Greetings, all.
I have the subject auto with 60K miles.
A couple of times this year, the engine will not start after having been driven for some time and in warm conditions. Most recently, it failed to start after sitting in the sun for a couple of hours. It did eventually start after opening the doors (where I sat wondering if I should call for a tow) and thus my questions. As I mentioned, it did start and ran just fine. It exhibited conditions of being flooded, but is that possible with fuel injection? Is there the normal carburetor accelerator pump present in FI systems? The problem has not recurred.
The engine starter was and did spin the engine the entire above event but it would not convert to the normal engine running.
Engine is well maintained and not modified in any way. Use Chevron 93 octane fuel exclusively.
A couple of opinions offered were:
- Loosening the gas cap to allow gasoline vapors to equalize from having vaporized in the tank. Here it was suggested I replace the PCV valve.
- A service person suggested a "main" relay was a known cause of hot starting (hot as in the passenger compartment) failures. Further this technician indicated this relay was underneath the drivers side steering wheel/instrument panel.
Any comments or advice on where to look?
I even attempted to simulate the same conditions by moving car from the cool garage to a direct sunlit day for several hours and tried (with instant success) to start engine.
I do so dislike intermittent problems.
Thanks in advance,
PB