[CU2] Difficult to start engine in succession

**snYpz** · 24-07-2013 10:19 AM

Hi fellow cu2 owners,

I have been noticing that if i reverse the car out the driveway or similar, so a very short maneouvre without using the accelerator,i find that the car is difficult to start. It really struggles to crank over.
Otherwise she is fine. I can drive 2mins to my local shops and it starts as good as new.

I leave early in the morning in cold weather and she cranks and starts fine. It definitely isnt the battery as i have change to a higher CCA rated battery. It doesnt seem like its the starter motor or alternator given that it only happens after ignition and not driving it anywhere and attempting to restart the motor later on. We have also checked if there are electrical faults causing electrical drain overnight, and that has been ruled out by the auto electrician.

I seen to think its a fuel issue. Either fuel pump, fuel lines or something along the lines which almost stalls the engine when the fluid/petrol doesnt move through from idle.
I managed to find on another forum that a few others also had similar issues with their cars.
So they would do a quick reverse from high idle and not using any gas pedal, switch the motor off, then to start it soon afterwards it would also be difficult to crank. They were suggesting that the fuel hasnt moved through the engine from the high idle thus affecting the second attempt at ignition.Has anyone else experienced this?
(Second attempt at about 30mins later)

I have taken the car to my trusted mechanic and he cant find any electrical leaks or faults.
Im hoping someone here might know what the diagnosis and treatment is.

Will do a few experiments with the car on my days off. I will do the same and reverse the car at high idle and not use the accelerator nor let it warn up, and will see if it happens. Will also try the same but let the engine warm and let the fluids flow and see if it still happens.

In the meantime, it would be great to know if any fellow members have experienced anything similar.

Thanks in advance,
Wes

**ChaosMaster** · 24-07-2013 11:36 AM

I've never noticed this, but then mine's a manual... if that makes any difference.

What I can say is that I think you're misunderstanding a point with the battery.
First, a higher CCA compared to what? The OEM? The battery in our cars are very compact, as such, the CCA isn't that great to begin with, I think the best I've found was 430 CCA, which, compared to full sized batteries which are in the 570+ CCA range, is next to nothing. Not to mention, cars these days are designed with control chips in them, so they will only draw a set/limited amount of Amps during a cold start, so regardless of if your battery is 370CCA (OEM I think) or 670CCA, if the car is limited to 400 CCA, it'll only draw 400a at most, or else it'll fry it's components.
Second, CCA is a rating for the maximum possible current to be pulled when the battery is charged. Note that I said "maximum". It's like with internet speed, where ADSL2+ claims 24Mbps, but how often do you get it? Same applies to your car battery, only difference is that, in a car, the battery is normally recharged within 5 minutes of normal driving. And that's the thing, the battery is only there to have your car started (and power some electronics when the engine is off). The moment the engine is on, everything is powered by the alternator (one way or another). So when you start the car, you'll find that you're drawing out a huge chunk of it's capacity. E.g. Imagine your car battery is 100%, you started it, and in that short 2 sec process, the battery is drained down to 50% (not that big a drain), in that short reversing, you'll at most get 5% back, bring it back up to 55%, so when you start it again, there's no way you'll be getting that maximum CCA the battery is rated for. Do note that a battery at 100% will have 12.5v, where as one at 50% will be at 12v or there abouts. It's like with a high powered torch, you'll notice a significant difference in brightness with a full charged battery and one at 50%, same thing.

As for your problem, what I think is that the engine management prob things that your engine has warmed up, and thus isn't using a choke (perhaps still is but not as aggressively).

**Fredoops** · 24-07-2013 01:39 PM

i shoved a 550CCA in my CL9, needless to say it's not secured at the moment lol

**ChaosMaster** · 24-07-2013 07:04 PM

Lolz, yeah, I was thinking of doing that, but I think the internal management would only allow for something like 380CCA draw, so as it is, my Century's 430CCA isn't doing much better than OEM.

**ahefara** · 28-07-2013 03:26 PM

Hi Wes,

Glad you mentioned this problem.

I have noticed the same thing with my wife's car - she has a manual CU2 and we have had the same problem. I also have a CU2 but it is auto but have not had this problem.

If I move her car out of the garage into the driveway, turn off the engine and then start it shortly afterwards, it will have difficulty cranking over. The common denominator in all of this is that the accelerator has not been used. Battery is good - no problem here.

I suspect that her engine, for want of a better word, has perhaps been 'flooded'?? What do you think? As I said my auto CU2 does not have this problem.

**ExpressCoffee** · 28-07-2013 09:16 PM

Wow... so weird.

My friend and I were mucking around and were filming our cars reversing out of my driveway which is a steep hill.

I started the car, half released the clutch so it will roll a bit and then turned my car off.

The next time i tried to do that soon after, the car struggled to crank over. I thought it was because my battery is still the OEM one and needs replacing soon (5 years old) but maybe it is this also.. :/

**euro93** · 29-07-2013 04:30 PM

May not be worth much, but a friend of mine had the exact same problem in her Mazda 6 (04) , but the car refused to start after the slight movement, and it was a fuel issue (from memory, flooding)

**89superstage** · 02-08-2013 02:24 PM

Had a similar problem with another car, not the Euro. Have you tried letting it run for a minute or so before backing out? About two minutes of running from cold, prior to shutting it off, should mean you do not encounter this issue. I believe it just needs to warm up a bit when cold started. hope this helps. Des

**euro93** · 02-08-2013 10:08 PM

I let my CL9 always drop to 1.1 on idle before I take off.

Requires a bit of punctuality but it's a fair tradeoff

**steeler** · 04-08-2013 06:54 AM

I had problem with a Mitsubishi Carisma that didn't want to start when the engine was warm, like after coming out from a short stop to the grocery store or filling gas. If I waited for 20-30 minutes so the engine got cooler it would start again. The problem was the cam sensor. Your start problems are a bit different, but just thought i'd mention it.

**bennjamin** · 04-08-2013 07:41 AM

No battery can take a constant start stop combo - think about it , it's using its maximum CCA's to start the car and relies on the alternator to bring it back up to charge after driving for a certain amount of time.

OP in your case it might be an indication of a weakened battery

**ChaosMaster** · 04-08-2013 11:07 AM

Easiest way to deal with this, I would think, if it is fuel flooding, is before you turn the engine off, step on the accelerator and give it a bit of revs. That is, reverse and do what you do, put it in P, step of the accelerator so it hits 4k revs, even for a second, then turn it off.