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EP3 Taking 4 seconds to start

Azazl187

Azazl187

Messages
1,067
Right then guys, I told you it wouldn't be long before I was back.

Normally when I get in the car in the mornings it takes like a second for the car to start, you hear one or 2 chugs and then the engine runs.

Just over the least week or so I have had to wait for about 4 seconds before the engine runs. You know, it gets to the point where you think that it might not start at all..... The bit where you wonder if the neighbors are saying to each other "that car is taking a while to start"... :).

After the car has been running for a bit it can either start again straight away or sometimes take just as long to start.

Ive just done oil filter, oil change, coolant change, air filter change and valve clearances. Im thinking that sods law dictates the the fuel pump is on its way out. The car has done 135k and from what i know it has never been changed before.

Any ideas?
 
If you try starting it with the accelerator partially depressed, does it still take time to start?

If it just works in that case, could be the IACV
 
mike.h said:
If you try starting it with the accelerator partially depressed, does it still take time to start?

If it just works in that case, could be the IACV
Click to expand...

I never start the car with the accelerator pressed.... I just went outside and tried that and it started much quicker. What the hell is an IACV?
 
OK so we are looking at the idle control valve. This kinda makes sense. I recently poured a whole bottle of Redex into a full tank of petrol as I have never done that before. Now correct me if I am wrong, this will help break up carbon deposits and these could have gunked up the idle control valve right?

Should I just rip the thing out and give it a good clean up?
 
r8hjx@woknroll said:
Our Ep3 don't need redex..I never hear people use this before..


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Click to expand...

I used it to try and remove any carbon build up that might be in the system, to my knowledge it has never had any before and my car is an 02 plate so its been running a good while.
 
IACV.
Stretched throttle cable. Miscalibrated throttle position sensor.
 
How recently did you do the redex? It could also be making the fuel harder to ignite.

Work your way through Loxy's list and you should be able to work out the cause. I doubt Carbon in the mani and TB would be affected that much by redex though.


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Azazl187 said:
I recently poured a whole bottle of Redex into a full tank of petrol as I have never done that before. Now correct me if I am wrong, this will help break up carbon deposits and these could have gunked up the idle control valve right?
Click to expand...

Fuel doesn't get anywhere near the throttle-plate or IACV, so no, redex will have no effect.
 
Loxy said:
IACV.
Stretched throttle cable. Miscalibrated throttle position sensor.
Click to expand...

I didnt take out the throttle body today to check the valve but i did test the tightness of the throttle cable and it has small amount of slack like it should do. I also started up the car and tested the sensitivity of the throttle and it feels and sounds absolutely fine.

The Redex went in on the last fill up and i was on the petrol low light when this was happening so it could have sat heavy in the tank and the petrol was rich with it. Ive put another tanks worth in there now so if that is the case things will improve almost immediately. Ill let you know
 
Have you ever had the throttle off to give it a clean up? Worth doing of you haven't. Mine was noticeable on idle afterwards.

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Norv said:
Have you ever had the throttle off to give it a clean up? Worth doing of you haven't. Mine was noticeable on idle afterwards.

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Click to expand...

I think it will certainly be the next one on my list Norv. I think my car is newer and running better now than it was 10 years ago with all the weekends ive been working on it :)
 
May be worth mentioning the fuel filter, it's recommended to change this on the big service at 70 odd thousand miles. A few people miss this out. Hope you sort it soon.
 
Camshaft position sensor can cause issues with turning over more often to start. It uses both cam and crank position sensors when starting to determine which cylinder is firing.
It can do it with just the crank sensor when the cam sensor fails. But it then requires more revolutions of the crankshaft to work out TDC for cylinder 1.
Although a failed cam position should bring up the EML. Still worth checking with a code reader for any faults.


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