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Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:19 am
by smithy318i
It was -5 Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) outside this morning and my car refused to start at the 1st attempt. When it started, the idle was around 500 and it would stall if left it alone while i scraped the windscreen.
It also stalled and refused to restart once i had driven it about a mile.
Are these symptoms of a duff blue temperature sensor?
another odd running issue is if I come back to the car 30 minutes after driving it, the engine will run badly and stall continuously.
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:29 am
by Brianmoooore
Not the usual way they fail, but it's still the first thing to try.
TPS is also suspect - cold thickening up any goo inside of it?
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:34 pm
by Stan0870
hello mate,has the car ever done this before in the cold? an do you buy your fuel at the same place every time? basically do you use super market petrol?
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:14 pm
by smithy318i
did it again today. Im thinking fuel pump relay.
I get my fuel from all different places (most recent was Total)
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:47 pm
by Stan0870
as brian suggested try the throttle position sensor first, then have a stab at the fuel pump relay if you think that it might be causing a problem, their quite easy to test if you have access to a pocket multi meter. do you know when the fuel filter was last changed? and check, if you have access to some where flat to take the back wheel off?, (tank side) an check the tank neck as there prone to coroding by there, because crud gets jammed behind the plastic cover an rots the neck out which contaminates the fuel. im not near as technically minded as mr moore, so i cant help you much with the electrical side of things, you need a guru. but i am tight thats why i check all the dont cost much money things first. its wort a stab.. best of luck m8...
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:17 pm
by Brianmoooore
Fuel pump relay can be swapped with any other orange one in the fusebox.
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:25 am
by smithy318i
It wasn't the fuel relay.
If the CPS is faulty would the fuel pump run when cranking the engine?
Re: Engine wont run properly when very cold
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:50 am
by Brianmoooore
Fuel pump won't run without signals from the TPS, but they don't have to be the correct signals. Noise from an intermittant one can still trigger the pump relay.
Have you changed that blue sensor? (Or, knowing you're handy with a soldering iron, temporarily replace it with a 4.7k pot in series with a 150 ohm resistor, and adjust it as the engine warms up)