Hard to start

97 Saturn sl, automatic, the engine will not start when the engine has not
been started for a day or so. The caar turns over without any hesitation,
the fuel pump works and seems to pressurize the system but he car will not
start. When a small amount of starting fluid is sprayed into the air
intake it starts immisiatly. Runs smooth without lost of power. Took car
the local Auto Zone and they were unble to read any codes from the
computer. They stated that once the car starts the codes can not be read.


Does the car have a cold start system? How can I determine that this is
the problem? Any Ideas Are Welcome
Thanks

 

Usually the car shoots a priming shot of fuel into the engine. Maybe
your injectors are sticking on that priming shot. (but all 4 at once?
unlikely) First I would probably pull the plugs and make sure they are
good. My other thought would be your ecm is seeing Wide Open Throttle
(wot) and that is the clear flood mode which prevents your injectors
from pulsing unless the engine goes over 400rpm or so then it will start
pulsing the injectors.

 

I have a 97 also. There was a recall several years back on the fuel pumps
because of letting pressure drop after the engine had been shut off. The
fuel pump is supposed to maintain enough pressure so that when you go to
start the car (like the next day) the injectors still have enough pressure
to spray adequately to start the engine. My symptoms were a hard to start
engine after it had set over night. I would have to open the throttle a lot
and after a lot of cranking it would finally start. Once started there was
no problem. I would suggest checking the pressure with the ignition turned
off to see if the fuel pump is not holding.