lately it's been hard to start on the HOT days. in the morning or even on the coldest winter days she fires right up. normally as soon as i turn the key it fires right up. but now i got to crank for 5-10 seconds before it starts. only on days like today when it's very hot. after its been running it starts just fine.

 

any ideas?

Could it be oxygenated fuel evaporating? Have you changed fuel filter recently?

have not touched the fuel filter lately

Sometimes people would say engine coolant temp sensor..but I can never remember if that normally causes cold start issues, or warm/hot start issues?

Prolly wouldn't hurt to throw a can of injector cleaner into a full tank of gas. Use the good stuff costing about $6/bottle. The cheap stuff doesn't work well.

Prolly wouldn't hurt to throw a can of injector cleaner into a full tank of gas. Use the good stuff costing about $6/bottle. The cheap stuff doesn't work well.

 

However, if the fuel filter is clogged, and the fuel from the filter to the injectors has evaporated, injector cleaner might remove some of the dirt in the filter but the engine may still be delayed because of lack of fuel.

However, if the fuel filter is clogged, and the fuel from the filter to the injectors has evaporated, injector cleaner might remove some of the dirt in the filter but the engine may still be delayed because of lack of fuel.

 

If the fuel filter is partially clogged, it generally is most noticable at high rpm or higher speeds on the freeway, where more gas is called for, but can't get enough through the filter.

 

Still, poster wrote that car was experiencing mostly a hot start problem. Might be a sensor problem.

the car runs fine other than that. it seems like the only time it does it is when it's hot outside and the car is cold. it did it again today and when it did i could smell fuel. i gave her some gas and it fired up and a minute later the smell went away.

we've had the car for 5-6 years and it just started this about a month ago.

coolant temp sensor is new.