Hard starting EF Falcon when cold

Hi Guys,

As the subject says, I have an EF Falcon that doesn't really want to
start on cold mornings. Once it does start it's fine, and it will start
without problems again later in the day. Only when it's been turned off
for 12+ hours or in very cold weather will it struggle again.

Up until this morning the only apparent problem was that when
starting the car cold, the motor would fire up and gradually increase
revs from ~400rpm and over 3 - 5 seconds will hit 700rpm. Despite
obviously not wanting to start, it would still start.

This morning however, after being parked outside in -6oC overnight,
it simply didn't want to start at all. After cranking the car for some
time, the only way I got it going was to put my foot on the accelerator.

In my opinion this points to something being wrong with the EFI
system in the car. I have done a bit of googling but there doesn't seem
to be much on the net specifically related to this model falcon.
www.fueltech.com.au said that this problem could be caused by "a contact
problem - a relay, earth connection, harness plug corroded, etc"

The car's battery is two months old, the spark plug leads are 12
months old and plugs were replaced 15,000k's ago, an EFI service was
done 25,000k's ago, and a general service was done 5000k's ago, the oil
in the car is 25W-50.

A friend of mine suggested that the EFI computer may need to be
reset? When I had a similar problem in my TP magna some years ago, the
Idle Throttle motor? had to be replaced.

Anyway, chances are I'm not going to be able to fix this problem
myself, but if anyone can offer some advice or explain which part of the
car may need attention it would be greatly appreciated :-)

TIA,

--
SL

"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over
to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they
succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it"

Joseph Goebbels - Nazi Minister of Propaganda, 1933 - 1945

Sir Lex wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>

>
> A friend of mine suggested that the EFI computer may need to be
> reset? When I had a similar problem in my TP magna some years ago, the
> Idle Throttle motor? had to be replaced.
>
> Anyway, chances are I'm not going to be able to fix this problem
> myself, but if anyone can offer some advice or explain which part of the
> car may need attention it would be greatly appreciated :-)
>
> TIA,
>
Have a look on your throttle body , see the idle control servo ?
once its started pull the plug to test it , if pulling the plug
doesn't make a decent difference in behaviour you may have a dodgy ics (
I hope not as the cost)its like a little tube with two bolts holding it
down to the body . You could pull the battery lead for 10 minutes to
reset the computer but I doubt it will help ( could be all sorts of stuff)

atec wrote:
> Sir Lex wrote:
>
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>
>>
>> A friend of mine suggested that the EFI computer may need to be
>> reset? When I had a similar problem in my TP magna some years ago,
>> the Idle Throttle motor? had to be replaced.
>>
>> Anyway, chances are I'm not going to be able to fix this problem
>> myself, but if anyone can offer some advice or explain which part of
>> the car may need attention it would be greatly appreciated :-)
>>
>> TIA,
>>
> Have a look on your throttle body , see the idle control servo ?
> once its started pull the plug to test it , if pulling the plug doesn't
> make a decent difference in behaviour you may have a dodgy ics ( I hope
> not as the cost)its like a little tube with two bolts holding it down to
> the body . You could pull the battery lead for 10 minutes to reset the
> computer but I doubt it will help ( could be all sorts of stuff)

Thanks for that, i'll give it a go this weekend.

Cheers,


--
SL

"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over
to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they
succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it"

Joseph Goebbels - Nazi Minister of Propaganda, 1933 - 1945

"Sir Lex" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Guys,
>
> As the subject says, I have an EF Falcon that doesn't really want to
> start on cold mornings. Once it does start it's fine, and it will start
> without problems again later in the day. Only when it's been turned off
> for 12+ hours or in very cold weather will it struggle again.
>
> Up until this morning the only apparent problem was that when
> starting the car cold, the motor would fire up and gradually increase
> revs from ~400rpm and over 3 - 5 seconds will hit 700rpm. Despite
> obviously not wanting to start, it would still start.
>
> This morning however, after being parked outside in -6oC overnight,
> it simply didn't want to start at all. After cranking the car for some
> time, the only way I got it going was to put my foot on the accelerator.
>
> In my opinion this points to something being wrong with the EFI
> system in the car. I have done a bit of googling but there doesn't seem
> to be much on the net specifically related to this model falcon.
> www.fueltech.com.au said that this problem could be caused by "a contact
> problem - a relay, earth connection, harness plug corroded, etc"
>
> The car's battery is two months old, the spark plug leads are 12
> months old and plugs were replaced 15,000k's ago, an EFI service was
> done 25,000k's ago, and a general service was done 5000k's ago, the oil
> in the car is 25W-50.
>
> A friend of mine suggested that the EFI computer may need to be
> reset? When I had a similar problem in my TP magna some years ago, the
> Idle Throttle motor? had to be replaced.
>
> Anyway, chances are I'm not going to be able to fix this problem
> myself, but if anyone can offer some advice or explain which part of the
> car may need attention it would be greatly appreciated :-)
>
> TIA,
>
> --
> SL
>

Could be low preasure in the fuel pump.

Had this problem with an EB Monty. Fixed it with a new Fuel Filter and a
tank of premium with a full bottle of Nulon Injector Cleaner.

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 12:52:28 +1000, Sir Lex wrote:

> Hi Guys,
>
> As the subject says, I have an EF Falcon that doesn't really want to
> start on cold mornings. Once it does start it's fine, and it will start
> without problems again later in the day. Only when it's been turned off
> for 12+ hours or in very cold weather will it struggle again.
>
> Up until this morning the only apparent problem was that when
> starting the car cold, the motor would fire up and gradually increase
> revs from ~400rpm and over 3 - 5 seconds will hit 700rpm. Despite
> obviously not wanting to start, it would still start.
>
> This morning however, after being parked outside in -6oC overnight,
> it simply didn't want to start at all. After cranking the car for some
> time, the only way I got it going was to put my foot on the accelerator.
>
> In my opinion this points to something being wrong with the EFI
> system in the car. I have done a bit of googling but there doesn't seem
> to be much on the net specifically related to this model falcon.
> www.fueltech.com.au said that this problem could be caused by "a contact
> problem - a relay, earth connection, harness plug corroded, etc"
>
> The car's battery is two months old, the spark plug leads are 12
> months old and plugs were replaced 15,000k's ago, an EFI service was
> done 25,000k's ago, and a general service was done 5000k's ago, the oil
> in the car is 25W-50.
>
> A friend of mine suggested that the EFI computer may need to be
> reset? When I had a similar problem in my TP magna some years ago, the
> Idle Throttle motor? had to be replaced.
>
> Anyway, chances are I'm not going to be able to fix this problem
> myself, but if anyone can offer some advice or explain which part of the
> car may need attention it would be greatly appreciated :-)
>
> TIA,

Yet another suggestion. From not a ford owner.
:-)
It's to do with how the car gets to know it 'should' run - is for the
fuel pump to fire up on start?
A dud valve in the system will allow fuel pressure to disappear
overnight, but not necessarily dump enough pressure to cause hard
starting within a few hours.
For instance, some accept a signal from the crank angle sensor, and
some need airflow over their air mass sensor - either way, the
engineers set things up so if the engine mysteriously stops of it's
own volition -or a prang has happened, then the fuel pump has to be
stopped.
So your test for the leak-down would be easy enough if the safety
aspect doesn't get in the way by requiring a turning engine or
air-flow to tell the ECU to let the fuel pump relay fire.


Like, find out which system is there (and some here will know) and
figure a way to fool the ecu into thinking the engine is running
before you attempt a start. This proves out the dud valve theory.

Ah bugger-it - you get my meaning?
--
Toby.
quidquid latine dictum
sit, altum viditur

Sir Lex wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> As the subject says, I have an EF Falcon that doesn't really want to
> start on cold mornings. Once it does start it's fine, and it will start
> without problems again later in the day. Only when it's been turned off
> for 12+ hours or in very cold weather will it struggle again.
>
> Up until this morning the only apparent problem was that when starting
> the car cold, the motor would fire up and gradually increase revs from
> ~400rpm and over 3 - 5 seconds will hit 700rpm. Despite obviously not
> wanting to start, it would still start.
>
> This morning however, after being parked outside in -6oC overnight, it
> simply didn't want to start at all. After cranking the car for some
> time, the only way I got it going was to put my foot on the accelerator.
>
> In my opinion this points to something being wrong with the EFI system
> in the car. I have done a bit of googling but there doesn't seem to be
> much on the net specifically related to this model falcon.
> www.fueltech.com.au said that this problem could be caused by "a contact
> problem - a relay, earth connection, harness plug corroded, etc"
>
> The car's battery is two months old, the spark plug leads are 12
> months old and plugs were replaced 15,000k's ago, an EFI service was
> done 25,000k's ago, and a general service was done 5000k's ago, the oil
> in the car is 25W-50.
>
> A friend of mine suggested that the EFI computer may need to be
> reset? When I had a similar problem in my TP magna some years ago, the
> Idle Throttle motor? had to be replaced.
>
> Anyway, chances are I'm not going to be able to fix this problem
> myself, but if anyone can offer some advice or explain which part of the
> car may need attention it would be greatly appreciated :-)
>
> TIA,
>

**** I get amazed with the answers on this newsgroup. Mostly all wrong
and from boy racer types.

Mate what you probly have is a buggered fuel pressure regulator. I have
changed many. They get a small hole in the diaphragm and leak fuel back
down the vacuum hose into the intake manifold. Before you start it one
morning pull the vacuum hose off and see if it has traces of fuel in it.
Hope that helps.