Cold Starting Problem...

BadSax

BadSax

enjoys 3 martini lunches
My 98 has done this little ‘refusing to start’ thing for maybe two weeks now, but it’s maybe only done it three times, so I’ve been trying to take an active role in ignoring the problem, however after this morning I’ve decided I need to change my strategy, and actually address the problem before I get stuck somewhere.

It’s only been doing this on very cold mornings, and only after the car has been sitting for the night. Once the car starts, I can drive it all day, start and stop, fires up every time.

So one those few mornings when the car doesn’t want to start, it will just turn over and turn over, with nothing. This morning, it must have taken me 10 minutes to start the car, it would occasionally act as if it had caught and then nothing.

Finally once the car does start it idles rough for maybe 10-20 seconds and is then it’s smooth as glass. I’ve tried immediately turning it off to try and recreate the problem, but it so far has always fired right back up.

I did a search and came up with a few things, fuel pump (no I haven’t checked pressure), gravity switch/ inertia switch (I have no idea what this is), cam and or crank sensor.

Now I would think that if one of these things is going to fail, it would simply have the courtesy to do so and be done with it, rather then intermittently cease to function. Yet this is an intermittent problem and the only thing that seems to be consistent is that it’s ridiculously cold outside.

Any thoughts or help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

-J :7

www.bradleyreport.net
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
... Yet this is an intermittent problem and the only thing that seems to be consistent is that it’s ridiculously cold outside. Any thoughts or help on this subject would be greatly appreciated[/div]

Besides the well documented intermittent cam sensor issue, this particular Cold Starting Problem seems to plague Gen2s for some reason, most likely due to it being a EEC-V issue. The PCM uses the IAT and ECT sensors in the "cold start" strategy. My thoughts are since it is cold related(others have had success warming up the engine bay), I would look towards the IAT(Intake Air Temperature) sensor before the ECT(Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor. Both are easily accessible and economical to replace albeit the ECT sensor requires at least partial draining of the engine coolant. If it were me, I would R&R the IAT sensor and see if that would do the trick first. As with all sensors, close examination of the sensor harness and connector are in order as well.

Good luck and let us know what you find as there is plenty of cold weather around for most everyone. ;)
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

Hey, Joe!

Here are a couple of really common cold weather problems it could be:

1. Ford is aware of an issue in temps of 15degF. or less that is directly caused by the fact that cold air is very dense and slow. It doesn't like to move past closed throttle plates very well and you end up with an over-rich condition during cranking. We have been told to advise our customers to hold the throttle 1/4 way to the floor, crank the engine and release the throttle when the engine runs. Repeat after me: HOLD the throttle, don't pump it. Get in this position before you turn the key, crank without moving the pedal, and then release. I know this goes completely against the owner's manual advice to use "no touch starting", but try it as a diagnostic experiment and let us know what happens.

2. There's a one-way check valve in the fuel pump that only has a single purpose: to maintain a standing column of pressurized fuel in the line from the pump so there will always be immediate pressure to the injectors on first crank. In extremely cold weather, it can leak down and empty the line back into the tank. You then must crank and crank until the line fills, pressure builds, and the injectors can supply adequate fuel to start.

Here's another experiment to help diagnose that: When the key is turned to the run position and the PCM comes alive, the PCM immediately turns the fuel pump on for one full second and if it doesn't see a CKP signal, it turns the pump back off.
Let's use this strategy for our test.
Before starting in very cold weather, turn the key to run (not start) for that full second. Do this 4-5 times. This will "prime" the fuel line, and if you then crank the car and it fires right up, we can assume the valve is leaking back. If that's the case, replace the pump or just keep doing this "priming" method for now because sometimes the weak valve will work OK once the weather warms up!

By the way, did the Continental finally pass?
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

I'd check the fuel pump pressure. The no start thing first thing in the morning was a bad pump in my case.
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

Yes, that's what my crystal ball is more likely to suggest.

The "priming" method is a test to try if an accurate fuel pressure guage isn't available. Obviously, the guage would be more conclusive. Hook it up, start the vehicle, then shut it off. A pressure drop of ~5psi in the first 15 min. is considered normal, but after that, it should stay stable. Close the hood, go indoors, and check the pressure next morning before you start the car. It should have held. If the pressure has dropped to 0psi, the only real answer is to replace the pump.

That being said, I repeat: this will always be only a cold start problem. It will not affect anything else, once you get the engine running.
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

I have the same problem (Gen2), this is all good information, I will try it. The only thing with mine, is that after it does start it runs real rough for a few minutes and sometimes stalls. Once I get out on the road it's good though. Strange.

Brent
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

You may also need to replace your IAC. Or it takes awhile for the pressure to come up to good pressure.
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
You then must crank and crank until the line fills, pressure builds, and the injectors can supply adequate fuel to start.
[/


In response to reply # 6:

Yes, Jerry, that's the whole point!
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

I had this happen to me one time. I figured the IAC was frozen shut, so I opened the throttle a bit and it started right up, then ran fine.
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

Exactly! That's the answer to the airflow problem in my "Item 1".

Sometimes replacing the IAC will improve the cold starting, but my advice is to save the money. If it's ONLY a cold air issue, open the throttle. The problem will correct itself when the weather warms up.
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

The red car recently had this problem. It was a two issues that led to this problem. First off the Cam sensor was bad. Second off there was a vacuum leak in a hose on the intake. Changed all of that, problem solved.
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

Thank you all for the replies!

It has been warmer here recently so I haven't had a reoccurrence of the problem, but I can say that the IAC is new as of when I bought the car a year ago, so I would likely rule that out.

When the temp drops again and I have a chance to fool with the car I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks again for the info!

-J :7

www.bradleyreport.net
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

I have a 1st gen and experienced this a couple of weeks ago. I didn't use the car for 4 days and the temps really dropped over here. It was like 8 degrees thru the night. Well that Monday morning the car barely wanted to start. It would crank and crank and crank and then start, but it would seem like it just barely made it there. The idle was very low. I then ran into the house to warm myself up and the car stalled after 5 minutes. The gas level was really low so I managed to get it started and stop at the gas station around the corner. I left the car running the whole time, it still was running rough. But once the gas tank was full I turned the car off and restarted and it fired up as its usual self. I attributed it to the cold. Car is running like a champ now even on the cold mornings. I guess lack of use is not really a good thing either....
 
RE: Cold Starting Problem...

xo I've had this problem before when I lived in Salt Lake City..but after months of putting up with it and having it hauled to the garage serveral times, only to start up when it got there, I followed the advice of most of the suggestions in here and replaced the 'crank sensor'. Problem solved. Now, I live in New Orleans, and for some damn reason, i'm getting somewhat of same thing going again, out of the clear blue sky, and it ain't due to the cold. Its been well over 65 and 70 degrees here, albiet, some nights it has been getting to 48 with these huge cold fronts hitting the deep south. Now, 48 degrees is not much, but considering it gets back up towards 80 degrees during the day! Thats a 32 degree difference in temp in less than 8 hours! Anyway, after having the car serviced last week, the mechanic who is the expert on Marks at the Lincoln place said that the problem could be due to the fuel pump not holding pressure after sitting for a while and just turn the key on and off a few times to pressurize the line. For now, it seems to work. This I have to do after the car sits for over 10 or so hours and the temp and ambient pressure is fluctuating wildly. My Mark is a 97 LSC. Bought it with 48000 on it 3 years ago, it now has 97000. Not bad with just routine maintenance.
 
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