Hot day rough start

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 14 Apr 2018, 10:18

Yesterday was first day of the year with temps in the 80s in the Northeast. Went to start the old girl up for a pleasant windows down drive, but alias not with out encountering a new issue. Started right up, but the idle was awful. Gave her some gas and it smoothed out a bit. If I let it idle, it would struggle to stay running, but not stall. Black smoke out the exhaust, smelled like a lawnmower. This went on for a few minutes, then all went back to normal. At the advice of a bystander, I opened the filler cap. It almost felt glued on, but pried it off and there was a huge whoosh of air. Idle got a little better, but still not great, and I put the gas cap back on.

Fuel pump is only a few years old. Brand new relay. New fuel filter. New air cleaner. Spark plugs should probably be replaced, so that might be part of the issue. There was only about 6 gallons in the tank at the time, so maybe with the heat it was a vapor issue? I do have evap codes, could this be the problem?

Post by **Clemens** » 15 Apr 2018, 02:35

What so the evap Codes say? How old is the fuel?

Post by **abscate** » 15 Apr 2018, 04:01

I would guess you had a dose of lawn mower syndrome. I bet it is better today

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 15 Apr 2018, 11:52

abscate wrote: ↑15 Apr 2018, 04:01 I would guess you had a dose of lawn mower syndrome. I bet it is better today

Every start was the same story that day. Had to let it idle for a few minutes before I could drive. Now it starts a little rough for about 10 seconds and smooths right out. I haven't tried starting it yet today while it's cold and wet.

Clemens wrote: ↑15 Apr 2018, 02:35 What so the evap Codes say? How old is the fuel?

Fuel was about a week old. I have a P0440 code for the evap system.

Post by **abscate** » 15 Apr 2018, 13:20

Check the engine coolant temperature sensor , or ECT for the correct resistance

You can search under its part number for threads, 9186486

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 04 Jun 2018, 10:23

Checked ECT resistance and was within spec. Checked sparkplugs and they were shot, so replaced. Cleaning the idle air control valve and throttle body today to see if that helps. Will see if that does the trick.