Occasional hard to start issue
 

My sons 2013 FRS has about 49,000 miles. A few times the car takes about 3 or 4 times of cranking over the engine to get it to start. Maybe happened 3 times in a months time. His fuel pump does have the chirping sound happening, and a couple times it has had a bubbling type noise coming from under the hood.

I've searched and it seems like the chirping noise doesn't really affect reliability. Unless pump is really going up and no fuel? I told him about pausing the key before starting to let the pump prime and it still was hard to start.(this time). Maybe fuel filter? Maybe not getting spark, new plugs? But then you would think it would be hard to start everytime....

Edit#2. Also, brand new battery. There are no issues with cranking over. Engine cranks fast. This happened this morning at 54 degrees out.

So the majority of the time it starts fine. Just wondering if anyone else experienced this intermittently and if there is a cause/fix that is known.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Edit-- video of chirping and bubble noise.
https://vid.me/gSiN

Thanks, Frank

Have you checked the battery? They are not maintenance free.

Brand new battery. No problem with starter cranking. It consistently cranks fast.

Sounds like you need a new battery. Some of them just chirp. My 2013 doesn't. Sounds like your fighting cold cranking amps. Try battery first.

No trouble cranking engine over.

Pretty sure he mentioned that he has a brand new battery. Bad gas maybe? Put in some premium 76 or Chevron and see what happens.

Does it do that just from a cold start or from a warm start also .. ??

Sometimes my 2013 will have to spin a few times from a warm start, if I've "killed it".

(yep, I do that about once a month ...... :sigh:)

Unless it's sending a code, I wouldn't worry about it. BTW, if your son doesn't have a code reader, that would be a good gift for him.

@Braces may be onto something with the "bad gas" theory. I suggest a different station/pump for a fill up, to see if that solves the problem.


humfrz

But if it were bad gas, wouldn't it be hard to start for the whole tankful? Same Gas hasn't been an issue on our other cars.

It definitely has happened when it was sitting overnight. I'll have to find out if it ever happened on a warm vehicle.

I've had it happen, but not for a good 4-6 months now, comes and goes. It's a really intermittent thing, just every once in awhile it struggles.

:iono:

Second day i owned my car it did something like this..just sat there and cranked. and i was like well what should I do now(push to start) so i didnt want to push it and reengage the starter. Has only happened 2 or 3 times since ive owned it.

So far it has only happened from a cold start. Hasn't happened when engine is warmed up.

hmmmm........if your sure he is pausing after turning the key and engaging the starter, I'd just wait till that tank of gas is gone ...... then see if it still does it.

I seriously doubt anything is wrong with the fuel filter or either fuel pump.

At 50,000 miles the spark plugs could be getting a bit long in tooth .... or short in electrode....:D You may consider replacing them.


humfrz

This is probably stupid to say but are you letting the fuel pump prime? If the car has been sitting for 30 min or so, you need to turn the key (you'll hear the fuel pump kick in, fuel gauge will read the fuel) wait a second then crank the engine.