VR stuggles to start when warm??

[Famine]

Ive been having a very strange problem for quite some time now, in the freezing cold mornings I goto start my VR V6 and it starts fine, however at midday when the car is warm and I goto start it, it turns over for about 3-5 seconds before starting, also, if I dont give it some acceleration, it doesnt start at all when warm, it just dies. I would have though that it would be the other way around and that it would be harder to start cold? There are no errors (code 12 repeated 3 times).

Also as of about one week, sometimes when starting cold after about 2 minutes the engine light comes on, when this happens I cant get it to go into 1st gear, even moving the shifter into "1" wont do it, its still stuck in second, however if I turn the car off, wait about 10 seconds, then turn it on again its fine, 1st gear works perfectly. This is happening to me about every day now

Any ideas what the problem could be? Its going in for a tune tomorrow.

 

[hako]

Sounds like a bad electrical connection somewhere or a bad earth....these can be difficult to find. It's surprising you are not getting errors because if the engine light comes on that should be stored in the computers memory and come out when you read the codes. Maybe try them again and make sure you do it as per the 'how to' at:
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/showthread.php?t=22307&highlight=codes
Good luck.

 

[kopper69]

Make sure you are checking error codes properly. You are looking for codes AFTER the code 12 has flashed 3 times. If the error light is coming on you should be getting error codes. Might be the crank angle sensor.

 

[dontsailbackwards]

Check the fuel diaphragm (do a search here) - it's at the end of the injection rail. Pull the vacuum hose off. if there's petrol in it - it's cactus.) - if it is broken then the engine will be flooding when it is warm. This happened to mine & that was the culprit.

 

[Famine]

I did another code check, came up as 66 (3-2 solenoid) the gears have been acting up, its in the shop today, I told them the code and they said they have their own better ways of tuning/checking faults anyway. Plus they are doing a general service on it. Hopefully they find and fix the problem. I will also do what you said dontsailbackwards, just in case.

Thanks guys

Edit:

After searching the forums I came across this:

Have a look at the thread I posted on the 2/9/05 titled The bugger won't start properly. I looked and replaced a lot of items including the crank angle sensor and eventually found the problem to be the fuel pressure regulator.
Pull the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator which is the small stainless steel cylinder attached to the rear of the fuel rail on the drivers side of the engine. The vacuum operates a diaphragm and varies the fuel pressure in the fuel rail. If there is any fuel in the vacuum line the diaphragm has ruptured and the fuel can run straight into the inlet manifold and flood the engine and the bugger won't start properly.

If this is the case with my car, which is sounds like it is, how do I go about fixing it, is it easy to do? Would this problem be causing the engine to consume more fuel?

 

[hako]

The people who are servicing your car should check this and report to you - and installing a new pressure regulator is simple. I'd wait for their report from your service blokes before digging deeper. Good Luck.

 

[statey1975]

I had similar problem - freezing cold morning my VR V8 would start fine. After about 2 minutes of driving, then a short stop, I had to pump accelerator to get it to start. Got it serviced and mechanic replaced the Fuel Injection regulator. Now works like a dream.

 

[Famine]

They told me it was the injectors, apparently need new ones. I dont trust them though they dont really seem to know their stuff. Im going to look into the fuel injection regulator, how much does it cost?

 

[statey1975]

Can't remember off hand - had it done with a service & some other works, but I think that the regulator wasn't that expensive....