Cold Starting?

[stuartlynn]

Getting chilly up here in the North East and have noticed of late that, whilst the baby starts as normal, I have to give it a bit more throttle than usual to get it moving otherwise rev's drop off to near stall.. everything works as normal when hot... choke/engine management problem, or am I being paranoid?

[2 Smokin Barrels]

All mine have been variable as described. (and different not just day to day, but hour to hour!)

That's what makes em fun!

[Cider Andy]

I've only had the one, but it pretty well falls into your (and 2SB's) description: no, you're not paranoid. We've all been spoilt by cars that'll do 100,000 miles straight from the showroom without any maintenance.

It's just that these have a bit of spirit....

[parrot of doom]

Mine grumbles a bit on a cold morning. TBH, I quite like it. It shows character

Mind you, I've just had new leads fitted (Lucas), and it seems to be quite a bit smoother now (apparently there was a misfire that Ian in Middlewich heard, but my ears aren't that well tuned)

[hut49]

Set your alarm clock to wake you and get up one minute earlier.... and start the car without touching the throttle or with the minimum amount to get it fired then let it sit without touching the throttle for one minute, then drive off with a big smile. Otherwise while the ECU's trying to optimize the fuel/air mixture for the prevailing conditions, you're trying to 'rescue' the engine from a stall you've generated by 'helpfully' dabbing the throttle in anticipation that it needs a bit of help.

[jonathant]

Agreed, on colder days I need to take longer getting the car out the garage and closing up afterwards. Takes about 30secs or so to clear out, longer if I try to help.

One garage suggested holding the revs at 2000rpm for 20secs instead....

[stuartlynn]

Cheers

I tried the 2000 revs for 20 seconds this morning and again leaving work tonight and it appeared to work!

Also, read the 'bible' last night and it seemed to suggest stepper motor in need of clean, thoughts?

[jonathant]

I get the feeling that the poor stepper motor gets alot of stick for everything. Mine still does it after my garage gave it a good clean. I just idle on the drive for a little longer now.

I guess it's just the ECU dumping lots of fuel into the engine to keep it going in the cold.

[simon.b]

I’m with hut49, start her up with no throttle before getting in the car let her run for a minute and then no problem.

If I don’t do that and touch the throttle to soon all sorts of weird things happen and if you then stall there’s no way shell re-start for a few minutes.

Cheers,

Simon.

[M@H]

simon.b said:

I’m with hut49, start her up with no throttle before getting in the car let her run for a minute and then no problem.

Yep, same here.. TADTS. ..less so in the summer.


Matt

[Flintstone]

Guess I'm lucky (touches wood, plastic and metal).

Mine starts from cold, pulls away at 1200 rpm and will only stutter if the loud pedal is pressed quickly in the first minute or two.

After that it's ready for anything (oil and water temp taaken into consideration).

[damnfinechim]

My neighbours don't seem to appreciate the marvel of Rover V8 Engineering and Straight Thru Exhausts...

Had the guy across the the road ask me to shut it off last weekened coz it was too loud (mind you it was 830am) I usually warm her up for a few minutes down the road at the shell abd get a redbull

[stuartlynn]

Yep, tried the start and leave method this morning, about 30 seconds, and again tonight... works perfectly well... and I feel more inclined to use this from now on as I'm not keen on revving when cold!

Thanks for the advice.

[Flintstone]

damnfinechim said:

My neighbours don't seem to appreciate the marvel of Rover V8 Engineering and Straight Thru Exhausts...

Mine neither but when I told him I tried to extend my garage so I could keep and start it in there but some miserable bugger had objected to the plans he wandered off.

I wonder who the objector could have been?

[DamnFineChim]

HAHA.. was out putting a new battery in this afternoon and aforementioned neighbour wandered over and apologised for asking me to shut it off.

See... there's a soft spot for us chim owners in everyone.

[stuartlynn]

The guy next door to me made a tounge in cheek comment about noise.... I just replied, yeah great innit!