Frustration

[zocheyado]

Anyone have any ideas why my car wont turn over? If its cold aka hasn't started all day or in like 5 hours it will turn on perfectly no weird noises or anything and it runs perfect. then after you drive it for a while, when you turn if off and try and turn it back on again it will be so hard to turn on, it tries to turn over forever and sometimes wont, but if it does after it has done that it idels really roughly, it will sometimes die in intersections. overall bad situation, I took it to a mechanic to get the cv joint fixed because it was broken when I got it, so he replaced a ton of stuff, plugs, rotors, fuel filter, oil, gave me all the fluids i needed and even added some injector cleaner in the fuel to try and help it (even though I put some in there the gastank before and nothing) and he said he couldn't figure out why it was doing that, and neither can I! any help would be great, my last option is to take it down to the ford dealership here in town and they charge 100$ + 60$ a hour.... sigh any help would be great!

**edit!**
forgot to mention this and I have a feeling it is connected but again, not e mechanical guy, just love this car haha, but the heat/tempature gauge does not work in my car, now I don't know if that means its not cooling my engine, or if the needle is just broken or what, when its off its below the C on cold and when i turn it on, the needle moves up to c and then stops, never has it gone past there, It has radiator fluid but thats about as much as I know in terms of cold/heat so! yea thanks again

[FestYboy]

test your battery and make sure your alternator is charging. really sounds like a low voltage issue.

[zocheyado]

But would the low voltage explain the rough idel and dying though?

[TominMO]

Anyone in Montana who can go over and help him with this?

Might be your VAF is going bad. Something to do with air or fuel or heat sensing, or fuel delivery has got to be it, but I'm vague on this kinda stuff myself.

You might not have a thermostat, so it never gets very hot and the needle stays on the low side. Or the temp sensor is bad.

[91mcnasty]

Yes, low voltage can cause your car too turn over extremely slow and idle very rough until charged

[FestYboy]

^thank you, was out feeding my face, couldn't reply soon enough.

[kartracer46]

Start with a load test on the battery, free at most mc parts stores. Then if it's good have your alternator checked. It's better if you take it off and then take it in to have it tested, that should rule out most of the low voltage issues if you had any. Otherwise it's off to searching for a voltage drain. Most of the time I have found that an aftermarket radio installation is usually the cause.

[ckiesman]

mine does the same thing. It will start right up, and run fine until you shut it off. Than it wont start again (it will, but it acts like the motor is vapor locking or something) Let it sit over night, and its fine again, and the entire cycle starts over.

Are you getting any codes? I got a code 9, which is coolant temp sensor. Just curious to see if thats what your problem is as well.

[M3NTAL]

If the engine is hard to start when its hotter, it can be a few things. A bad battery, a dying alternator that isn't charging the battery all the way, a million different heating issues making the engine hot which in turn will even make a perfectly good battery have a hard start when the engine is hot.


Looks like that sensor must be changed to rule it out, check the battery/alternator to make sure they are fine.

[1990new]

I had an experience like this with an ICM that was going bad in a 94 Ford Taurus.
Was the other way around however. Would not start when it was cold, but if I warmed up the ICM by putting my finger on it for a few minutes, it would start.
So many mysteries in the ignitions system since we went electronic if you don't have a computer to connect to the system.

[kartracer46]

mine does the same thing. It will start right up, and run fine until you shut it off. Than it wont start again (it will, but it acts like the motor is vapor locking or something) Let it sit over night, and its fine again, and the entire cycle starts over.

Are you getting any codes? I got a code 9, which is coolant temp sensor. Just curious to see if thats what your problem is as well.

you can test it if you have a meter and the instructions from the manual. Diagnose then replace if necessary.

[TominMO]

mine does the same thing. It will start right up, and run fine until you shut it off. Than it wont start again (it will, but it acts like the motor is vapor locking or something) Let it sit over night, and its fine again, and the entire cycle starts over.

Thanks, that is what I was struggling to think of: vapor lock.

[zocheyado]

Aw! again thank you guys for all the replies! I love it here, is there a donate button?!? anyways, tomorrow morning assuming its not too hot.... I will go down and get the battery checked, Place I go to checks all that kind of stuff for free, but if that doesn't work, Anyone have any idea/instruction on how to check the temp sensor? Thanks again!

[FestYboy]

you'll need an OHM meter to test the sensor.

BTW, what year is your car?

[zocheyado]

1992 GL, I believe thats the trim the forum decided I have. Would orielly have a OHM meter?