I've been have a little trouble starting my TA this year. The problem is that it will crank over really good but not start. Sometimes it will almost start and then just kinda 'diesel'. I shut it off and try again and then put the gas pedal to the floor. Then it will start and puff blue smoke. The blue smoke smells very gasy.
Any ideas what the prob could be? Would it the opti? Once it is running it is fine, no power loss.

Thanks!

 

blue smoke means you're burning oil. U might need a new fuel pump if you have the pump the pedal. The car is sequential fuel injected, so no pumping would be needed.

 

I'm not really pumping the pedal, just holding it to the floor. It doesn't always do this. The blue smoke smells heavily like gas and less like burnt oil.

 

Well, maybe you'll want to look at electical first. You said it turns, but just doesn't wanna start, so it could be not getting spark. Might be a dying opti. I believe if the coil is shot, the car will not start at all. Check the plugs and wires. If the electrical seems all good to go, then turn to fuel. I wouldn't rule out the pump yet, because when you're holding the pedal down, you're flooding the motor in a sense, so plenty of fuel is getting in. Maybe the pump isn't priming? I'm just shooting out ideas here till we can narrow it down.

 

First smell the oil for gas. I'm pretty sure you have crankcase dilution. That's why you're blowing blue smoke on start up. The reason you have to start the engine with the throttle to the floor is so the engine(actually the PCM) goes into flood mode. It cuts back the injectors to not add any more fuel. Your engine at the time you try to start it is flooded. It's flooding with gas so bad that the excess fuel is runnig into the crankcase and diluting the oil. If you smell gas in the oil, do not drive it and only run it to find the problem. Obviously you need to change the oil immediately.

The most likely problem is a leaky injector. Dripping fuel long after the engine is shut down. A less likely cause is a hole in the fuel pressure regulator causing fuel to be sucked into the vacuum line going to the intake. But check it anyway by pulling the vacuum line off the FPR and see if it is wet.

At this point you should have a fuel pressure gage and the type with a hose is best. Monitor the fuel pressure with the engine running and then have someone shut the car down and watch to see how fast the pressure drops. If there is any leaking (there are a couple types of leaks) the pressure will drop fast.

You can find the defective injector by pulling the fuel rails up with the injectors attached and pressurize the fuel system. You can turn the KOEO to start the fuel pump but it will only run for 2 seconds and shut down. The easier way to power up the fuel pump (only for short periods of time) is to put 12 volts on the single connector located near the PCM called the fuel pump prime connector. shown here http://shbox.com/1/fuel_pump_prime.jpg

Thanks for the pic Rob.

The bad injector will drip when pressure is applied. Another point about a leaky fuel injector is it will cause the cylinder to run rich if it even burns at all and the plug from that cylinder will be black. Therefore if the injector is your problem, you will have to change your plugs too. If the cylinder is not firing, it can be found by checking the temperature of the exhaust manifold which I do with an infrared thermometer. Less burned knuckles that way. Hope this helps and check your oil for gas smell right away.

Injectors should be cleaned and flow tested out of the engine. If an injector can not be cleaned, it can then be replaced. I hope in your case, I'm wrong.

Dave

 

Wow!! That's a lot of good info!! But how does the car 'dieseling' fit into this? I have already parked the car for winter, but it's in a heated shop, so I have all winter to work on it!

Thanks for all the info!

 

The leaky injector(s) is allowing the engine to continue running even though it was shut off because unlike normal, the flow is still continuing. It all fits your pattern.

 

Ok, I've checked the FPR and it's fine (no fuel in the line running to the intake). Next I put a fuel pressure guage on the rail. I turned the ignitio on the it pressured up to about 40psi, stabilized at 38psi. Within 3.5 hours it had dropped to 20psi. Is this typical for a leaky injector?

 

Ttt

 

I would think that 3.5 hours is about normal. I have seen a similar issue on a Beretta. It turned out to be a sensor. Two were replaced and I can't for the life of me rember the second one. The first one was the CTS (Coolant Temp Sensor). Everyone seems on the right track here. For some reason your engine is flooding on start up. The other sensor may have been the IAT sensor but not 100% Sure.

 

sounds familiar,i had a 95 formula and it did the same thing,i was driving home from work and was overcome by the unburned fuel small i had one hand on the door handle ready to bail i pulled over to look at it not wet under the hood or anywhere so i fired it up(after many attempts)drove it the rest of the way home,i let the car cool off for a few hours,got into the "fix it "mode i pulled the plugs and OMG 5,7,4,6 gushed out with fuel,so i got an old rubber fuel line and poured some motor oil in each cyl.then spun the motor over to attemp to lube the walls,i had a set of inj. from a swap i did solved the problem..