After going through winter with no issues, I wound up having a really hard start today. The starter and battery work fine, since I was able to crank the engine a fair bit. After keeping at it for perhaps 10-15 turns of the key, the engine eventually started, stumbled a bit and everything was fine. I'm starting the troubleshooting process and am hoping for a bit of insight.
I was about to do some work on it this weekend anyways, but the fact that it had a hard time starting and now starts up with no issues seems odd to me. Something must be about shot, but just good enough that I can get it going.
The history-
Thursday: tightened the belt since it's above 15 Celsius now. Drove about 3 hours
Friday-Sunday: cruiser sits in the driveway. Heavy fog pretty much the entire weekend
Monday: Damp, overcast sorta gross spring weather. Turn the key. It always starts on the first or second catch- not today. Turn the key again. CEL light flickers off, it almost catches, dies. Try this about 10 more times because it's aaaalmost there. Stop. Wait a few seconds, start it again and it stumbles to life. Stumbles a bit as I pull out, and I almost pull over to call it quits. It recovers fine, and I wind up just driving to work.
Try it when I get to work, no issues. Try starting it at lunch, again no issues.
So- where should I start looking for issues?
I think spark is good to go. I have a new distributor rotor I was going to install since it's been about 3 years.
Fuel...maybe not so much. I have a new-ish fuel pump and filter installed 2 years ago. Is there anything in the fuel line after the pump that I should consider prioritizing?
Air- no idea where to start. I'm due to replace the filter this weekend.
The timing is actually pretty convenient, since I was actually going to do most of my yearly/bi-yearly work this weekend anyways.
Your thoughts? I find it super helpful to get insight from you guys before I start up on these fixes.
I was about to do some work on it this weekend anyways, but the fact that it had a hard time starting and now starts up with no issues seems odd to me. Something must be about shot, but just good enough that I can get it going.
The history-
Thursday: tightened the belt since it's above 15 Celsius now. Drove about 3 hours
Friday-Sunday: cruiser sits in the driveway. Heavy fog pretty much the entire weekend
Monday: Damp, overcast sorta gross spring weather. Turn the key. It always starts on the first or second catch- not today. Turn the key again. CEL light flickers off, it almost catches, dies. Try this about 10 more times because it's aaaalmost there. Stop. Wait a few seconds, start it again and it stumbles to life. Stumbles a bit as I pull out, and I almost pull over to call it quits. It recovers fine, and I wind up just driving to work.
Try it when I get to work, no issues. Try starting it at lunch, again no issues.
So- where should I start looking for issues?
I think spark is good to go. I have a new distributor rotor I was going to install since it's been about 3 years.
Fuel...maybe not so much. I have a new-ish fuel pump and filter installed 2 years ago. Is there anything in the fuel line after the pump that I should consider prioritizing?
Air- no idea where to start. I'm due to replace the filter this weekend.
The timing is actually pretty convenient, since I was actually going to do most of my yearly/bi-yearly work this weekend anyways.
Your thoughts? I find it super helpful to get insight from you guys before I start up on these fixes.