....

[SX APPEAL]

I should raise some hell because I took my car in to get my EGR solenoid replace and smog. They charge me $400 for 3 days of labor and diag. When it took them 1 day to do. My vacuum lines aren't even routed right.

This is why you should get trained to be a tech my friend! This is the fabulous world of "book time." You get to charge what the book says it should take you to do the job, not how long it actually takes you to do it. When I was at (some major technical school that happens to share its achronym with Urinary Tract Infection) one of my instructors still carried around the ticket from when he did over 40 "hours" of work in a single 8 hour shift. That's the only way for techs to make any money in this day in age. Don't hate the playa, hate the game...


...yeah totally went there, totally justified

[That1Guy]

This is why you should get trained to be a tech my friend! This is the fabulous world of "book time." You get to charge what the book says it should take you to do the job, not how long it actually takes you to do it. When I was at (some major technical school that happens to share its achronym with Urinary Tract Infection) one of my instructors still carried around the ticket from when he did over 40 "hours" of work in a single 8 hour shift. That's the only way for techs to make any money in this day in age. Don't hate the playa, hate the game...


...yeah totally went there, totally justified

I do take automotive class. Matter of fact it a GM training facility.Their flat rate by the books hours and their pulling a number out of your a**. He said 4 hours of diag. And order the part then 3 days later put the part in to find out the wrong part came in. Week later new part came in install then smog. I only see at most 2 days of labor. I would have prefer to have done it myself if I wasn't so busy with school and work. I can look up the total labor time and bet he overcharge me.

[SX APPEAL]

Honestly I've seen shops that charge more than $100 an hour just for labor, so if it was 4 hours of diagnosis plus install, plus parts, plus smog, all for ~$400 I'd say you got a deal. I totally feel you on wishing you had more time to do stuff yourself though, same boat.