Taking too long to fire up

[LTDMan83]

This is a niggling little issue that has been bothering me since I got the car. Every box I've ever had has only taken about a second of cranking, to fire up. Heck my old 87 LTD would fire up with barely a 1/2 second of cranking. This 89 TC Sig I drive now is the Only box I've ever had that takes 3-4 seconds of cranking to fire up. Thing is if you crank for the 3-4 seconds and it doesn't fire, I let off, and then on the next crank attempt it fires right up within a half second of cranking. It was like this when I acquired it, and This happened both before and after swapping motors in the car, with the Lopo, and now the HO. Basically everything on the car has been replaced, aside from the fuel pump and sock inside the tank. Fuel pump still sounds stong, and puts out the correct psi at the rail (45 psi) Could the fuel pump sock be the issue? It seems fuel related, but I supposed it could be an ECM thing as well. Not a big deal or anything just aggravating.

[87gtVIC]

Try cycling the key a few times before cranking and see if that changes the starting symptoms.

[gadget73]

thinking the same thing. If the pump takes too long to prime, it will crank longer than normal. Cycling the key will give it more chance to pump up.

[Tiggie]

The replacement fuel pump in the 90 is like this. I am guessing the drainback valve is not as awesome as some originals.

I think the 88 has a leaky injector as quickly as it starts.

[DerekTheGreat]

He still has it! With an HO now!

Well, at least we know it had nothing to do with the engine. We tried a few things to "fix" that and then said "F it, runs great and it's not a big deal." After that we just assumed it's the way it was supposed to be. It's probably better for the bottom end that way as the oil pump has more time to try and generate pressure.

Want to trade for a 1991 Mark VII? LoL, Ashley is starting to miss her old Townie.

[knucklehead0202]

Both my '90s did this. The first one stopped doing it after the top-end swap. Funny thing is that both seemed to do it more when war than cold. First start of the day is fairly quick. If I drive a short distance and stop, then restart it is slow. Same deal too. If I stop cranking then try again it fires right up. Don't think it's a fuel pump issue as much as just some of these cars are bitches.

[kishy]

Both my '90s did this. The first one stopped doing it after the top-end swap. Funny thing is that both seemed to do it more when war than cold. First start of the day is fairly quick. If I drive a short distance and stop, then restart it is slow. Same deal too. If I stop cranking then try again it fires right up. Don't think it's a fuel pump issue as much as just some of these cars are bitches.

Ugh, THIS problem.

My '91 has done this the whole time I've had it and I've thrown the entire parts store at it chasing this problem. I gave up.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yep, it ain't broke so there's nothing to fix. Call it a "personality disorder."

[gadget73]

I've had problems with air and coolant temp sensors cause this too. They are never far enough out for the ECM to know it but you can tell if you measure the sensor against the charts. That sort of thing irks me, which is how I figured out that wanky sensors can make it have hot or cold start problems depending on how the sensor has gone braindead.

[DerekTheGreat]

Hmm, so is the HO you swapped in using the old sensors from the LoPo?

I do recall that one time I went to scan both cars with our MT2500 in dead cold, like just before we went to Florida. I got two codes on my car, one for the IAT being out of range and another for the ECT being out of range. Went to swap both sensors out and then decided to check Ashley's [Now yours] '89 and I got the same codes so left it alone. I fired up Ashley's and the CEL wasn't on for either one of those, which is weird. Maybe the computer ignores them for awhile?

[knucklehead0202]

Now that you guys mention it, I had replaced the IAT sensor on the first box with no result, but when the top-end was done it did get a new ECT sensor. It also got a shitload more compression, air, fuel, and everything else, lol, so who knows what made it better. Wish i'd made some video of that poor thing before it got killed. Need to start making progress on the new one soon.

[86VickyLX]

Now that you guys mention it, I had replaced the IAT sensor on the first box with no result, but when the top-end was done it did get a new ECT sensor. It also got a shitload more compression, air, fuel, and everything else, lol, so who knows what made it better. Wish i'd made some video of that poor thing before it got killed. Need to start making progress on the new one soon.

Yes, yes you do.

My 92 Lincoln Mark VII will fire almost instantaneously. And it'll sit for a few weeks between startups. That has a new fuel pump. The fuel injectors are the old explorer 19lb jobs that I had in my vic when I did the HO swap. My 86 is about a second with all of its Frankensteined goodness. The Aero 5.0 usually gets about a second or 2 till she starts and then immediately dies (POS).

[LTDMan83]

I'd like to think that this is a fixable problem, but we shall see. Ideally I'd like it to start within about 1 or 2 seconds of cranking. I have tried cycling the key, giving it time to prime up, and it still does the same thing. Cold starts in 3-4 seconds, but after fully warmed up, it will take a couple seconds longer, so it does seem like it could be heat related somewhat. The sensors are all still the originals from the cars lopo, so from what some of you have said I should be possibly suspecting the ECT or IAT now. I'll have to investigate them.

He still has it! With an HO now!

Well, at least we know it had nothing to do with the engine. We tried a few things to "fix" that and then said "F it, runs great and it's not a big deal." After that we just assumed it's the way it was supposed to be. It's probably better for the bottom end that way as the oil pump has more time to try and generate pressure.

Want to trade for a 1991 Mark VII? LoL, Ashley is starting to miss her old Townie.

Yes, and I still drive it a good bit. It's proven itself to me a few times on long trips. Its a great car. Even bone stock it was great. Getting better now with the upgrades though. I already have a fox platform car. I really only need one, lol. I'm probably gonna keep this towny in the fleet and just drive it for the foreseeable future.

[DerekTheGreat]

Right, try swapping the ECT first and see what happens. I know it's got nothing to do with the TFI module as I tried swapping that before with no change.

Told ya. It just did it's thing. You should create a readers ride thread for it so we can see pics of it's progress and keep tabs on it.

[LTDMan83]

Well, after swapping in an new motorcraft ECT and IAT, with no change, I turned to my original thought of it being fuel related. Since I had seen a FPR in the past cause hard starting issues. I had a new in box MC FPR, so I swapped that on, and bam she fires right up now within 1- 2 seconds of cranking. I guess the old one had failed internally somehow, and was causing a hard start condition. Glad that's fixed, and she's ready to sail me away for another vacation soon.

The car is getting a new paint job and interior soft part resto next year, after I finish my 76 F250 Super cab frame off resto that I'm doing now. I will try and find the time to start a thread, although I'm well past the point of wanting to document everything I do, I can at least provide some before and afters. The car already has the old school 80-84 Lincoln bumpers now, ( those make the look of a towny imo) but aside from that and some PDR, that has all that has changed with her physically. New HO motor and cooling system setup, basically replaced anything that might would fail and strand me some where. I did have a front brake caliper lock up on me and create a smoke show in traffic once, so she got an all new front brake setup, with new hoses, fluid flush etc. Been rocking on ever since.