Starting Problems

adam_murphy · 12-12-2003

Ever since i got a new motor put in my car the coolant temp sensor come up on the check engine light. The wires are hooked up right but it still will not start in cold weather (40 and lower). I also had to spray starting fluid on the air filter just to get it to fire up. Also, when it is warm, the car will start right up. Is there anything else i can check or fix to help this problem, or am i stuck waiting until summer to drive my car. Thanks
Adam

LightningGSX · 12-12-2003

Is the temp sensor good? If the sensor is giving wrong readings, your ECU won't give the proper cold start enrichment.

**Halon** · 12-12-2003

have u tried replacing it? that woulda been my 1st plan of attack.

TheBlizzard · 12-12-2003

Thats neat to hear, since Jets 1992 TSi AWD is doing the same thing. If the weather is decent it will start but not that great but if it gets cold it will not start. And just this morning it wouldn't start again. I mentioned the coolant temp sensor to him and he is going to pick one up tonight and we are going to replace it and see what happens. And yeah when the car is warm or even semi warm it starts right back up and runs like a top. I was thinking that the coolant probably takes a long time to cool off so even after a few hours it will still start right back up. Also it is getting a check engine light about thirty seconds after it starts and it stays on. And the funny thing is, is that it runs like shit and you have to pump the gas until the check enging light comes on and then it smooths right out and idles fine.

I tell you what. If you change yours before we change that one let me know or I will let you know what happens when we change it. Cause it sounds like we are having the same sort of issue.

CVD · 12-12-2003

A disconnected ground on my coolant temp sensor caused exactly the same symptoms with my car.

TheBlizzard · 12-12-2003

CVD, where is the ground for that? I reseated the connectors down by the lower cooland line and right up by the intake where it splices into and still the same problem? No wires were broken and every connection seemed tight but I didn't see a ground wire.

CVD · 12-12-2003

My bad, it may not have even been the ground, I just assumed by the way it was acting that it was though. One of the two wires going into the plug on the thermostat housing is disconnected. This causes strange temp readings (sometimes accurate, sometimes way off) and has caused hard starts when cold.

I never did fix it, and it starts fine now. Never did figure out why my car does that, but some things i just dont fix, and the problems go away after a while, like the bad carrier bearings/rear end thump and the bad motor mount. After a few months of ignoring them, the symptoms went away. :woowoo:

TheBlizzard · 12-12-2003

Alright I didn't think that there was a ground from the the temp sensor. I am assuming the fucker is just bad. I did a lot of searching too and found that if the coolant temp sensor is bad it will cause the car to do all sorts of weird shit.

I will just have to wait until Jet gets home with a new one and throw it in and see what happens. I will post the results so that if anybody else experiences this they no where to look.

**Goat Blower** · 12-12-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by CUSTOMDSM@Dec 12 2003, 09:16 AM
Thats neat to hear, since Jets 1992 TSi AWD is doing the same thing. If the weather is decent it will start but not that great but if it gets cold it will not start. And just this morning it wouldn't start again. I mentioned the coolant temp sensor to him and he is going to pick one up tonight and we are going to replace it and see what happens. And yeah when the car is warm or even semi warm it starts right back up and runs like a top. I was thinking that the coolant probably takes a long time to cool off so even after a few hours it will still start right back up. Also it is getting a check engine light about thirty seconds after it starts and it stays on. And the funny thing is, is that it runs like shit and you have to pump the gas until the check enging light comes on and then it smooths right out and idles fine.

I tell you what. If you change yours before we change that one let me know or I will let you know what happens when we change it. Cause it sounds like we are having the same sort of issue.

Are you guys married or something? I don't think I've seen a post yet where you didn't say "me and Jet" or "we". Just curious.

MustGoFaster · 12-12-2003

Josh had a simialr issue, shut car off when and worked his shift and no start. Called john, he brought a whole buch of junk and a pocket logger, came up with CTS code, pluged a spare one in and let it hang and it fired rigth up.

adam_murphy · 12-12-2003

i put in a working (worked before the motor swap) sensor in and it still does not read anything but neg 16 degrees. the only thing i can think of is just waiting til summer and sell it off. if you and jet find something that fixes it keep me posted...

LightningGSX · 12-12-2003

Unless it is new, don't assume it is good, test it with a multimeter.Take it off, get a pan of water and see if the resistance changes with water temp.

TheBlizzard · 12-12-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Goat Blower+Dec 12 2003, 01:47 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Goat Blower @ Dec 12 2003, 01:47 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-CUSTOMDSM@Dec 12 2003, 09:16 AM
Thats neat to hear, since Jets 1992 TSi AWD is doing the same thing.  If the weather is decent it will start but not that great but if it gets cold it will not start.  And just this morning it wouldn't start again.  I mentioned the coolant temp sensor to him and he is going to pick one up tonight and we are going to replace it and see what happens.  And yeah when the car is warm or even semi warm it starts right back up and runs like a top.  I was thinking that the coolant probably takes a long time to cool off so even after a few hours it will still start right back up.  Also it is getting a check engine light about thirty seconds after it starts and it stays on.  And the funny thing is, is that it runs like shit and you have to pump the gas until the check enging light comes on and then it smooths right out and idles fine.

I tell you what.  If you change yours before we change that one let me know or I will let you know what happens when we change it.  Cause it sounds like we are having the same sort of issue.

Are you guys married or something? I don't think I've seen a post yet where you didn't say "me and Jet" or "we". Just curious.[/b][/quote]
No we live together and the only time I say we or Jet and I is when I am referring to something we were both doing at the time. Are we on NABR or something? For a minute I thought I was, somebody making a comment about something that has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Just curious? :stick:

CVD · 12-13-2003

off topic whoring! good lord!!!! that NEVER happens here :rant:

TheBlizzard · 12-13-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by CVD@Dec 13 2003, 12:52 PM
off topic whoring! good lord!!!! that NEVER happens here :rant:

No never....lol

Everything here is by the books right? :cheers:

MATCHBX · 12-13-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by CVD@Dec 13 2003, 12:52 PM
off topic whoring! good lord!!!! that NEVER happens here :rant:

Today I was racing this eclipse on hwy.... Ooops, just kidding!!!!!!

I am watching this thread very carefully to see what the outcome is. We have about the same issue with Terina's car. It's gotten worse with the cold weather. It runs fine after it completely warms up but it's a bitch to get it started. I priced a CTS at Advanced Auto Parts. It's $27.99. I'm thinking of getting one anyways and trying it. If it works, we've fixed the problem. If not, we have an extra sensor for when one goes bad (since we have 2 talons).

**JET** · 12-14-2003

I tried the CTS, and it didn't help. I am going to give Nash a ring today and see if I can go over there and use his logger to pull the code out. For some reason I can't get it out of this car with a voltmeter. That worked on 2 other ones I had.

MATCHBX · 12-14-2003

Have you tried to pull the ecu fuse? Just wondering. That's how I've always erased codes on all the cars I've had.

I hope we can figure this out soon. I want to get this thing fixed.

AJ · 12-14-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by JET@Dec 14 2003, 10:53 AM
I tried the CTS, and it didn't help. I am going to give Nash a ring today and see if I can go over there and use his logger to pull the code out. For some reason I can't get it out of this car with a voltmeter. That worked on 2 other ones I had.

Didn't Nash's logger get ripped off.

adam_murphy · 12-15-2003

if anyone out there has a car that does start fine in cold weather, disconnect your coolant temp plug and try to start it, see if it affects the starting.. if not then we need to find another way.... maybe bad injectors or bad fuel in the tank?