After my tuneup and new injectors and everything my car starts very slowly.

The charging system, alt, battery, and starter are all very strong, cranking strongly, but something else in the mix is wrong.

When the engine is warm, the car starts quickly. When cold, it takes 3-4 seconds of straight cranking to get the car started. Leaving the key in the "on" position, letting the fuel pump pressurize, has no effect.

Once started, everything runs fine. The car will smoke tires from idle if you smash the gas, and you can't even tell the engine is running with the stereo cranked.

One thing worth noting, I cranked on a cold start and I heard the engine doing something, so i let go of the key. The engine didn't kick off. Then, I cranked for 1/10 of a second and then it started. So I'm guessing it may be a fuel delivery problem?

 

was a fuel filter part of your tune up?

 

check the fuel pressure after the fuel filter it should be around 36psi at engine idling and around 43 psi ignition switch turned on....if results are not according to specs then check the pressure before the fuel filter to jus make sure that fuel filter IS bad if result is still not according to specs then u have a dying FP or u will have to check the electrical specs of fuel pump to make sure its really dying...did u change the fuel pressure regulator as well in ur tune up?



u will need a fuel pressure check gauge...

 

Why did you change the injectors? - was the car doing the same before the "tuneup"?.................

 

Burhan, does the fuel press. regulator have a wear limit, as in it has moving parts that merit replacing it at some point? I never replaced it when the fuel pump was replaced, which was FEB 2008.

 

well u can check ur Fuel pressure regulator by disconnecting the vacuum hose to it from intake manifold and then connect the vacuum gauge (pump?) to it and wen u apply the vacuum to fuel pressure regulator ur fuel pressure gauge reading should go down..or u can say vacuum increases fuel pressure decreases that's how i tested my F.PRESS regulator and it was working last time wen i checked 9 months ago...will jus change it on next fuel filter change as its really old...

 

My 1993 has this same problem. It takes 3-5 seconds of cranking to start and then sorta sputters into idle. Replaced air filter had no effect.

 

3 cylinders were dead, so i got 6 new fuel injectors. The fuel filter is brand new. So MORE fuel should be getting to the engine. I'll get a fuel pressure test coming up soon.

Before with 3 dead cylinders, dirty air filter, dirty fuel filter, the car would start stone cold with only .5 seconds of cranking, give or take.

 

Pinched injector o-ring? Does it smell like its running rich?

 

+1 ........ thats why I asked

 

ah. is that easy to fix myself?

 

um.... if you've never done anything to your car before (besides like oil changes and maybe brake pads) then yes, it can be pretty challenging. You will need a 6mm allen socket and a torque wrench, and a 1994 fsm from www.boredmder.com (for bolt removal/installation order, and torque specs) cuz if you mess up the torque and/or bolt order you might end up with air leaks

(assumes VG engine)
basically you have to remove upper and middle intake manifolds, then unseat the fuel rail from the lower intake (watch out for those black spacers! don't lose them!) and then let the fuel pump run for a sec to find out which o-ring is leaking if you don't already know from a wet spark plug or something. after that you can unscrew the top cap (#3 phillips head... a #2 will strip the screw like mad) and replace the o-rings. lube them with vaseline or (fsm says --->) motor oil. probably want to get a bunch of vacuum line and replace all that stuff (and the fuel injection hose) while it's so easily accessible. but ALL the hoses you need can be over $100... i spent like $200 replacing all my rubber hoses.

 

I luv this forum, my spare car is doing the exact same thing and as a matter of fact the PO said 4 injectors were just changed. hmm

 

Mine does the exact same thing on warm mornings. Dont know what it could be, but im thinking has something to do with fuel delivery, as I smell fuel fumes comeing from the tailpipe and inside the car sometimes. I still have to replace some of those injectors soon as I get some extra $$$.

 

And does yours have any trouble running or just starting? Only run problem I notice on mine is a slightly unstable idle (it kinda hunts between 800-600 rpm in drive) but it runs fine otherwise, no stalling or acceleration hesitation.

 

This is typical injector failure symptoms. There are tons of threads that go over how to officially diagnose the problem.

 

Would a failure of an injector yield an ECU code? I get 55 when I check for codes.

 

It's very rare that the ECU throws a code. A good way to check if its good is to check the resistance, I don't know off hand exactly what in spec is, around 10 ohms I think. Easily searched info

 

I've read around here between 11-14 ohms for a good injector

 

I find that mine starts very well when cold, very well when hot, but not very well when warm (if it's been sitting for 30 minutes to a couple hours). When it's warm and it takes a lot of cranking I can get it to start finally by giving it a little gas. I don't know what it could be, I've tried cleaning the TB, using fuel injector cleaner and that doesn't seem to have helped.