Hello
Thought I would reach out and see if anyone could shed some light on a warm start situation Ive been having for a while now. Cold the car would spring to life just about instantly. Warm it takes about 3-4 seconds to start and really doesn't start with much enthusiasm. Power is good as it goes like a scared rabbit. I checked the fuel pressure today and it was well within specs. Thought for sure it was going to be low but all was good. Checked spark plugs all is well there. It has a MSD coil on it and I was thinking potentially that could be the source? Thoughts? Its an 03' JCW car with 380 injectors. Thanks for any input.

 

Have you had the battery tested lately?

 

I have a new battery but good thought. Thinking I may swap in the original coil pac and give it a go.

 

Does the starter turn slower?

 

No not that I can hear. In my best description of the problem its like my old 911 when it gets vapour lock. Thats why for sure I thought it would be a fuel pressure issue.. I do have a new VDO pump sitting on the shelf I could install if need be but I was getting fuel pressure readings that were in spec. Both running and sitting. Perhaps I should have let her sit for a bit longer to test standing fuel pressure better. But if that was an issue I would think cold start would also be a problem. I did see another old thread out lining the same issue I have but in typical fashion the poster never posted if he had resolved the issue..

 

The problem with long distance diagnosing is that we only know what you tell us and then half the time we misread what your write. With the starter not turning slower, would think this has more to do with fuel/air and or spark retarding. Have you checked the cam sensor?

 

Cam sensor I have not checked. I feel its going to be a spark or fuel related issue. I will look into the procedure to check cam sensor and report back or just replace it as I have 160kms on the car and don't mind refreshing things like this. Thank you for the tip on the cam sensor I totally forgot this car had one..

 

If it was a cam sensor he would be seeing a code as well.

When engine is cold more fuel is being sent at start up but I try not to get myopic with diagnosing these cars. The additional fuel when cold could be compensating for another issue/something else that is wrong.

Check the plugs - are they in their tight ?

If so, pull the plugs when cold before start up and examine. How do they seem? Symetrical burn, and look alike ? Re-meausure gaps.

Then pull plugs after she's been driven for a bit. How do they seem now in comparison to when cold? Are they OEM or NGK plugs ? Be sure to tighten down properly to prevent backing out. (Brisk plugs are garbage, their plug's washers dont crush like they are supposed to ( metalurgy not to spec ) and almost always back out at properly torqued to MINI spec.)

When measured, if the plug's gaps have not increased over time, and have proper color, I would then concentrate on being fuel related, possibly fuel pump.

 

Update- I ordered a CPS but my supplier sent me an aftermarket sensor.. That turned out to be a disaster as I installed it an hour before driving down to Seattle. The DSC light came on while I was in line at the border and by the time I crossed into the U.S CEL came on and code indicated CPS fault. I got on the phone and ordered an OE sensor like I thought I did originally. I continued down to Seattle and thankfully had no issues and got great fuel mileage. Im now waiting for the replacement sensor to come in. I will update after install. I did check the plugs before sensor install and they looked great and were OE JCW plugs. Thanks for chiming in Eurothrasher and I will update.

 

Installed new OE cam sensor and bingo all is good. Took Kermit out 3 times today to test and confirm. Obviously the other one was not a big fan of heat as most magnetic pick up sensors are when the get old. Thanks to all!

 

So just to clarify, if your car was fully warmed up and then sat for a couple of hours, it would take additional cranking time to startup? If so, I'm having a similar issues and it's driving me crazy.

Cold starts it fires up instantly. If I let it fully warm up and shut it off, it will start back fine within ~2 minutes of shutting it down. However if I let it sit for about an hour after being fully warm, it will crank for 3-4 seconds before starting.

With your car, if you shut it off when it was warm, would it immediately be harder to start if you tried to start it, or would it need to sit for a little like mine?

Chris

 

Yes same issue but I have to say the cam sensor fix was short lived and now back to the drawing board.... It was perfect after the installing the sensor but as mentioned its gone back to its warm slow start behaviour.

 

Ugh, read a few threads on this issue and most of them are dead ends. I need to check the fuel pressure on mine, but I'm assuming it's going to be fine just as yours was.

FWIW, I have new spark plugs (JCW Spec'd NGK's), new front O2 sensor, replaced fuel filter, and cleaned my DDMWorks intake filter (Foam). None of these improved the long warm startup. Not sure what to try next.

Chris

 

Did you use an OE cam sensor? These cars tend not to behave well with non-OE sensors.

-Jeff

 

 

 

Back in town and happy to report there has been a great improvement with both starting and idle.

 

Kermit still starting great

 

 

I'm good so far. I just did a fuel filter on another R53 with the same symptoms with LTD results. Starts great provided the tank is full but get down to 1/4 things change. My theory at this point is something is up with the lines that go from the fuel filter housing to the fuel pump. He's thinking on replacing the filter housing and lines at this point.

 

If you ahave the time I would take the belt off the car and turn each of the accessories by hand. If you feel any roughness or hear noise (everything should turn smoothly and easily with very little force) that could be the culprit. I just figured out my alternator on my 06 had seized up completely prevent the car from starting. Had replaced the battery, starter, ignition swtich........

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...art-fixed.html

 

Just wanted to update this thread that I still have this problem. I had an EML light show up recently, smoke tested it and saw the plastic intake duct was leaking where the green gasket seals to the supercharger, and also the intake duct where it connects to the airbox. I have replaced these items since last time I posted:

-Silicone intake duct
-NGK spark plug wires.
-New Plastic intake duct along with Green SC gasket.
-Throttle body gasket, driver's intake horn gasket, bypass valve seal.
-Tested the SC bypass valve and replaced the short vacuum hose on it (old one was a little too easy to pull off)
-Cleaned both MAP sensor with new o-rings.
-New Intercooler couplers.

What's been replaced already: Both o2 sensors (NTK), Fuel filter (Mann), Air filter.

The car is completely boost/vacuum leak free now as all the intake and intercooler gaskets have been replaced. I was hoping this would solve my problem, but it hasn't.

My friend just bought a 2006 with 100k that doesn't have this problem. I am going to start switching sensors with his car to see if I can figure this out.

Chris

 

How did you make out with tracking down your hard start warm issue?

 

Is it possible the fuel tank is not venting? Try removing and replacing the filler cap, then starting warm.

Kind of a long shot, but $0 in parts and only a minute to try.

 

Still does it...not sure what to do anymore besides just replacing sensors (Which I don't want to do). It's really beginning to drive me nuts!

Possible I guess, but my car also has a new Charcoal canister and DTML pump, so the chances of that are slim IMO.

Chris