Car starts only at WOT.. Steering initially very stiff

Hi guys.. Ive got another problem to report..

Ive noticed now that every time I start the engine it has to be at WOT for more than a sec otherwise she wont start at all. When the engine shows signs of starting I have to rev it again to get it started normally. Also when this happens.. which is every time I try to start the car.. the steering is really really stiff.. as if theres no power steering. When the car has travelled a short distance the steering then becomes responsive as normal.

I have a blazt cable and ecutalk unit so what should I be looking for?

 

whats the AAC reading once the car is warm and idling? too high could indicate that the idle screw is set too low or otherwise intake is a bit gunked up

you know u can sell ur blazt cable if u have the ecutalk display since you've got the usb consult cable function (usbif from the menu) with the usb cable plugged in and it works exactly like a consult cable?

 

are you running a aftermarket fuel reg by any chance?

 

Nope

Im just worried that waater got into the bay somehow recently and affected some connectors and causing no spark?

 

If she'll only start on WOT, then your massively over fueling on startup, could be from a seized fuel reg. 90% sure it's fuel related.

 

I think Andy is on the money in that it is fuel related. Fuel reg is a good place to start, also could be faulty damper or leaking lower injector o-ring.

 

2nd....at one stage i had this problem...replaced the fuel reg and dampener and all better

 

Thanks guys Ill take to my local mech to check out the fuel regulator.

Any reason why steering is affected too? I started getting the steering problem when I first started having starting problems

 

Whats the normal reading for AAC?

 

Heavy steering on startup is either low PS fluid, or your belts loose. Not related to your start problem, put it down as one of those weird zed coincidences that keep us all confused.

 

Do you reckon that theres the slightest chance that maybe the PTU or any other controller is fouled up somehow (earthed?) and not sending the right signals to the injectors or anything like that to start combustion? Could overfueling be because of that? Or maybe bad fuses? Id check fuseboxes but dont know where to start

 

normal AAC would be below 25 once idling/fully warmed up/no AC or other load

 

check your fuel damper is not leaking fuel into your balance pipe.
This can cause very hard starting.

Remove Damper Vac line (Damper looks lie the fuel reg, but is on drivers side)
Cap off plenum nipple
Leave car overnight, see what happens in the morning

 

no, PTU on delivers spark, and WOT will have no impact on spark strength. The only thing WOT changes on startup will be the amount of available air for combustion, which makes us look to fuel, because if there is too much fuel for combustion with the amount of air available through the idle valve, then there is too much fuel. Injectors are dual fired on startup, so if there is an overfuelling issue then it's more noticeable on startup. If the fuel reg is faulty then it won't regulate the pressure, and hence more fuel is dumped in due to the higher pressures. Easy to swap out with a known working one.

Is it only hard to start when cold? What about when warm?

 

I also get it when its warm.. for instance engine off at carpark with coolant temp at 87ish and 5 min later trying to start her up.

Would the excess fuel evaporate overnight in any way? Today it started up okay (idle fluctuated heaps though) but any other time during the day I could only start it up at WOT

 

When it starts fine without your foot on the scarypedal does it rev up heaps then quickly go back down to normal? I'm no expert but before I replaced my fuel lines I used to get this surging all the way up to 1.6-2k, now when it starts it just sits at idle revs. My guess is that my old hoses were leaky and weren't holding fuel pressure as well as they should have been.

A different story about fuel - The first time I did a plenum pull I shredded 2 of the injector o-rings when seating the injectors back in. This meant that they leaked and occasionally flooded, making it real hard to start.

 

It is possibly indirectly related, if the revs are low enough.

 

If the revs are that low he wouldn't be going anywhere...

 

Refer to his initial post.

 

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I'll end up ordering a sard regulator.. but the mechanic hasnt spotted anything wrong (leak or other) with the fuel system atm.

Fluid is at max and belt tight.

I plugged my ecutalk in and got coolant temp sensor error and knock sensor error. When last I plugged it in - around gb time - no errors at all.

Would a faulty CTS or knock sensor cause overfueling? Not too sure what hesitation is.. mentioned on tech pages.. but idle is erratic .. drops below 0.5, pulsates then goes back to 1.1.

The reason I think its electrical is that wont p/s be off at low speed or something? maybe even if the car is moving the speed sensor is acting up and hence no p/s?

Ill clean out connectors .. that i can reach anyway.. and will report back later.

Thanks a bunch, guys

ps: wheres the thanks button?