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Strange H6 Outback Problem

I bought my H6 Outback in June of '03. It is used almost exclusively by my wife and it has performed flawlessly until now.

Last Friday night my wife and I were getting ready to go out to dinner. I went out and tried to start the car. all I got was a whinny. I tried several times and it would not fire. No "Check Engine" light came on. What to do? Well we got into my trusty ¹91 Jeep Laredo and went to dinner.

The next morning I went out to see what was what. I first opened the hood and checked for loose wires, low oil, and any other idiot things that could have gone wrong. Nothing! All appeared normal.

I got into the car and tried to start it. I just got the whinny. The engine would turn over, but it would not start and again no trouble lights. I remembered that my ¹86 Jeep would behave this way when the engine was flooded. But how does a non-carbuerated engine flood? So, since the battery was good and it was relatively warm, about 50F, I tried starting again. This time I kept cranking the engine. I then heard a cough. I stopped and said "Aha!"

So I proceeded to crank the engine again. More coughs and still no trouble lights. It finally was coughing about a coupla times a second, and then it caught and slowly revved up. I kept the RPMs to about 1500 until the RPMs would just drop off gradually. It finally ran normally. But, wow, the gasoline smell. The wind was blowing in just the right direction and, of course, the smell went into my house though an open vent window in the basement.

The car kept running so I took a chance and drove around the block. All was normal! I shut the engine down and it restarted instantly and still no trouble light. So I took the cell phone and took our refuse to the recycling station. Normally I use the Jeep for that. I stopped and started the car a few times while on my trip; no problem and still no trouble lights.

So what could be responsible? The only thing I can put a finger on is what had happened on Friday during the day. We were raking our leaves. There were some leaves under the Outback so I started it and moved it back about 10 feet. I removed the leaves and then started up the Outback and moved it back into its original position. In each case, the engine was not on for than a few seconds.

All I can think of is that the engine mixture is rich during original startup. Perhaps two startups within a few minutes and with the engine running just for a few seconds somehow screws up the computer or else the engine is flooded. After all, it had all of the characteristics of a flooded engine. Now this is bizarre. I would not expect that a modern engine would behave this way.

When the ¹86 Jeep flooded, I would hold the choke plate open with a clothespin while I cranked. This would clear out the flooded condition. Once in a while a nice flame would shoot out of the carburetor. Can¹t do this with the Outback. Only by cranking long enough for the gas to be pumped out will it clear; at least that is my hypothesis.

The car has been behaving normally and no "Check Engine" light has come on. Anybody have any ideas?

Al

Reply to
Al
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Happened to me once or twice in my garage. Never happened again. Kept cranking- eventually started, and all was fine. 04 OBW H6 3.0 LLBean. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Reply to
Alan

Reply to
mulder

I'd check the oil to make sure that there is no gas in the oil.

I had a Ford Taurus that had an injector stick open flooding the cylinder and getting gas in the oil. It then had a bearing go out due to lack of proper lubrication. At least that is the story the mechanic gave me.

Reply to
TM

Sounds like there was water in the gas.

Reply to
Chris Phillipo

Horizontally opposed engine can be particularly prone to flooding and this can easily happen on short runs when cold. Solution is to not run your car for only a few seconds. If you must start it then drive it at least a couple miles.

Reply to
Greg

That makes the car sorta useless.

Al

Reply to
Al

Reply to
Edward Hayes

The bottom cylinders on the radial may load up with oil. That's why you walk the props through a few times by hand to clear them, magneto off, of course. Otherwise a few rods and pistons cook off.

I had a '66 Corvair with the horizontal 6. When the valve stem seals would deteriorate, oil would leak into the cylinders. Not much, but enought to make a really impressive cloud of white smoke upon startup and when you used the engine as a brake when going downhill. The fix was to replace the rubber seals with Nitril seals.

Al

Reply to
Al

I have heard that BMW motorcycles with boxer engines, when parked on the kick- stand, would load the downhill cylinder with oil *if* the piston rings on that piston happened to have their gaps facing the bottom of the engine.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Really?

Have had flat fours in the family since mid-'50's. A LOT of 'em. Never experienced a predisposition to flooding any more than other configurations, even with quick moves in and out of the garage, etc., as OP reported.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Courtright

Don't BMWs have center stands that keep the bike parked vertically? Maybe I need to pay more attention, but I don't recall ever seeing one parked with a sidestand. ???

Rick

Reply to
Rick Courtright

I assumed they had both. The story is anecdotal.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

There is a HUGE difference between flooding, which can cause hard starting, and oil in the cylinders, which can produce excessive smoking (or on radials, actual damage to the parts.)

Reply to
l.lichtman

They have both center and side stands. My 1983 R80RT did, and so does the 2002 R1150R that I lust after. Some of the earlier Beemers (the slash Fives) could be parked on their center stands and ridden right off of them, very cool.

Reply to
KLS

So you ought to know, is the oil loading story true?

Reply to
Jim Stewart

I agree with Rick as to the "prone to flooding" comment. I've owned 3X flat

4 VWs, 3X flat 4 Porsches, 1X flat 6 Porsche and 2X flat 4 Subaru's and never a problem with flooding. As to radial engines I agree that manually turning the prop was to displace oil leakage into the bottom cylinders but, it also was done to introduce fresh air and dispel the gas that leaked from the massive fuel lines into the cylinders. ed
Reply to
Edward Hayes

Had this problem after short runs of cold engine on several flat 4 Subarus. I think the excess fuel must stay in the cylinder rather than drain out as it would tend to in a vertical engine. I always try to avoid these short runs, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Cranking the engine with the throttle kept wide open eventually starts the engine.

Reply to
Orienteer

I never experienced such a problem with my motorcycle, but then again, I wasn't riding it for short distances, so it would start right up again after being ridden hot.

Reply to
KLS

My R100GS will smoke after it is parked on its sidestand for weeks on end. I typically keep it on the centerstand for extended parking.

Reply to
Rob Munach

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