Changed ECTS & Fuel filter over weekend.
New Spark Plugs 3-4 months old
Used Chevron Injector Cleaner
New Mobile 1 Oil synthetic
Car has 75K

Did all this and still having a hard time starting in the cold. When I start the engine a hear a really high pitched sound like a belt that's too tight. Car will start, but will eventually die out in 2 seconds. Usually stays running if i step on the gas. Without steppin on the gas, prolly take like 4 or 5 tries before car stays running..

What else can it be?
Knock Sensor? Weak Battery? Bad Coil thing of a jigs ? Any help appreciated thanks.

Viktor

 

Im thinking battery. I replaced mine a week ago, I noticed it having trouble starting the last month or so, so I replaced the battery. It deff was the problem. Starts up with no problems now.

 

The battery would solve a hard starting car. But once the car is started, it should stay running, powered by the alternator now mostly.

I'd check the the TPS (throttle position sensor), it controls the throttle on your car and is probably faulty or needs adjustment which is why the car turns off, it's not holding the appropriate revs the car needs.

Get the Haynes manual, it shows how to check, adjust or replace it.

 

yea check the tps sensor... unplug it then run the car.... see where ur base idel is my was under 500 today when i did this... turn the iacv until its about 600+-50 rpm... turn off the car plug in the tps sensor... start the car again and check the idel.. i should help

 

Yes, now I see. I read through his post too fast, thought he said it was hard to start.

 

This sounds a lot like what I experienced a few years ago when my starter was dying. When I turned the key, it would make an Errr kinda sound and the engine would seem like it was gonna start running but would then die. Stepping on the gas at the same time helped for a few weeks.

It may be time to take out your starter, take it apart, clean out the dirt and old grease, and regrease it. See www.motorvate.ca for instructions.

Even if it's not the starter causing the current problem, it would probably be a good idea to do it as preventative medicine sometime soon.

 

I dont see why the car would start then turn off if its the starter..

Someone above mentioned a good point to check the TPS sensor, but what f550 is saying is to adjust the base idle.

What you want to do is check the voltage of the TPS and the ohm at WOT and depressed...

Here's a link...
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/tps.html

Could be many things, once you check that out let us know...

GL..

 

OK i got a few new problems besides hard starting. My SES came on and the code is for 0512, which doesn't even exist.

When i'm driving on the highway the engine would choke, studder, and jerk like it wants to die out. Kinda scary cuz driving at 60mph, u dont' know what to expect. But i noticed i be smelling fumes as well when this happens. (Exhaust issue?)

One thing i haven't checked is the TPS.
Right now it's weird cuz on one drive: i saw idle in neutral was at like 900rpm. idle in drive was like 750 or so...
Then later on, i checked idle again. Neutral was 750-700rpm. Idle in drive: 650-600. There's something really fishy goin on here.

Really trying to get to the bottom of this. Seems like lotta other 4th gens having the same problems.

 

Btw, what kind of OHM meter that's affordable and easy to use? I think i need to pick one up to test the TPS sensor.

 

plugged up cat? i haven't a clue about exhaust, but that suckers gonna be right under you, so it seems if something was gonna spit fumes at you, that'd be it.

 

The squeal could be your belts. The start and stall issue sounds like the throttle body needs cleaning and/or the cold idle start plunger & linkage needs adjustment or is not functioning.

First do a good cleaning of the TB, see if that helps.
Next thing I'd look at is the cold idle plunger, make sure it's working. It's located on the throttle body, down twards the left. It retracts when it's cold, and comes back out as the engine warms up. There is an adjustment on that linkage which controls the idle speed and keeps your throttle plate slightly open during a cold start. (just like stepping on the gas a bit) There are 2 scribe markes on the cam and follower that need to be in line when the engine temp is around 40F. The Haynes manual has a nice write up with pics to show you how to check & adjust the cold start circuit.

 

It's the starter! Used to have the same problem. Now it's OK.
Remove it, remove old steacky gum that left from original grease, regrease it, put it back.

 

Its your coolant temp sensor!!!!!!!!.. If you use a scan tool you'll see that the temp starts to rise then i'll just get cold. For example it'll go from 90 degrees to -40 for brief seconds. So you'll have to hit the pedal to the floor in order to keep speed or to keep it from stalling out.
I'm pretty certain you are having the same problem, its a cheap fix. But causes hella issues in driving... Hope this helps

 

Changed out my ECTS last weekend... Problem is still there. Unless there's soemthing else u referring to.

Drove in today and car stalled in middle of highway. Had to kick it into neutral and start it up feedin it alot of gas...

I had the SES engine code 0512 - someone mentioned that this is the rear O2 sensor... could this be symptoms of bad rear o2 sensor?

 

Don't forget the ignition switch. This was the case for me.

 

A bad O2 sensor will also not cause your engine to stall. I agree PRPmax, it is likely that you problem is with the coolant temp sensor, which when faulty will cause your engine to stall as you describe. It is one of the only things that I know of that will cause abrupt stalling other than fuel pump failure.

 

hmmm fuel pump failure??? and how do u go about testing/replacing that?

 

I highly doubt its your fuel pump.. If it was bad then your car would have trouble just starting up. Its very rare that a fuel pump will go bad when driving. The vacuum your engine creates will keep the fuel coming until its turned off.

 

If you read his first post, you'll notice he says he is having a "hard time starting". Regardless, I agree with you...I am leaning more towards the coolant temp sensor.

 

changed the ECTS already and still having problems.

Still need to clean the throttle body and check TPS sensor.

 

check that fuel pump out..turn the key to acc two or three times before you start it in the morning, if it starts right up, most likely it is because you primed it and your not gettin enough fuel

 

When i'm driving on the highway the engine would choke, studder, and jerk like it wants to die out. Kinda scary cuz driving at 60mph, u dont' know what to expect. But i noticed i be smelling fumes as well when this happens. (Exhaust issue?) Drove in today and car stalled in middle of highway. Had to kick it into neutral and start it up feedin it alot of gas... Starting to happen more often when i stop at a light or stop sign.

So i cleaned the throttle body today... and yes it was hella dirty...

Sad thing is, the problem is still there. Car still stalls at lights, RPM very inconsistent. When i feel that car is about to die out, i tried pumping the gas pedal, this usually help a lil... but problem comes back.

Starting up isn't as hard now tho... The stalling is becoming more often..and The more i think about it, the more i think it is a problem with the throttle position sensor (TPS).

I did put in bosch +4 plat spark plugs, about lil less than 10k mi ago. I'm thinking about putting in copper NGKs.

I hear bad coils could also be the cause for hesitate accelleration... could the bad coils be cause of stalling and jerky idle?

 

Most people here have the best results with the stock NGK plats. Let's presume that you had a worn plug (not your problem because they are new) or a bad coil, for example. The engine would NEVER stall because of a situation like this. What would happen is the individual worn plug or bad coil would cause the cylinder to misfire or shutdown in the most extreme case. I have never had to test a fuel pump before only because when I had one fail it became incredibly noisy and it caused hard starting and engine sputtering. If you can intially start the car without too much trouble, then you can rule out the fuel pump. The only way you are going to find out if you are having a problem with a sensor is to start testing them. Of course, the easiest way is to pull any codes from the ECU. Otherwise, you will have to use an ohm meter to test the resistance of coolant temp sensor and the TPS. You can buy an ohm meter at Radio Shack, but they are generally expensive. You should buy a multimeter, which contains an ohm meter and volt meter all-in-one at Home Depot, for example. They're always good to have around anyway.

 

same thing happens with me, maybe i just need a new coolant
temp sesnor.

 

Sooooooo when are you going to check on the coolant temp sensor? Your wasting serious money here on parts you really don't need to be replacing.

 

I don't think it's the TPS. I had the exact same starting problem (identical to how you described it), but, the belts were not squeaking (this could be a separate problem). I took it to the dealership to get scanned and they said the knock sensor was occasionally throwing a bad code. I replaced the knock sensor myself (turned out to be a bigger job than I thought) and it fixed the problem. Car has started perfectly for over a year, even in cold weather. But, before replacing any parts be sure to have your car scanned or properly diagnose it yourself.

 

I changed the ECTS last weekend! Bought it right from the dealership... starting problem doesn't seem to be much of a problem now... I need to try startin it in really really cold weather. Lately it's been 40s and 50s in philadelphia. Unless the brand new ects went bad.

But car keeps stalling on me. It used to happen once per round trip, now it happens every time i get in the car.

Knock sensor, coils, tps, spark plugs, and maybe even fuel pump are my only guesses right now.

 

anyone else havin these problems???

 

Yes, see my post above^^^

 

Damn, tough problem to diagnose. I would put in stock plugs. way back when, I remember a lot of people saying bocsh's are bad. Don't know what the org has to say about them these days, but most people stay stock.

I had similar symptom and it was indeed my exhaust. However, I have a 95 with serious high milage, you have a 98 with low milage..so I'm betting against your exhaust.

 

what part of the exhaust did u change out? muffler? and how much was it?

 

Seems like you've got a few problems.
One of them is a STARTER, as I mentioned in previos reply, that "really high pitched sound like a belt that's too tight" this is it.
Regrease it or replace it.