Oh yes, had the crank position sensor changed on Thursday (under warranty) and it has made no difference to the starting time of the car.


[Edited by nigelward - 3/2/2002 3:29:51 PM]

Hi All

Anyone else had this weird symptom?

Car sometimes takes ages to start???

I'm a good boy and dont touch ANYTHING other than the key and press the clutch in

Tonight it took about 45 seconds churning over before she fires then splutters into life - this is the worst its ever been. But, without fail, about twice a week she will do it.

All other times she starts within 2 seconds!

Anyone had this problem and had it solved, what was it??

Pete

Mine did that once about 3 weeks ago been perfect ever since. Probably no help at all but it might make you feel better!!

PSLewis your lucky,my Cossie starts when it wants too,and that aint alot!

Mine did it once, not that bad tho.. probably 10 seconds. Not sure what caused it really Pete, it was really wet at the time, I wonder if that contributed?

Matt.

I have just had an idea??

Could it be the Crank Sensor? sometimes it stops in a certain position and needs a few turns to evaluate where it is - quite probably bollox ( But sounds good! ) :D

I am sure one of these days it will just NOT start at all - does that EVER happen to a Subaru?? Surely NOT!!

Pete

I've had a similar problem, which seems to be generated by switching the engine off quickly after a dead stop. It does not seem to do it when I faff about trying to park. Try letting it run for 10-15 secs after stopping, see if that helps...although I never wait the 60secs as stated after a thrashing.....slow roads back to the house :(:(

mine does it too every now & then, seems to be if i turn the car over the ist time & dont let it turn enough to start, then if i turn it again it take ages to start, just sits there turning over? ive just had mine serviced so not sure mate?

I had this once. The night before, I'd started the engine and moved the car backwards about 6 inches before switching it straight back off again (to make more room to wash the front). Next morning it wouldn't start at all and I ended up calling Subaru Assist :(

Now I just make a point of never running the engine for less than a minute at a time and it's fine.

Andy.

Maybe too simple but your battery may be on its way out!!
Alasdair

What you seem to be saying then is maybe its a fuelling problem?

Better watch what we say or it will get moved into the General Technical Forum and never seen again :(

I do think its a General Subaru Topic though!!

I have just thought again (I had better be careful! ;)) who turns their key and waits for the fuel pump to stop priming? maybe if I waited for the pump it would be ok?

Pete

The car is only 20 months old so it shouldnt be the battery - it turns it over well enough ........... its just the TIME to start it!!

Pete

When turning the key, do you all wait after the first turn , some time in order for the petrol to filll the injectors? ( it can also be heard like a far noise)?

I'm going to incorporate a priming 'wait' in my start up sequence and see what happens!!

Pete

Hello,

Scoobynet lurker emerging (and I've forgotten my previous username!)! I think the problem is due to not completing the warm up sequence when starting the car previously. The ECU has a sequence from cold start that if not completed can cause problems on the re-start. I think the ECU needs to reset itself. I've heard of this problem with a number of other modern cars, so no it's not just a Scooby problem. Make sure you run the car for a couple of miles ideally each journey to allow the sequence to complete before switching off!

Hope this helps,

Jim

Thanks Jim

Makes sense, I would guess the sequence wouldnt need a few miles - but just to warm up?

Pete

[Edited by pslewis - 2/27/2002 8:18:46 PM]

I suffered with this problem a while ago. I agree with Andy and others and seems to be related to moving the car and not letting it warm up. I had the car on a select monitor twice/took advice and suggestions from the local lads but nothing ever showed up. Had the ecu reset and all was fine. 6 weeks later it started again after I repeatedly move the car around to stop the oldies in the flats below cracking their doors into the scoob. Another ecu reset and six/seven weeks on and all seems o.k.... and I no longer move the car around......no door dings yet either ! (changed regular petrol station as well but not sure that is relevant)

try a reset and see how you go. fingers crossed it wont reoccur.

Steve

The only time I had this was the morning before my 30k service. Was fine afterwards, so I presume the spark plugs were on the way out.

I am 3 months away from my 2 year/30,000 mile service where the spark plugs are renewed and all the fluids changed, so we shall see!

Does the car feel like new after the 30,000 mile BIG service? anyone know?

Pete

No it doesn't. It's just slightly lighter from all that money that's left your wallet :)

Seriously, my car has never felt better after a service - often it feels sluggish and takes a while to get back to normal, if anything. The best bit is giving back the courtesy car, which is almost always crap.

A.

Pete, do you only get this when it is warm or when starting from cold? When my crank sensor went it had symptoms of failing to start when the engine was warm, i.e. stopping in petrol stations! but cold starts were always fine.
Paul

I know this is OT, but i asked before n didnt get a response, do dealers usually charge for using a courtesy car?

battery, spark plugs and leads?

Thanks all - as usual it has started fine over the last few days!! Typical!!

Pete

With my MY01:

I wait about three seconds for the fuel pump between turning on the ignition and then attempting to start the engine and I have not really noticed any difference in the time it takes to start.

Sometimes the car will start almost immediately but the worst I have had is around four seconds (this was with a warm engine). Generally the engine starts quicker from cold.

I have used the car to commute four miles a day (2 miles each way) and only towards the end of this would I say that the car has completed its warm up cycle, ie the engine is running at normal idle (if this is a true indication that the car has completed its warm up).

Starting the car to move it out of the garage is a bad idea and has been covered in Honest Johns column in the Telegraph, funnily enough both times were Imprezas.

The first problem which will prevent restart is bore washing, where neat fuel washs the piston bores preventing compression of fuel/air and hence no ignition. I believe in this instance the spark plugs have to be removed to let everything dry out.

The second is the ECU detecting unburnt fuel in the exhaust emmissions and either will not restart because of this or will not provide enough fuel to get the car started, though I think in this instance the car can be started eventually. The ECU does this to protect the cats on the car.

I hope that the above two descriptions are accurate but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

I try and run the car for five minutes if I have to get it out of the garage, I don't feel guilty for doing this as I'm forced to run a car with all the environmental gubbins on it.

i've been getting the same problem since i got the car just had the 37.5k service and the dealers said your batterys on it's way out funny how another dealer missed it at 30k and missed the maf problem ended up carefully cleaning it myself anyway getting back to starting problem the battery get replaced this week under warranty .
i would recommend getting the battery checked out

cheers