GorgeSuby Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Hi Guys, I have been over several of the threads here & applied some of the advice there but problem persists. Started having trouble with warm starts bout a month ago - it would start fine first thing in the morn & after work no problem. But, if I drove it hard for a bit & shut it off for more than a minute, it would not start. It would crank over pretty well for quite awhile(15-30min) & finally after seeming to cool down a bit it would sputter a few times finally catch & start up. So after perusing the forum for a bit for similar issues, I changed out the coolant temp sensor which seemed to have no effect, next swapped out coil for another, cleaned & checked most of the connections, & checked that I had a good fuel pressure on the downstream side of the fuel filter. Still has problem - also seems to steadily be getting worse & now it does not necessarily start cold either. One thing that has got me thinking: one time after having cranking it for 1/2 hr or so, the battery was finally getting low so I got a jump start from another vehicle - whamo! Instant start! ... no sputtering or anything just started right up! Did the same thing one other time... so I am thinking: the battery seems to have enough juice to crank it over fine but maybe the coil is not getting enough juice until I added power from the other vehicle? Or is there some relay not kicking until the extra juice hits it? Just a bad battery? Any ideas? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 If jump starting helps, I would suggest removing and cleaning the battery cable connections. Do not overlook the ground cable connection at the starting motor mount, and the small ground cables going to the chassis from the battery area. Don't just check them, clean them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorgeSuby Posted July 15, 2013 Author Share Posted July 15, 2013 That will be an easy place to start - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 x2 on terminals If you have a good battery that you can borrow from another car try swapping that in to see if it's the battery. Done that a few times. Answers the question without having to shell out the $$$ for a new battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Generally this symptom is caused by a bad or corroded terminals on the engine temp sensor. Assuming your car is SPFI, the sensor is the one on the thermostat with 2 wires and a green plug. If your car is mpfi/turbo, the sensor is brown and located on the back of the intake under the turbo. Try unplugging this sensor durning a no-start and see if that changes anything. Usually cleaning the terminals will solve it. Otherwise, this is a $90 part, or a pocket item at the junk yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorgeSuby Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 Generally this symptom is caused by a bad or corroded terminals on the engine temp sensor. Assuming your car is SPFI, the sensor is the one on the thermostat with 2 wires and a green plug. If your car is mpfi/turbo, the sensor is brown and located on the back of the intake under the turbo. Try unplugging this sensor durning a no-start and see if that changes anything. Usually cleaning the terminals will solve it. Otherwise, this is a $90 part, or a pocket item at the junk yard. Hi Miles, I already replaced the CTS & seemed to have no effect so I am going to try some of these other suggestions.... Hope to hit it again today after work - keep the suggestions comin! Really appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 I agree with everyone on the battery/terminals. If you have run it down more than once, you may have weakened it. If you can recharge it properly, that may help. If it's old it may not fully recharge and you will be chasing ghost problems. If cleaning the terminals/recharging isn't successful then take the battery into an auto parts store and have it checked if it is still within it's life cycle. This issue needs to be completely resolved before going further.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Sorry, i missed the part where you changed the CTS. Here is another suggestion: Ignition Amplifier Transistor. This component is mounted to the coil bracket. It works with the disty ad the internals of the disty work as the crank angle sensor, which sends a pulse to the ECU, which then sends a pulse the the ignition amplifier which gives voltage to the coil making and breaking the fueld circuit to induce a spark. This part can over heat and fail until it cools down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorgeSuby Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Sorry, i missed the part where you changed the CTS. Here is another suggestion: Ignition Amplifier Transistor. This component is mounted to the coil bracket. It works with the disty ad the internals of the disty work as the crank angle sensor, which sends a pulse to the ECU, which then sends a pulse the the ignition amplifier which gives voltage to the coil making and breaking the fueld circuit to induce a spark. This part can over heat and fail until it cools down. This is more or less what I was suspecting - but will try the simple battery swap/terminal & ground check just in case..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 If it were the ignitor overheating, I would not expect a simple jumpstart to get things working. A bad ground at the ignitor is another possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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