Hey guys, wondering if you could shed any light on this -- local Midas had no ideas and couldn't replicate it so I'm bringing it to the dealer, but I'm not sure if they'll be able to replicate the issue either.

I drive a 2003 Cooper, 80,000 km. Starting last summer it's developed a stalling issue on starting, but only in hot weather -- the issue disappeared for the winter and has started to appear again now that it's 25+ celsius outside.

When it stalls it happens immediately after ignition -- the engine fires but then sounds like it runs out of fuel and dies. When it does start there is sometimes a rough idle (at stoplights, etc), but it's never stalled after successfully starting. If I drive around for a while the engine temp looks fine but if I turn the car off and try to start again it will either stall or the revs will dip into an almost-stall and then catch again.

When it does stall, it seems to fire less and less on each start attempt until it's just dry cranking, in which case it needs to sit for a few hours. Battery has been tested and works fine. Yesterday I started to drive right after starting and the revs almost dropped into a stall but caught again -- I briefly smelled fuel through the open windows.

Does any of that make sense? Midas tested the fuel pump and said it's ok, but it wasn't exhibiting symptoms at the time. Any input would be appreciated.

 

Is your a/c on when starting? If so, shut it off and try to start it. Look under the hood and see if your belt is spinning fine, if it is spinning fine turn on the a/c and see if the belt stops spinning.