nissan sentra hard to start in hot weather

hello i've got a routine fuel-injected car, a 2004 nissan sentra.

it usually has the trouble-free starting -- you turn the key, no accelerator pumping, in fact the manual tells you NOT to pump.

however, i found as hot weather encroached these last 2 years, that if i leave the car out where it's hot, then it becomes hard to start. in fact, i have to pump the accelerator as if i still had a carburetor.

is there a reason in hot weather for starting to be difficult, and if so, a remedy? thanks.

Reply to
john.1.clarkson
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snipped-for-privacy@spamgourmet.com wrote the following:

You never have to pump the accelerator in a fuel injected car to start it, not ever! There is no carburetor float bowl holding gasoline, so there is no reserve fuel to inject into the engine. You claiming that pumping was needed to start the car in hot weather was false. While you were stomping on the gas pedal, the fuel was being pumped up from the tank. It would have started whether or not you touched the gas pedal. If, when starting the car, you pause at the run position for a second or so on the ignition switch, that will give the fuel pump time to get the gas to the injectors. Then you move the key to the start position.

Reply to
willshak

sounds just like the famous honda hot weather starting problem. check out:

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further wisdom here:

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Reply to
jim beam

jim beam wrote in news:H_GdnZEKMYLooSvQnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:

An easy test to see if the fuel pump is being energized is to remove the gas cap,have an assistant turn the key to 'start' but NOT crank the motor,and listen at the fuel filler for the whine of the fuel pump. the pump stops after a few seconds,so you can't just turn the key yourself and run back to listen.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Not the full story. While rare, it's possible for a fuel injected car to flood. Could be one or more leaky injectors. The FI system is designed so that if you push the pedal ALL the way to the floor it will reduce whatever the normal fuel amount would be during a start to allow it to start while flooded. So depending on whether his pumping of the pedal might activate that system it is possible his pumping helped start the car.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Check your fuel pressure. I had that problem and it was the fuel pump going bad.

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith

ok thanks for all the advice. it sounds like something centering around the fuel pump. i'm not ready to rush in for a big repair bill, but in response to the first person to reply, it definitely is harder to start on a hot day than on a cold one. it cranks without igniting.

Reply to
john.1.clarkson

Well, measure the fuel pressure at the rail and see if it matches what the manual says.

Did you change your fuel filter when the manual said to?

All kinds of things can reduce your fuel pressure, from a clogged filter on up. But until you hook the gauge up, you don't even know if it's a fuel pressure issue.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I have a 2005 sentra and was having hot starting issues, it turned out that the crank position sensor was having problems.

Reply to
Striker

The engine coolant temperature sensor can also cause this behaviour. It may tell the engine it is cold and supply more fuel than needed, flooding the engine. A friend had a corolla with this problem. He would crank sometimes up to 10 minutes for the car to start. The ECT was the culprit.

Fuel pump could be a problem but as someone else suggested, fuel filter is a starting point.

Flooring the gas pedal will cut the fuel supply and will help start a flooded engine.

Good luck,

AS

snipped-for-privacy@spamgourmet.com wrote:

Reply to
AS

AS wrote in news:67udnTRhtth0uZzTnZ2dnUVZ_q- snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

You have to have the pedal floored BEFORE turning on the key for that to work. KB

Reply to
Kevin Bottorff

I to have a 2004 nissan sentra with 160,000+ miles on it and i have also experienced the same problem with the hard start. I have changed the coil-on-plug boots for the spark plugs but that didnt work. it wasnt till recently that i had to work on my car from a minor accedent that i decided to change my fuel pump. the pump was expensive and pretty massive in size do to the fact that its the pump and filter in one unit. after i did that and started using fuel injector cleaner every 3000 miles that the hard start has really calmed down. it has fully gone away but it definitely made a difference so my advice would be to start with the fuel pump.

Reply to
mirandarodriguez4ever

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