2001 V8 Hard Starting After Warm

[kvp123]

The car starts fine in the morning when it is cold. Once I drive it for a while and then stop. If I come back out and the engine is still warm ( few hours or so), the engine is hard to start. Anyone have this problem in the past?

Thanks
Kevin

[CGGorman]

It's either fuel or spark. warm start difficulties are often due to vapor lock on older cars, but tha shouldn't be an issue with fuel injection, so I'm thinking it may be a problem with your fuel pump. Hard to say, though. Could be a lot of things. How many miles on the car? What kind of fuel? Any other symtoms or oddities you've noticed? What's the temp outside and under the hood? Odd noises? Does it have to totally cool off, or does it fire after extended cranking? Once it starts, how's she run? High speed and/or WOT a problem?

[kvp123]

Thanks Chris.

My LS has 82k miles. Within the last few months, I have changed all spark plugs and actually had 1 bad ignition coil which I replaced as well. I use only Premium fuel in it. No other symptoms that are odd. It rides smooth. Just starting is a problem. Not sure about the under the hood temp. But the temp here in VA has been in the 40's and 50's at night and 60's during the day but I did notice this problem when it was much warmer out (80's). Yes if the car is totally cool, it starts right up.. first crank. High speed driving is not a problem. I replaced the fuel filter about a month ago, transmission fluid was replaced about a month ago as well. Replace headcover gaskets a few months back due to leaking oil. Alternator and battery were replaced about 3 months ago. I guess the only thing left to replace would be the fuel pump. On the highway I notice no signs of power loss or anything.

Thanks for your help.

Kevin

[CGGorman]

I had a jeep once that would start hard at random, but more often when warm. It was the crank trigger. Not sure if the LS has a crank trigger or not. I would think so, but newer cars are a bit over my head. I don't know how to test for spark, but it may be useful to stage a no-start situation and have someone help find out if you're getting spark to #1. You might benefit from getting a fuel pressure gauge to mount on the fuel rail schraeder port, as well.


That's about the best I can give you. Sorry.

[imasalespro]

Must be something about having an LS with a starting problem and named Kevin?? I've been having a similar problem with my 2001 LS V8 with about 60,000 miles.

Usually starts okay in the morning after resting in the garage over night. It even starts fine if the car sits outside for under a 1/2 hour or so. But anything longer than an hour and it takes 3-5 seconds of cranking for the car to start. Believe it or not, I have had the Lincoln service manager tell me that 3-5 seconds is normal for this type of car - I told him he was full of BS and t hat this isn't normal for any car that cost $40k new and only has 60,000 miles on it. Next he told me to switch to a lower octane fuel because it burns quicker and may fix the problem. Basically, I believe that they are completely at a loss with how to fix it (after testing and reprogramming it 5 times over 6 months!) and will just say anything to get me out of their hair. I also asked what happens if they cannot fix the problem, and was told there's probably not much that Ford will do because this problem falls within what they term "acceptable or not serious enough." Please keep me posted if you find a solution.
Kevin

[fry628]

you have an injector locking open and flooding the car.

[ttbit]

Originally Posted by fry628

you have an injector locking open and flooding the car.

Someone else has reported this problem with their LS also. Do you have any suggestions on how to check for a bad injector? I had a bad one on my Mustang once and I could tell by listening to it through a screwdriver to my ear. My LS hard started once and smelled like fuel when it started, so I might have to check this in the future.

[fry628]

two things. Run a scan for a misfire which will probably show up with nothing. Remove your fuel rail and turn the key to the start position(do not crank) to build fuel pressure and see which one leaks fuel. Each should spray a small amount at start but only the faulty one will keep spraying until the pressure is gone. good luck.

[ttbit]

Originally Posted by fry628

two things. Run a scan for a misfire which will probably show up with nothing. Remove your fuel rail and turn the key to the start position(do not crank) to build fuel pressure and see which one leaks fuel. Each should spray a small amount at start but only the faulty one will keep spraying until the pressure is gone. good luck.

Interesting. On my Mustang, the rails hold the injectors in place and keep everything sealed. To remove the rail would release the seal on the injectors and you would have fuel everywhere as they are just o-rings. Is this not the case on the LS?

Thanks.

[fry628]

there will be pressure on the rail so bleed it off before you remove the rail because some injectors will probably stay on the engine. When you pressure the rail there won't be enough pressure to blow the injectors out, they're pretty tight. Also you might want to put a pressure gauge on the rail to see when it gets to 30. When you turn to crank there will be a small starting spray but the pressure should still be there(keep in mind it may only leak when the injector is warm). Another way is after the no start(if you're home) pull the plugs to see which one is wet "and bingo was his name!"

[ttbit]

Thanks for the tip.

[fry628]

No problem, it's what I do.