Car Hard To Start/Rough Startup...HELP!!

[TurboDreamzGST]

Hey guys i have a 97 eclipse gst. When im starting the car, it will crank for about 8-10 seconds before finally kicking over and starting up. I mean 8 seconds doesn't sound like a long time but when it comes to a car starting up, 8-10 seconds seems pretty long for the car to just sit and crank before starting. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas what the problem could be or how i could fix this. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you guys all very much.

 

[sheldon]

check your vacume line to your fuel preasure regulator...

 

[TurboDreamzGST]

this may sound stupid but could you help me out by telling me where the fuel pressure regulator is located and what it looks like....i am a newbie and i really have no clue where it would be or what it would look like.....thanks for the suggestion

 

[GVR4592]

It's bolted onto the drivers side of the fuel rail. The fuel rail is the aluminum piece that holds the fuel injectors and is located between the valve cover and the intake manifold. The regulator is a goldish color and will have a vacuum line and a fuel line. The bigger line is for fuel.

Does the car start fine after it's warmed up?

 

[femmeDSM]

I would advise you to check your pre-rail/post-filter fuel pressure. You can buy or borrow a fuel pressure tester to accomplish this (you can get one for fairly cheap at any AutoZone/O'Reilly/Advance Auto/etc). You'll want to hook it up between the filter and the fuel rail, and refer to the FSM for specific instructions from there. Basic values you're looking for on a 2g turbo (with the vac line removed) are approx 42-45 psi.

Another possibility is the ECT (Coolant Temp Sensor). Check the wiring first, as I've seen plenty of these stop working due to brittle wiring that finally just decides to fall completely apart (easily fixed with some new spliced wire).

You can refer to this post for a little more indepth descriptions of possible troubleshooting practices. Note that this refers to 1gs specifically, but many of the same principles apply to 2gs as well.

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217951

 

[femmeDSM]

Also, here's a link with some more valuable info - this will help you locate many of the parts you'll want to be looking at.
http://members.shaw.ca/dsm.1000q/Engineprimer/2G/index.htm

I absolutely recommend that you use some sort of service manual as well. Hayne's is good, but if you can, locate a 2g FSM (Factory Service Manual) from Chrysler. There's a Tech Article that has a link to download these, actually. ---- Here it is ---- http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206021

 

[TurboDreamzGST]

on a cold start up, like i said it will take around 8 seconds of cranking before it kicks over and starts but on a warm start up it will range from only cranking 2-4 seconds and than starting up.....so yea a warm start up is easier and better than a cold start up...thank you all for the suggestions.....any more suggestions would be appreciated....i'd really like to figure out the problem within the next day or so, so the more info. i recieve will really help a lot....thank you all

 

[GVR4592]

Have you checked any of the things Claire suggested?

 

[TurboDreamzGST]

yea i checked the fuel pressure and it seems to be ok but i need to check that coolant temperature sensor....where is that located because i couldnt find it on the link provided

 

[femmeDSM]

The coolant temp sensor is located on the thermostat housing. There is a picture of its location on a 1g in the first link I gave you (Tech Article). Its position in a 2g is similar, and the sensor itself looks almost the same at the plug end, so you should be able to locate it. If you still can't find it, you should be able to find more specific directions in a service manual