1998 S90 Cold Start problem

[purplebeauty]

Alright, put in Sea Foam a month ago, have switched to only Top Tier gasoline. Problem persists. What are next steps I can try?

Also, am I doing long-term damage to the car by trying to start it up every morning with it being unable to turn over? Should I instead be doing the "turn on dash lights for 15 seconds first" trick?

[93Regina]

start it up every morning

Get a stick transmission, and park vehicle on a hill, so it can roll down the hill; turn ignition on, put in 3rd gear, depress clutch, let it roll, then let out clutch, and start it.

[RickHaleParker]

The wait 15 seconds then crank won't hurt anything but long cranks contribute to premature failure of the starter and battery cables.

Turn over means the starter does crank the engine. "unable to turn over" would mean it starter does not turn the engine over. I thought you had a crank but no start condition.

If your condition is a crank but no start condition, your next step would be to determine why the fuel pressure is bleeding off.

Trace Dye is one way to find leaks. Don't over dilute the dye and make sure you give it time for the dye to work it's way to the engine before you shut the engine off. Pay the extra for a good strong UV light.

[93Regina]

Trace Dye is one way to find leaks.

With fuel system, this is not needed...

When he stated "But pretty reliably, the second time it does start up," this suggests

1. Fuel pressure issue

or

2. Starter/Relay issue

But now, it appears his story has changed,

"doing long-term damage to the car by trying to start it up every morning with it being unable to turn over? "

What needs to be done is to touch a hot wire to starter's solenoid-terminal...keyword "touch"

[jimmy57]

Agreed. I can't tell if the starter fails to crank the engine over when a start attempt is made or the starter spins it over but engine will not run.

[purplebeauty]

The wait 15 seconds then crank won't hurt anything but long cranks contribute to premature failure of the starter and battery cables.

Turn over means the starter does crank the engine. "unable to turn over" would mean it starter does not turn the engine over. I thought you had a crank but no start condition.

If your condition is a crank but no start condition, your next step would be to determine why the fuel pressure is bleeding off.

Trace Dye is one way to find leaks. Don't over dilute the dye and make sure you give it time for the dye to work it's way to the engine before you shut the engine off. Pay the extra for a good strong UV light.

Thanks Rick. Sorry I'm a little new to car terminology. I *believe* what I'm describing is the first condition, i.e. a crank. Each morning, the engine sounds like it's trying to start when I turn the key but then just dies. I feel the engine shaking a little as it tries to start and then it just dies. Then if I do it again (or do the 15 seconds trick the first time), it will start up fine.

I'm open to trying the Trace Dye thing but will it be useful for me to know where the fuel pressure is bleeding off, if I'm not a mechanic?

[purplebeauty]

1. Fuel pressure issue

or

2. Starter/Relay issue

But now, it appears his story has changed,

"doing long-term damage to the car by trying to start it up every morning with it being unable to turn over? "

What needs to be done is to touch a hot wire to starter's solenoid-terminal...keyword "touch"

Yeah sorry so I guess it *is* cranking? The engine kind of shudders a little bit and then dies whenever I try it turn on and it's been sitting for a while. But then if I do it again, immediately, it starts right up.

If you think it might be a starter/relay issue, can you be more specific about how I "touch a hot wire to starter's solenoid-terminal?" For example, what is a hot wire?

Or is this a task better left to a mechanic? This car is basically new to me as of a few months ago and I haven't done too much work on cars before (but am open to learning).

[purplebeauty]

The wait 15 seconds then crank won't hurt anything but long cranks contribute to premature failure of the starter and battery cables.

and thanks for this tidbit! Will stick with the 15 second trick until I get this figured out.

[RickHaleParker]

Your fuel pressure has a slow leak.
1. It could be a fuel line or fuel rail with a slow leak.
2. A leaky fuel pressure regulator bleeding fuel back to the tank.
3. Leaking fuel injectors.

Trace dye would find external leaks but not internal leaks.

[purplebeauty]

Your fuel pressure has a slow leak.
1. It could be a fuel line or fuel rail with a slow leak.
2. A leaky fuel pressure regulator bleeding fuel back to the tank.
3. Leaking fuel injectors.

Trace dye would find external leaks but not internal leaks.

Thanks. So next step is take it to the mechanic, telling them this is the problem?