Car sometimes hard to start/ low idle initially

MantisX · Post by **MantisX** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:10 pm

Hi, so i've played with crank, post fuel etc and I can never get my car to start on point. Sometimes ill hop in it and have to turn the key over 2-3 times before it starts. Then once its started, the idle is really low for a while. Then it idles as normal after a while. Sometimes I can hop in it and it fires almost immediately. Any ideas whats happening here? Im not on my tuning laptop atm, but ill try to upload my current .cal. Any ideas? Thanks MantisX

Post by **calvin** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:22 pm

setup specs? logs? cal?

MantisX · Post by **MantisX** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 7:14 pm

Sorry about that. Heres my CAL. Ill try to get a log of the startup but my wideband doesnt read immediately on startup. Thanks MantisX

Post by **calvin** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:24 pm

let it warm up first with key on

Bindegal · Post by **Bindegal** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:12 am

Just FYI, I recently had a problem just like this. It turned out to be the injectors leaking when the engine was shut off. /Allan

dbsharp · Post by **dbsharp** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:58 pm

I have a similar problem with my car. I only get an occasional hard start, and usually after it happens the car runs really lean at idle (18:1+). my car also just runs really lean at idle occasionally. Ive had the problem for a while now, and I have tested a decent amount of the wiring on the car, replaced injectors, put a fuel pressure gage on the car, replaced ecu, and have had this happen on crome and ectune. the car usually idles at 14-14.5 afr at idle. I data logged the hard start once, but was not recording unfortunately. I am going to spend time on it later this summer to try to solve it, by whatever means necessary. I will solve the issue and I will let you know what my problem was. maybe it will help you.

elevation · Post by **elevation** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:34 pm

Bindegal wrote:Just FYI, I recently had a problem just like this. It turned out to be the injectors leaking when the engine was shut off. /Allan

I've seen this too and on stock hondas with stock ecu.

boostfeddb8 · Post by **boostfeddb8** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:34 pm

I am having the same problems. Everytime I start my car it will idle low like say 600-750 then idle slowly goes back up to past 1200-1300 rpm and goes back to normal when warm. I have a Blox throttle body without the fast idle valve. Dont know if thats my problem. I know other cars when started goes high rpm and slowly goes back down when warm.

Post by **Bugermass** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:53 pm

try reducing your cranking fuel trim. I usually end up cutting it by about 1/4th to 1/2 .. rom 64 fixes this but its not ready yet.. what happens is it kinda floods the motor on startup and it takes a second to clear out.

danz · Post by **danz** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:23 pm

what heat range spark plug? been replaced recently? i was having the same issue. messed with crank and post start trims for weeks!! lol replaced the plugs and it starts like a top now.

MantisX · Post by **MantisX** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:26 pm

Im running NGKs heatrange 7.

danz · Post by **danz** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:23 pm

MantisX wrote:Im running NGKs heatrange 7.

i put some BKR7E's in after running my R5671A-8's for about 3000km I am only making around 250-275whp right now anyways... heh Try a new set and see what happens

boostfeddb8 · Post by **boostfeddb8** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:07 pm

i wonder if i can adjust the the throttle plate open a little more to try to fix the problem.

wb123 · Post by **wb123** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:17 pm

I am having the exact same issue. Just some background on mine. When my car was N/A, I was having some bogging issues to the point where my car would die out.. At first we couldn't figure out why it was doing this...so anyways, we adjusted the idle control screw.. If this adjustment was over compensated to \"band-aid\" a faulty distributor.., could this be possibly causing me hard starts??? How could I test to see if my injectors are leaking or not? they are brand new RC 550cc hi impedance, so I highly doubt this is the cause...

Bindegal · Post by **Bindegal** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:55 am

Depending on how much has been done in your map, it could be a simple matter. Remember to adjust the cranking multiplier and other settings to accomodate the injectors higher flow. This is more a \"what feels right and crisp\" kind of thing and not so much \"dial in to AFR xx\". I usually also tune battery compensation manually, as no two cars are the same. If the injectors are new I donÂ´t think they would be leaking, the bad ones I had were old old OEM injectors. I see more and more often the signs of cars getting older, resulting in more mechanical little things causing problems which the ECU is initially blamed for. Like old distributors, sticking IACVs and stuff like that. Less time spent tuning, more time fixing mechanical things. /Allan