Maybe this will sound familiar......

I drive my car around for about 10 minutes. Then I park, stop the engine, and go into the bank for 5 minutes. When I come out, I cannot restart the car. However, if I wait about 15 minutes more, I can restart it just fine. I can repeat this process at home. If I only stop the engine for a minute, I can restart it just fine. As you can imagine, this is really a problem when getting gas.

If this sounds familiar and you know the solution, please share. Thanks.

 

I am gonna say it's the ECTS. Did you check the temp gauge,because the car warms up than you drive it around and turn off it won't start back up,because the car is warm and you have to wait for the car to cooldown and start it back up again, It should be the ECTS

 

ECTS in my experience has resulted in the car running rough and eventually stalling as it warms up and not being able to restart again until it cools. Also, the ECTS does not run the temp gauge, the temp gauge has its own little sensor.

Do you get any backfiring of any sort when you try to restart?

 

does it crank or not when you try to start it?

 

My guess would be the ECTS as well. I read this last night but fell asleep before I could reply. As soon as I read it, I thought to myself "****, this guy needs a new ECTS."

 

If it cranks but won't start then as mentioned the ECTS is the culprit. If you only hear the relays clicking during the start then it could also be the solenoid switch on the starter. I couldn't get the starter clicking without waiting at least 10 minutes between starts because those electromagnetic coils inside the solenoid switch were burning away after 14 years. When I installed a new battery with over 800 cold cranking amps the solenoid switch smoked when I tried starting it. I first replaced it with an aftermarket solenoid switch but it only lasted 3 months so I installed a refurbished starter from advanceauto with a lifetime warranty.

 

Thanks for the info. It didn't throw any codes but I'll go through the diagnostic this weekend and see what happens. Thanks for all your responses.

 

It could be the ECTS, but your symptoms are drastically different than mine were when my ECTS was at fault. My money is on it being something else (but I've been wrong before).

 

If you have a multimeter there is an extremely accurate test for the coolant temp switch in the fsm. Basically, test the resistance of the 2 terminals when the car is cold, like before you start it in the morning. Then test it when the engine has warmed up. I think you get close to zero ohms cold and like .125 or some way higher number after operating temp is reached. The part is robust, I can see it going well over 200k miles or NEVER failing. Do this test with the engine off. I replaced mine for no damn reason, did the test as an afterthought when my problem wasnt fixed.

Learn from my mistake and even if the part is $5-10 do the 20 sec diagnosis work. That's what separates a shadetree mechanic and a professional.

 

So over last weekend I plugged in my odbii device and drove it around, let it rest, etc. The temperature does go up to 190 degrees which seems believable. Therefore the sensor is probably ok. At one point, it threw a P0125 "Insufficient Coolant Temperature For Closed Loop Fuel Control" but it never came back the rest of the day. I'll try again this weekend.

 

dude, the ECTS is 25 bucks. Jus replace it. BOOM. done.

EDIT:

And if you havent already done so, do a tune up. Change PCV, fuel filter, plugs. Clean MAF, TB, IACV, and all grounds. Throw some chevron techron in the fuel tank.

After this, you wont believe how reliable the car is and how smooth she runs.

 

Yesterday I tried to change the ECTS but didn't have a small enough wrench with the ATF dipstick in the way. But since I had everything out I cleaned the throttle body and I don't seem to have the starting problem anymore. For now.