Hard start ??

[kinda5150]

this recently started happening to me as well. did it once or twice last yr then nada until a couple weeks ago. it's done it about 7-8 x now, always after i go out at lunch time or when i leave from work. it always starts up right away in the morning at home. i have about a 40 min commute, then about 3 hrs later i go to lunch--sometimes it takes 3-4 seconds to start, then all is right w/the world. if it doesn't happen at lunch, then it happens when i leave for the day. really weird. wondering if may be fuel related as i recently switched to exxon (from shell). obviously i switched back and have had one long start in the past wk. maybe the car is just really picky about the fuel, or at least when it's cold out.

[Koa]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Oh, on that one you had to set the brake, set the throttle, set the spark ..... then get out and crank it ..... always remembering NOT to wrap your thumb around the crank handle ....

When we visited the Route 66 exhibit by the LA Zoo, saw a Model T. Was surprised it had an electric starter.. story goes that the starter was developed early on after an engineer's loved one died from cranking the engine by hand. Slipped or some shit. Amazing how things work out..

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Koa

When we visited the Route 66 exhibit by the LA Zoo, saw a Model T. Was surprised it had an electric starter.. story goes that the starter was developed early on after an engineer's loved one died from cranking the engine by hand. Slipped or some shit. Amazing how things work out..

Ya, those cranks were a bitch! (So I have heard)

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Ya, those cranks were a bitch! (So I have heard)

Yep, I remember as a kid, back on the farm, (oh, here he goes again ), to start our old Oliver tractor, I had to set the crank, stand up on a 5 gal bucket, jump off onto the crank and spring off of it .... quickly ..... quickly being the key word .....

Yepper, never had a flat tire ..... never got stuck ......


OK, back to the 21st century .....



humfrz

[nathanR]

This has happened to me as well. Maybe 4-5 times total. It always seems to happen at work where I am parked on a slight downhill slope towards the driver side (car is angled down towards the front driver's side corner). It may be coincidence but I'm trying to narrow down what makes this location so special. This doesn't seem to happen in any other parking location.

Might just be my imagination, so I'll continue to monitor.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by nathanR

This has happened to me as well. Maybe 4-5 times total. It always seems to happen at work where I am parked on a slight downhill slope towards the driver side (car is angled down towards the front driver's side corner). It may be coincidence but I'm trying to narrow down what makes this location so special. This doesn't seem to happen in any other parking location.

Might just be my imagination, so I'll continue to monitor.

Try the prestart priming method and see if that works for you.
Just turn the key fully into the on position but not all the way to start.
Wait about 5 seconds then turn it off and then immediately to start.
This has made a huge difference for me when starting in the -25 temperatures of late. Fires right up first crank every single time.

[tobin]

My car had been having a rough time starting for a week or so. One day it was completely dead, and would just make a loud "click" sound when pressing the start button. I followed the procedure in the manual of holding the button for 15 seconds, which resulted in 3 quick "clicks", but it still wouldn't start. I jumped the car and ran it for ~15 minutes. The next day it was dead again, so I brought it to the dealer. They tested the battery and determined it had a faulty cell. I just wanted to contribute to this post because a dead battery may be able to be covered under warranty, and I've noticed this car has been particularly cranky when starting cold compared to other cars I've owned.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by tobin

My car had been having a rough time starting for a week or so. One day it was completely dead, and would just make a loud "click" sound when pressing the start button. I followed the procedure in the manual of holding the button for 15 seconds, which resulted in 3 quick "clicks", but it still wouldn't start. I jumped the car and ran it for ~15 minutes. The next day it was dead again, so I brought it to the dealer. They tested the battery and determined it had a faulty cell. I just wanted to contribute to this post because a dead battery may be able to be covered under warranty, and I've noticed this car has been particularly cranky when starting cold compared to other cars I've owned.

There have been a pile of battery related issues mentioned on here. Don't claim to know why but seems to be a pretty common problem. As best as I can recall they were all replaced under warranty though.

[tobin]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

There have been a pile of battery related issues mentioned on here. Don't claim to know why but seems to be a pretty common problem. As best as I can recall they were all replaced under warranty though.

Just to throw this out there, but the new battery is visually different than the original one. New one is 100% black top and black bottom; the original had a black top and white/translucent bottom.

[Lelantas]

Originally Posted by tobin

Just to throw this out there, but the new battery is visually different than the original one. New one is 100% black top and black bottom; the original had a black top and white/translucent bottom.

That might just be the dealer's choice of replacement battery. My 2015 BRZ (production date of 12/14) came with the black and translucent battery.

[Lorico]

Just bought this car a week ago, it has 500KM and it took 3 tries to start the car. WTF.

I waited for a 2015 model to get rid of most of the bugs but this one is still here. Should I go to the dealer?

[BRZnut]

Originally Posted by Lorico

Just bought this car a week ago, it has 500KM and it took 3 tries to start the car. WTF.

I waited for a 2015 model to get rid of most of the bugs but this one is still here. Should I go to the dealer?

I would!

[Lorico]

As I figured. Dealer could not replicate the issue. I have a friend who owns a 2010 lancer. The mitsubishi's are notorious for this. He says use premium with no ethanol mix. Water from the alcohol mix is the culprit so he says.

Luckily I found out that Canadian tire has no ethonal in their premium I'll keep u guys updated

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lorico

As I figured. Dealer could not replicate the issue. I have a friend who owns a 2010 lancer. The mitsubishi's are notorious for this. He says use premium with no ethanol mix. Water from the alcohol mix is the culprit so he says.

Luckily I found out that Canadian tire has no ethonal in their premium I'll keep u guys updated

He is so wrong he couldn't be wronger (new word)!
There is no water from the alcohol mix. In fact, you know what gas line antifreeze is? Yep alcohol. The fuel does not break down into separate components in the fuel tank.
And as the owner of a Talon (Eclipse) 3 Lancers, 2 Outlanders and an RVR over the years I can say that I never once had a hard start with any of them. Never, not even when a couple of the Lancers had over 200,000 miles on them!
I also have no idea why he is running premium in a Lancer in the first place because unless he had modded the hell out of it there is absolutely zero benefit to using premium.
Please tell your friend on my behalf that he is totally full of shit (him not you)!