hard to start when car is warm, why?

[bb]

I just rebuilt my motor and had it tuned and timed at a local shop that I trust. I have one problem that I've had even before the motor was done:
The car starts right away when it is cold, but if I have had it out for a while and the motor gets warmed up it does not want to start that easy. If I shut it off and go to restart it turns over really slow to where it won't fire. Now once it cools off it starts right back up.
I also just replaced the starter. Any suggestions?

[bb]

it is a 2.2 T

[MMBRAZIL]

In my car I changed the fuel acumulator, it helped a bit. But the real problem was that I was running lean.
I had difficult warm start up, but no starter turning the motor problem.

[Craig Stevens]

I am having a similar problem with my 80SC.The advice that I recieved from this board was, replace the check valve on the fuel pump & replace the fuel accumulator. I followed both of those suggestions. The engine started ok for a few days when it was warm,but 2 days ago it was hard to start when warm again. It also stalls when cold. After reading my new bently manual,I belive that I am still losing fuel pressure when the engine is shut down when it's warm. The way I get it started is to take the air cleaner off & lift the air flow sensor plate with the Ignition on to prime the cylinders. ONLY LIFT THE SENSOR FOR A FEW SECONDS !!!! IF YOU LIFT THE PLATE TO LONG IT WILL FLOOD YOUE ENGINE CYLINDERS WITH GAS !!! Don't ask me how I know. Try lifting the sensor lpate & see if it will start. My enging does turn over at anormal speed. If yours is turning over slow, check battery,or ground straps. I am in the process of buying a fuel pressure guage to track down my pressure loss problem. Good luck Craig

[Rot 911]

BB, I assume you are still running the MFI. However, based on you saying that "If I shut it off and go to restart it turns over really slow to where it won't fire," I believe your problem is electrical or possibly timing, but not MFI related. If the timing is too far advanced this problem can occur, so I would recheck the timing just to be sure. The more plausible explanation is a fault in the electrical system that shows up when the engine gets hot. The only way to fix that is to track down all the connections that have to do with the starter turning over. Make sure all the wires are good, no cracks, clean the connections and make sure they are all tight. Including the ground straps. Particularly the one on the transmission. I know this sounds simple, but I had a similar problem on my 72 MGB in that sometimes it seemed like the battery was low when I tried to start the car. All the ground straps looked good. I replaced them one at a time and when I replaced the engine to frame strap it solved the problem! You might also want to check for a bad coil, but when the coil goes bad it doesn't effect how the engine turns over. Good luck.

Kurt V
72 911E

[Rot 911]

Craig and MM, the 2.2 engine does not have a fuel accumulator!

Kurt V
72 911E

[This message has been edited by Kurt V (edited 08-10-2001).]

[jlex]

Kurt is right; if the starter motor is turning more slowly when its hot, you've probably got a bad connection somewhere. Apparently, hot wires put up more resistance to electricity than do cold wires. If your connections are somewhat corroded and marginal to begin with, the problem becomes more evident when everything heats up. Bet it's your ground strap or connections near the starter. (It could be the starter itself getting too hot... I've heard those who race have that problem since the starter gets so hot) With a new starter, though, you shouldn't have those worries... if you run down all the connections & clean them up, look to the starter warranty, perhaps.
regards,
jlex.

[lsolon]

Yes, yes and yes. This was happening to my 72 until I replaced the tranny groung strap and added another for the heck of it.

[Kurt B]

They also have a starter relay kit for 914s that ensures you've got the power to turn your starter.
If replacing the ground strap doesn't help, try this. 914's do not like to start hot.


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Kurt B
1984 Carrera Cabriolet
911 Page
carrera_cabriolet@yahoo.com