Poor starting getting worse
 

My Bug STI has an issue from cold start. It has been firing up but needed help to stay running. After a second or 2 it would idle ok but drive a bit sluggish. As soon as the temp gauge starts to rise it's fine. This morning I missed the rev drop and it stalled, on restarting it turned over for a good 20 seconds and eventually fired up with me blipping the throttle (not sure if it helped) almost like it had flooded. After work today it did the same. I have some new plugs on the way but is there anything else I can check/try? Fuel filter?

The car drives fine with no missfires or splutters and I have no warning light on.

Standard ECU/map with induction kit.

Cheers Chaps.

change the fuel filter, you may find that'll sort it.

Cheers pal. Got one on the way.

Could be numerous things but unmapped with induction kit not ideal and could have cause maf damage or just fouling of the plugs

Cheers Simon. A re-map is on the to do list.

Quick update.

Changed the fuel filter today. Think it had been on a while going by the pipes being very very tight... So fitted and ignition on twice, car started straight away and seemed much happier idling. The old filter seemed very heavy and hardly any fuel came out when tipped up. Plugs will be done next week but I think I've cracked it :thumb:

Cheap fix :luxhello:

False Alarm. Problem is still here. Plugs next.

Can you smell fuel?

Have you checked for any damage to pipe work from TMIC /Induction etc?


Steve

No fuel smell apart from the cold weather thing. Can't hear any air leaking and have put the oe recirc valve back on.

Possibly battery? My battery is on its way out and starting is laboured. My alarm sometimes chirrups before kicking into life, another indication that the battery is on its way out.

Just a thought.

Yes mine does the chirp thing when starting sometimes,more so if ive had it parked up a day or so,try the battery mate if plugs dont help.

Brand new battery 2 weeks ago. It turns over fine but is a bit hit and miss on when it fires up.

Was the same after work and nearly killed the battery before it started.

Think I'll leave it at home until the plugs are changed, if that doesn't fix it I'll need professional help...and so will the car.

Plugs fitted so we'll see what happens in the morning. The ones I took out were nology silver?! Anyone heard of them?

Next job will be remove the I/c and check pipe work.

I had this on my classic, it was the idle control valve, never threw up a fault code, was just process of elimination, the thing that gave it away was when cold it would not tick over above 800rpm, so when new was fitted it now runs on choke perfect till warm

Yeah no fault codes here. Can this be cleaned or does it need replacing? And where abouts is it?

On my classic it is in front of the tmic to the right, on urs I think just in front of the factory dump valve, not sure what it looks like mine has a plug with 3 wires and 2 small water pipes on it at the side I just replaced mine, on the classic the bearings stick, and cause poor running, as I have this issue with mine now and again but I'm trying to decide if it's mad or iacv trouble is both have been replaced in the 2 years I have owned the car

Cheers pal, I'll have a look at it :-)

Is it any different when starting it when warm? May be an issue with your coolant temp sensor. It works like a choke- when its cold it tells the ecu to inject more fuel. If its faulty then it doesn't inject the right amount of fuel on cold start, therefore takes longer to start.

May also be a problem with the idle control valve too.

Thanks chap I'll check it out :-)

Where is it located?

Battery flat today. 2 weeks old. Wtf. Booking it in to Subaru this afternoon. I give up!!!