Cold weather - starts up, then stalls???

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Philip Nasadowski, Dec 22, 2004.

  1. Ok, so I was leaving my friend's house in Deposit, NY, the other day.
    It was around -10 degrees (F!) out. The car started right up - normally
    - on the first turn. Like any other time. So, I rev it a little, then
    let it sit a minute, then turn on the headlights, while the engine was
    revving around 2,000 rpm. Take my foot off the gas and it flat out
    dies. Restarting was hard - it wouldn't restart with my foot off the
    gas, or with a bit of gas. Acted like it was flooded. A few seconds
    with my foot to the floor, then about 10%, it started up again. Let it
    warm by manually revving it around 2,000 rpm until the temp gauge needle
    started moving up, and it then idled fine with my foot off. No problems
    at all.

    Other things - the car's been getting rather low highway mileage - in
    the mid 30's - I don't know if it's my leadfoot or what. This start and
    stall issue happens at least until the 20's or 30's. The car otherwise
    drives just fine in the cold - no issues at all.

    The CTS was replaced a while back, didn't help.

    Any ideas, anyone?
     
    Philip Nasadowski, Dec 22, 2004
    #1
  2. Philip Nasadowski

    Peter Young Guest

    Don't *ever* give it gas when trying to start it - especially when it's cold out. A fuel-injected vehicle already dumps
    plenty of gas when starting the car. When you hit the accelerator, you're adding more than it needs, and you will flood
    it.

    You definitely flooded it. Depressing the accelerator all the way tells the computer to stop delivering fuel, which
    gives the engine a chance to lean out.

    Saturn's never rated higher than the mid-30's for highway mileage, did they? My SL2 was rated 36 highway.

    I don't have any ideas why it's not idling. Probably a bad sensor somewhere. Have you taken it in for service?
     
    Peter Young, Dec 22, 2004
    #2
  3. Philip Nasadowski

    Dave Guest

    You don't mention the year or model of your car, but on the older Saturns,
    there's an additional temp sensor in the air intake ductwork.
    It's variably called the air charge sensor, or air intake sensor. It looks
    just
    like the CTS (may actually be the same part) and cost me about $12
    from Autozone. Replacing this solved some drivability issues with my SC2,
    but they weren't as severe as the ones you describe. Just a thought.

    Good luck,
    Dave
     
    Dave, Dec 23, 2004
    #3
  4. What years please?
    later,

    tom @ www.CarFleaMarket.com
     
    newsgroups01REMOVEME, Dec 23, 2004
    #4
  5. Ouch!

    I totally forgot the year :(

    It's a '93 SC2.

    I'm starting to point the finger at the fuel pressure regulator -it did
    die on us once before, and I'm starting to question if it's freezing up
    at that temp and screwing up the AFR that way...
     
    Philip Nasadowski, Dec 23, 2004
    #5

  6. If thati's the case, then I would guess switch gas stations you visit,
    since they aren't filtering the fuel, and run a bottle or two of dry
    gas through.

    Just a guess.....


    tom @ www.FindMeShelter.com
     
    newsgroups01REMOVEME, Dec 23, 2004
    #6
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